Good night for the Bears, who take the all-time series lead 20-19 now and steal a win that seemed improbable at times. Mizzou, meanwhile, was burned by mediocre clutch hitting and a poor tactical decision to pull a still-strong Jeff Scardino to bring in relief in the seventh. As for Missouri State, Mike Kickham settled down and got some defensive help to stymie the Tigers bats after the first couple of innings, and Keenen Maddox, a .407 slugger with one home run coming into this game, supplied the majority of the offense for the team, batting in three of the team’s five runs. Meanwhile, fellow frosh Grant Gordon was on fire to close out the last two innings for the Bears. Is this the start of something for the team’s young players, or just a fluke? They need the answer to be the former if they’re going to climb out of the cellar in the MVC. We’ll find out soon enough. Good night from Hammons Field and thanks for reading. We’ll see you tomorrow night back here for the Springfield Cardinals home opener.
9:15: Statgasm: Keenen Maddox: 3-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI; Grant Gordon, the winning pitcher: 2.0 IP, 5 K. 7 LOB for Mizzou in this game; hitting did not come through in the clutch.
9:05: UNBELIEVABLE! After going down 0-2 in the count, Maddox slaps an Emens pitch over the wall in left for a two-run homer. The Bears win 5-4 with a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth!
9:02: The catcher, Tyler Paxson, leads off the bottom of the ninth with an opposite-field hit to right for a single. Keenen Maddox is up next. He represents the winning run and has homered already tonight.
9:01: RHP Jeff Emens (2-2, 3.13 ERA) is the closer tonight for the Tigers. Do the Bears have a comeback in them?
8:57: And another K for Gordon, catching Liberto swinging to bring up Andrew Thigpen. Whatcha got, Thigpen?! You want some of this?! No, Thigpen does not. Gordon strikes out the side.
8:56: Another strikeout for Grant Gordon, this one looking. Memo to the Tigers batters: GRANT GORDON IS NOT PLAYING WITH YOU.
8:54: Turns out that was the Fan Cam, brought to you by St. John’s hospital. Perhaps because if you stared at most people that way in real life they would break your nose.
8:52: Three up, three down for the Bears to wrap up the eighth. The Jumbotron just started a really creepy between-innings game where it zooms in on people’s eyes while the song “Brown Eyed Girl” plays. Please, make it stop.
8:47: Gordon strikes Gaden out to end the Tigers’ hopes of more scoring. The Tigers move LaFleur to center field from left in the bottom of the seventh as Gaden takes over left. Junior lefty Kelly Fick (1-0, 2.08 ERA) in to pitch.
8:45: Grant Gordon is holding the Tigers offense for the moment. His first batter hit back to him, after which he threw to third for the second out of the inning. Runners at first and second with pinch hitter Kale Gaden up for Mizzou.
8:39: New catcher Andreas Plackis hits a line drive up the middle for Mizzou, scoring one to take back the 4-3 lead. Heard in the press box: “Your new pitcher will be number thirty-five, Grant Gordon…” It was a joke that turned into a correct prediction.
It's okay, coach. Neil Diamond leaves us feeling confused sometimes, too.
8:35: Murphy lets the first two Tigers batters he sees reach base. I feel like I dogged him a bit earlier in the night, so I’m going to exude some positivity now: Bring Kickham back!
8:32: Kickham’s numbers tonight: 7 innings, 6 hits, 1 earned run, 11 strikeouts. You read that right. I feel like slept through all but three of those. Remember how I said he settled down after those first couple of innings? Yeah…
8:29: As we get ready to start the eighth, we discover Kickham’s night is done, too. Freshman Clay Murphy (1-0, 2.87 ERA) is on the mound now for Missouri State.
8:28: Bean hits to short, setting off a phenomenal 5-4-3 double play to send the Bears back into the dugout without the lead.
8:26: Nice work by Casey to work the count and get a walk. Pitcher-turned-DH Bean is batting with the bases loaded, and there’s another mound meeting for the Tigers. You’re damn right you’d better meet. Bean is dangerous.
8:24: McCormick still facing Casey. This is as hushed and attentive as the crowd has been all night. No noise. Tied game in the bottom of the seventh, 3-3, with runners at first and second. McCormick just keeps fouling pitches back into the stands behind him.
8:18: An error at shortstop on a weak hit lets Curt Courtwright to get onto first. Tom Emanski could have a field day with the Tigers fielders right now. This necessitates a mound meeting and a pitching change for Mizzou, who bring in sidearmer Phil McCormick to pitch to J.C. Casey.
8:16: Overstreet knocks it to shallow center, scoring Paxson and moving Maddox to second. An error at center lets Overstreet reach second, too. The Bears are back in this and the Tigers have screwed up big time with the pitching change.
8:14: Maddox make them pay! Hit to the second baseman, who can’t hang on to the ball and allows runners to reach first and second. Christian Overstreet is in to pinch hit for the Bears.
8:06: We reach the seventh inning stretch with the score Missouri 3, Missouri State 1. For your video entertainment, here’s a little dittie from the mid-’90s: The Bottle Rockets performing “Radar Gun,” a song inspired by Gifford’s earlier tinkering. Sing along: I’m makin’ money and I’m havin’ fun…:
7:57: Thrown out at first, Conway is, to end the sixth. Yet another misuse of T-Pain’s, um, talent.
If this man is involved in your walkup music, you had better come through. Just sayin'.
7:53: I just realized Tyler Bean (16.88 ERA, .000 batting average) is the Bears’ designated hitter tonight. That’s right; he’s a pitcher. As I type that, Scardino walks him. Really, Scardino? Really?!
7:50: Evening descends on Hammons Field as the glow of the stadium lights takes over visibility duties. The breeze is blowing out slightly, which would be really helpful for carrying a baseball further–say, out of the stadium–if the Bears get to using that .324 staff average.
7:47: Tigers left fielder Russell LaFleur just beat the snot out of the ball for a home run to left center field. If you didn’t know a baseball had snot in it to begin with, now you do. Meanwhile, the Bears are back at square one, sort of.
7:43: Finally! Solo home run for the Bears by outfielder Keenen Maddox. It’s the only productivity the team gets in the bottom of the fifth, but it’s a start. Halfway there, even, at least currently.
7:42: Paxson hits hard enough, to be sure (12 RBI so far this season) but he’s not exactly fleet of foot. Easily thrown out at first.
7:39: Another Senne at-bat for the Tigers, another out. I’m starting to have faith in Kickham. I’ll say it again, though: Missouri State needs offense to get back in this. Stat. It’s the middle of the fifth already.
7:37: Andrew Thigpen just made the worst, most contrived attempt to steal second I’ve seen in a long time for Mizzou. Next time just write the second baseman a note and tell him you’re coming. Seriously.
7:33: Mizzou batter Michael Liberto fouls one off of what looks to be his kneecap, forcing a break in the action while he walks it off. Bears catcher Paxson seizes the opportunity to have a one-on-one with Kickham, to good result: He gets Liberto out at first. Even better, we’re told in the press box that as of this game Kickham is the Missouri Valley’s new strikeout leader. Seems far-fetched, I know, but to his credit Kickham has settled down since allowing those two early runs.
7:28: Medrano gets nowhere, and Conway’s steal attempt during the next at-bat results in a caught-stealing situation, ending the fourth for the Bears and ending Conway’s streak of 25 consecutive successful stolen-base attempts. Coach Keith Guttin must be groaning by now. Front row? Hear anything?
7:27: Sometimes you’ve just gotta love the aluminum bats used in college ball. Every foul ball Medrano is hitting looks like a moonshot.
7:25: The positive signs keep coming for the Bears. Scardino walks center fielder Aaron Conway to put a runner on for second baseman Kevin Medrano. They have got to make something of this.
7:21: Miracle! Kickham gets Garcia out to end the inning with two Tigers stranded on base. He needs more at-bats like that to keep this close.
7:19: Kickham walks his first runner of the night, outfielder Blake Brown, then follows it with a wild pitch to Garcia to advance runners to second and third. This is about to get ugly.
7:17: Great diving catch and throw to second by Bears third baseman Beau Stoker for a double play. At least the Bears are bringing the D early.
7:11: Tigers left-handed pitcher Jeff Scardino (2-3, 3.90 ERA) is dealing to the Bears hitters right now. I just blinked and the side was out in the bottom of the third.
7:08: Kickham escapes the inning without further incident. Between innings the Bears marching band plays, just like it would at a basketball or football game. I cannot begin to express how disconcerting that is. Baseball fields are not made for marching music.
7:06: Easy double for Senne, but a tremendous throw from shallow right field to home plate gets the runner out to prevent the run. Play at the plate! Crowd eats it up.
7:05: Just when it looks like Kickham is settling down, Senne comes back up for Mizzou. Uh oh.
7:00: Springfield Cardinals Vice President Matt Gifford is in the press box, testing out the radar gun for tomorrow night’s home opener. “I’m the only one that knows how to use it,” he says. Is this good delegation of authority?
6:55: Catcher Tyler Paxson leads off the inning for MSU. The team’s hits leader… flies out to deep right.
6:52: Now 2-0 Mizzou with a runner at second, Eric Garcia up to bat. Kickham finally gets the third out he needs and gets out of the inning. Time for those bats to come alive, Bears. You’d better hurry.
6:51: Another Mizzou outfielder, Dane Opel, drives in the night’s first run. That 4-4 record with a 4.44 ERA is starting to look creepy and cryptic.
6:49: A line-drive base hit to right to get catcher Bret Nicholas on for the Tigers, followed by an error at second base to get the first two bases loaded up. Outfielder Russell LaFleur advances the runner with a bunt, setting up the Tigers with guys at second and third. Not a good start, Kickham.
6:45 p.m.: It always amazes me what a cavern a partially full baseball stadium can look like. The attendance it solid for a college game here–triple digits–but it looks almost completely empty, especially down the first base line.
6:41 p.m.: Kickham gets out the side with no real drama. The last out was Tigers star Aaron Senne, hitting a ridiculous .460 on the season. He was forced out at first, but he’ll factor into this game yet, I suspect.
6:29 p.m.: It’s time. Player introductions are underway. On the way in I overheard a lady at the ticket window ask for “two tickets in the Mizzou Tigers section.” She was an elderly woman. These people are not playing around.
Meanwhile, inside the stadium the Bears are sending pitcher Michael Kickham (4-4, 4.44 ERA) to the mound tonight against the Tigers. Good move?
Follow Us!