COLUMBIA, Mo. – Missouri State scratched out a pair of eighth-inning runs against Missouri to hand head coach Keith Guttin his 1,200th career victory with a 5-3 decision over the Tigers Tuesday evening at Taylor Stadium.
Blake Graham‘s two-out, bases-loaded chopper to the right side of the Tiger infield snapped a 3-3 deadlock when Brian Sharp’s toss to first was wide of the bag, allowing both Hunter Steinmetz and Jake Burger to trot home with the deciding runs.
Four Missouri State pitchers combined to hold MU scoreless over the final six innings, with Jake Fromson (4-3), Jordan Knutson and Bryan Young teaming up to strike out six Tigers over 4.0 innings of two-hit relief. Bears starter Austin Knight kept the game tied into the sixth inning, fanning four batters while allowing three runs (two earned).
After the Bears’ key rally in the eighth, Knutson made his first relief appearance of the season, working around a one-out single and a walk by inducing a rally-killing 6-4-3 double play to get the ball to Young. The Bears’ All-America closer responded with a perfect ninth to secure the win and his 31st career save.
The milestone victory for Guttin made the Bears’ 35th-year bench boss just the 25th NCAA Division I head coach to record 1,200 career victories.
In a see-saw battle that featured six combined runs in the first three frames, Steinmetz scored two of MSU’s five runs with a pair of hits and a walk in his five plate appearances.
The Tigers’ leadoff man also enjoyed a big start to the night, as Connor Brumfield logged the first of his two hits on the night to help the Tigers draw first blood with a first-inning tally. MU used a Kameron Misner double and a Brett Bond sacrifice fly to push home the game’s first run, but Knight would limit the damage by stranding a man at third with the help of his first strikeout and a fly ball to right.
The Bears (24-13) would respond in the top of the second, getting a one-out walk to Aaron Meyer, followed by a Graham single to set up their first scoring chance of the game. Jack Duffy came through with a run-scoring double to even the score, but MU starter Andy Toelken avoided further damage by retiring Alex Jefferson on a short fly to left, before inducing an inning-ending grounder to second off the bat of Drew Millas.
Steinmetz sparked a Missouri State rally by drawing a walk to start the third, and Burger finished it with his 16th home run of the season—a two-run blast that cleared the MU bullpen in left field—to put the Bears on top for the first time.
It would be the Tigers’ turn to respond in the home half of the third, as another Brumfield hit started the inning and a Missouri State throwing error on a potential double-play grounder handed MU a prime scoring opportunity. Bond sacrificed both runners into scoring position, before Nelson Mompierre singled and Robbie Glendinning recorded back-to-back base hits to drive home the second and third Tiger run.
From there, Knight and Toelken kept the opposition off the scoreboard into the middle innings, before both bullpens took center stage. Fromson worked around a one-out fielding miscue in the sixth, then struck out a pair of Tigers in the seventh to stall a Mizzou rally.
Knutson allowed a one-out hit to Kirby McGuire, as well as a walk to Ian Nelson, before Jeremy Eierman picked off Chris Cornelius’s hot shot to short and started the key MSU double play.
Five Tigers (26-12) finished with multi-hit nights, led by Brumfield’s 2-for-5 effort, while Toelken (2-2) completed 7 1/3 innings, striking out six and allowing five runs (three earned) on six hits and four walks.
Up next, the Bears return to Hammons Field to open a four-game home stand and a three-game Missouri Valley Conference series with Wichita State Friday (April 21) evening at Hammons Field.
