COLLEGE STATION, TX — On a perfect afternoon for baseball, the Missouri baseball team (20-8, 6-2 Southeastern Conference) beat No. 2 Texas A&M (26-2, 6-2 SEC), 3-2, handing the Aggies their first home loss of the season.
In the top of the first, the Tigers were sent down in order by A&M pitcher Kyle Simonds, who was making his first start for the team. The feat was matched by Mizzou freshman pitcher Tanner Houck.
Missouri junior third baseman Josh Lester led off the second by working a walk, and advanced on a fielder’s choice by the Aggie third baseman. He would be stranded on second at the end of the inning. The Aggies’ offense was started by a leadoff home run by center fielder Nick Banks. After this, Houck settled down and struck out two hitters to get out of the inning.
In the third, senior second baseman Brett Peel reached through a two-out walk and advanced to third on a line drive single to center field by sophomore centerfielder Jake Ring. The Tigers were unable to push across either runner. The Aggies had a leadoff double hit by first baseman Hunter Melton, who was sacrificed over by a perfect bunt by sophomore catcher Michael Barash. A base hit up the middle by senior shortstop Blake Allemand scored another run for the Aggies. Houck retired the next batter before an infield single by senior designated hitter Mitchell Nau put runners on the corners. A third strikeout by Houck helped the Tigers escape the jam.
In the top of the fourth, the Missouri offense put two runs on the board after a one-out walk by sophomore shortstop Ryan Howard, an error by the Aggie right fielder, a single by freshman catcher Brett Bond and a safety squeeze bunt by senior designated hitter Logan Bone. The Aggies led off with a base hit to right, but a nice 6-4-3 double play and a good charging play by Peel stopped the A&M offense.
A one-out double by Ring and a sacrifice fly by freshman left fielder Trey Harris put a runner on third, but Mizzou was unable to bring him across the plate. A&M lead off with a base hit up the middle and Barash had another sacrifice bunt. Houck dealt a walk to the next batter to put two on with one out. An eight-pitch at bat resulted in a pop out to third base. The inning ended on a ground ball to the shortstop Howard, who flipped it to second for the out.
Pitcher Jason Freeman came out of the bullpen for Texas A&M and allowed a leadoff hit to Howard, but got the next two batters to fly out to left field and Bone grounded out to short. A one-out hit by left fielder Logan Taylor gave the Aggies life in the inning. Third baseman Ronnie Gideon followed by knocking a bloop single into left field. Houck walked the next batter on four straight pitches to load the bases. Peel then made a nice catch and flip to turn two and escape the jam. Frustrations were clear, as A&M’s Gideon was ejected on the play after spiking his helmet at second base.
A one out infield single to the shortstop by Peel gave the Tigers a runner before he was caught stealing second. A walk to Ring was negated by a groundout to second. The Aggies went down in order in the bottom of the seventh.
A leadoff bunt single for Lester off Aggie pitcher junior Ty Schlottmann started the top of the eighth for the Tigers. Howard followed the hit with one of his own down the third baseline to give the Tigers their first lead of the game. Junior first baseman Zach Lavy flew out to right for Schlottmann’s last out.
The Aggies then turned to sophomore pitcher Mark Ecker, who struck out both Bond and Bone. Mizzou turned to Breckin Williams for a two inning save out of the bullpen. A strikeout and a running catch in center field by Peel led to a base hit past Howard to put runners on the corners. Williams struck out his second batter of the inning to escape the jam.
In the ninth inning, Mizzou senior right fielder Logan Pearson drew a leadoff walk, followed by a sacrifice bunt from Peel to get him to second. Ring walked on five pitches to put two runners on for Harris. Harris then flew out to right to advance Pearson to third base and Lester flew out to center on a full count. Williams was back out for the bottom of the inning and induced a flyout to right to start the inning.
Barash roped a single off the wall and sophomore Nick Choruby pinch ran for the Aggies. A base hit to left field put runners on the corners for A&M. Second baseman Ryne Birk hit a flyout to left field to keep the runners on the corners, but a groundout to short by Nau ended the afternoon and the home winning streak for the Aggies.
Mizzou and Texas A&M will play a rubber match tomorrow at 1:05 p.m. for first the first place spot in the SEC.