Mizzou Baseball slips late, loses series opener to Evansville

Missouri baseball faces Evansville on Friday, Feb. 28, 2025, at Taylor Stadium. (Cal Tobias/Rock M)

The Tigers’ pitching woes continued after allowing four runs in the final three innings

Mizzou Baseball suffered a second major upset in as many weeks, dropping its series opener Friday 7-6 to Evansville. The Purple Aces entered the game with a 1-6 record and recently lost to Kentucky 24-3.

Both sides got on the board early with solo home runs. Cal McGinnis hit a two out homer down the right field line in the opening half, then Mateo Serna responded with a no doubt home run to right-center field in the bottom of the first to make it 1-1.

The Taylor Stadium wind tunnel was in full effect early, with 15 mph winds blowing straight out to right field and adding some extra heft to both homers.

McGinnis added his second RBI two innings later, singling to center to score Harrison Taubert for a 2-1 Evansville lead. Taubert reached base one at bat earlier with a double to left-center.

The Purple Aces continued to build a small lead in the fourth, capitalizing on a mistake by shortstop Trey Lawrence. Charlie Longmeier led off with a groundball to shortstop, advancing to second base on a throwing error by Lawrence.

He came home on a sacrifice fly and groundout, giving the Purple Aces a two run lead as the visitors controlled the game early.

But the Tigers broke through in the bottom half of the inning, scoring four runs to seize their first lead of the game.

Freshman Tyler Macon led off with a double to right-center, advancing to third base when Jackson Lovich moved him over with a sacrifice bunt. Yadi Hernandez was hit by a pitch to place runners on the corners before Peyton Basler brought Macon home on another bunt, 3-2, as he beat the tag at the plate.

Lawrence executed the inning’s third bunt, pressuring the third baseman McGinnis into a throwing error to score Hernandez for a tied game and again place two runners in scoring position.

Kaden Peer hit a sacrifice fly to center, plating Basler, before Mateo Serna found open space in shallow center field with a bloop single to score Lawrence for a 5-3 lead. Pierre Seals struck out swinging, stranding Serna at second after he advanced on a wild pitch, but the damage was done.

The action slowed down slightly over the next two innings. Ian Lohse got out of a jam with two runners in scoring position in the top of the fifth, inducing a groundout from Evan Waggoner, and exited the game.

Lohse ended his outing with six hits and two earned runs allowed, walking one and striking out six batters in five innings of work. James Vaughn came on in the sixth and pitched a clean inning, maintaining a two run lead entering the game’s final third.

But Vaughn’s previously smooth sailing hit several big bumps in the seventh, starting with Ty Rumsey’s one out infield single. The visitors strung together five straight singles, many of them on weak contact, bumping Vaughn out of the game for Nic Smith and tying the game.

Evansville took the lead on Charlie Longmeier’s sharp lineout to right field, 6-5, scoring McGinnis.

“When it’s not going good, those kinds of things happen,” head coach Kerrick Jackson said. “It snowballs when you’re not playing well, little things like that, and it just drives you crazy.”

Smith struck out Ben Stuart to close the inning, but Mizzou’s bullpen showed its leakiness for a second consecutive game. Those struggles continued into the next inning.

Ty Rumsey hit a stand up triple down the right field with one out in the top of the eighth, scoring Drew Howard after he reached base on a hit by pitch for an 7-5 advantage.

Pitching issues continue to vex the Tigers, who entered tonight ranked last in the SEC with a 7.15 ERA according to the SEC Network+ broadcast. Alabama is ranked 15th in the conference with a 3.86 ERA.

Evansville starter Kenton Deverman was pulled from the game entering the bottom of the eighth inning after throwing 114 pitches. The Purple Aces’ ace struck out five and allowed five hits with four earned runs across seven innings pitched.

Mizzou started its comeback attempt with a shrewd move, bringing in Brock Daniels as a pinch hitter. He practically willed himself into a run, walking before stealing second and advancing to third on Waggoner’s errant throw from behind the plate.

Lawrence scored Daniels on a groundout to shortstop, narrowing the gap to one run entering the ninth.

But Kellen Roberts slammed the door shut in his second inning of work for Evansville, securing the one run win for the visitors.

The loss drops the Tigers to 4-5 on the season, with three of those losses coming against low or mid major opponents. The team led in two of those matchups and the bullpen has allowed an average of over five runs in those contests.

Jackson shared updates after the game on several injuries to the pitching staff which have decimated the group’s depth. Last year’s midweek starter Daniel Wissler, Josh Kirchhoff and Josh McDevitt are all out of action alongside the pitchers who were injured before the season’s start.

Tony Neubeck, who was expected to play a significant role out of the bullpen this year, is not projected to return until April.

The injuries have pressed some of the team’s more inexperienced hurlers into duty earlier than planned.

“We don’t have the right environment where we can grow the younger kids up in the right situation,” Jackson said. “We’ve got to throw them into the fire.”

Kaden Peer and Mateo Serna combined for four of Mizzou’s seven hits, both going 2-4. Serna had two RBI, while Peer knocked in one runner.

But the squad’s third and fourth hitters, Pierre Seals and Brady Picarelli, both went hitless.

“I think what happened tonight was we were waiting for somebody to be the hero,” Jackson said, “instead of just playing the game the way it was supposed to be played, having quality at bats.”

Inconsistency has been a defining characteristic of this year’s squad so far, in part brought on by the team’s sheer youth.

“There’s this Jekyll and Hyde of who we are right now, and there’s some maturity things that need to take place in that clubhouse,” Jackson said. “We have to give them that opportunity to grow and mature in their own; guide them, and try to help them in that process, which is difficult for these guys, but we can’t force that on them.”

Jackson mentioned that the Tigers are limited in their ability to aggressively target the portal, unlike other SEC programs which have considerable resources to dedicate to baseball. This has forced him to take a slow, almost painstakingly methodical approach to rebuild the program from the ground up.

That rebuild is not bearing its fruit yet, though several young players have made promising steps. Mizzou is mired in one of its worst starts in years, and some fans are beginning to question if the team will ever break through to the other side.

But Jackson is not letting adversity throw him off his course, and he believes better baseball is around the corner for the Tigers.

“I’m a key master, right? I’m trying a bunch of different keys trying to figure out which one is going to open that lock,” Jackson said. “And whenever it clicks, we’re going to be in a really good position.”

The Tigers will look to bounce back tomorrow in a doubleheader against the Purple Aces. The first game begins at 1 p.m., and both games will be streamed on SEC Network+.