Saturday evening was a time of repetition for Mizzou baseball in the sense that the game began by them digging their own hole. This time, the Tigers just weren’t nearly as close to getting out of it in their 13-4 loss against Texas A&M at Taylor Stadium.
In Friday’s 11-9 defeat at the hands of the No. 25 ranked Aggies, Jackson’s squad went down by double digits after a Josh McDevitt outing went haywire in the top half of the fourth, as Texas A&M put up a seven slot in the top half of the fourth.
This
contest was no different for Missouri (17-11, 1-6 SEC) and it brought some of the similar problems that has plagued Jackson’s squad as of late. Slow starts, runners left on base,
A&M’s (20-5, 3-4 SEC) bats came out blitzering once again and the pitching arm on the receiving end of the damage tonight was Brady Kehlenbrink. In total, nine earned runs, four walks and a home run were allowed by the starter and it was a rocky outing from the jump.
After Gravin Grahovac walked Jake Duer yanked a ball down the left‑field line for an RBI single, with Chris Hacopian hustling to third. A couple pitches later, Nico Partida chopped one to third and Hacopian scored on the fielder’s choice, so Missouri was down two before it even got to the plate.
Mizzou’s bats answered in the second, albeit in the fashion of a small ball. A single by Blaize Ward, was followed by a bunt attempt by Donovan Jordan which got him on base. Mateo Serna then laid down a sacrifice bunt, advancing Ward to third and Keegan Knutson’s infield single that scored Ward.
The turning point came fast. Missouri trailed just 2–1 entering the third, but the inning unraveled almost immediately. Jake Duer doubled home a run, two bases‑loaded walks followed, and a sacrifice fly pushed the lead to 6–1. Then came the swing that broke the game open: Gavin Grahovac turned on an 0–2 pitch and launched it 405 feet to center for a three‑run homer. Suddenly it was 9–1, and Missouri was staring at another long night.
Head coach Kerrick Jackson didn’t hide from the reality afterward. Both starters, Josh McDevitt and Brady Kehlenbrink were pitching on short rest after heavy workloads the previous week, a situation created by an injury to starter Javyn Pimental, added on by two midweek games against Illinois and Lindenwood.
“They just weren’t able to bounce back,” Jackson said. “Both of them had high double‑digit pitch counts in the first inning. That makes everything harder.”
Missouri did what it could to respond after Keegan Knutson singled in a run in the second and added a sacrifice fly in the fourth. Kam Durnin followed with a two‑run double to left‑center, trimming the deficit to 11–4 in the bottom half of the fourth to give Tigers a brief spark.
Throughout, every time Missouri made a push, A&M answered with another punch. Nico Partida homered on a two-run shot in the fourth, Grahovac hit his own two-run shot, his second, again in the fifth, and Partida added his second homer in the eighth.
The Tigers offense found spots of action throughout, one hitter in particular Donovan Jordan turned in the best performance of his season, going 3‑for‑3 with a solo homer in the eighth, the first of his Tigers career.
Kam Durnin drove in three runs, including his RBI double. The Tigers finished with 11 hits and created the run scoring opportunities throughout the night, stranding nine runners on base creates the margins that are tougher to overcome in the high level that is SEC baseball.
“Our guys get sped up,” Jackson said. “They want so badly to get it done that they get out of themselves. The situation shouldn’t change who you are. Just do your job. Learning how to win is different and our guys are learning.”
The sweep is what the Tigers will be looking to avoid on Sunday and the starting pitcher is still to be determined, as JD Dohrmann is currently a game time decision and his availability is something that the Tigers are still looking at ahead of the series finale.
“I’ve got to talk to Kyle (Holland) and see how JD is feeling,” Jackson said. “If he’s not able to go, then we’ll go to plan B.”
The Tigers after this one were left with a similar lesson after Auburn, the SEC doesn’t and won’t forgive the long winded innings, the 11 walks, the four hit by pitches. What’s given is what’s taken and that’s a lesson that comes with time, not overnight in this league.
