Mizzou vs Vanderbilt: The delay and the homer that wasn’t.

I’ve covered a batch of sports games complete nan past 5-6 years. Heck, I’ve covered a batch of unusual Mizzou sports events complete nan past 4 years. What occurred Friday nighttime was 1 of nan wackiest, astir chaotic sports games that I’ve seen, barroom none, without a doubt. Fittingly enough, nan biggest infinitesimal of nan game, I couldn’t see.

The ending and delayed commencement clip are what person maine typing this up agelong past midnight successful nan acheronian hallows of my apartment, and what kept maine and my astonishing Rock M photographer, Dan Murphy, astatine Taylor Stadium past nan midnight hours.

For Missouri baseball, coming into this crippled alone, it’s been a twelvemonth that’s brought 3 crippled cancellations owed to rainfall and a 95-minute ray delay. Mother Nature decided it wanted to adhd a mates much pages to this repetitive cycle.

In a crippled that was primitively scheduled for a 6 p.m. first pitch, it became 7 p.m. owed to incoming rain.

As nan rainfall continued to move down, a hold till 7:30 p.m. became 8:55—the last extended clip hold that a procrastinatory student would want for an assignment, not a assemblage shot game.

Before nan eighth-inning madness occurred, nan nighttime looked to beryllium different 1 of a taxable that’s occurred successful a multitude of games for Missouri successful nan Southeastern Conference this season. The Tigers’ pitching unit kept nan crippled competitory while nan discourtesy ne'er rather arrived. Until a lead-off azygous by Kam Durnin successful nan sixth inning, nan Tigers didn’t person an extra-base hit.

In nan first and 2nd innings, nan Tigers had their chances. In nan first, Blaize Ward’s effort to agelong a azygous into a double backfired, arsenic he was thrown retired astatine 2nd guidelines by a wide margin. He tried to beforehand aft Durnin moved to 3rd pursuing an infield azygous 1 at-bat earlier.

Jackson had antecedently discussed freshman mistakes this season, specifically referencing Ward aft he narrowly missed retired connected an identical play against Illinois earlier this season. That time, Ward was safe; this time, he was out.

Mateo Serna past flew retired to extremity nan inning. Instead of having runners connected nan corners pinch 1 retired and a 1-0 lead, nan Tigers exited nan opening framework scoreless against Commodores starter Connor Fennell.

That taxable carried into nan second. Donovan Jordan reached guidelines connected a hit-by transportation but 3 consecutive groundouts near him stranded astatine 3rd base. Vanderbilt, meanwhile, took much advantage of its tally scoring opportunities. An RBI groundout successful nan second, 2 much runs successful nan 4th connected a drawstring of singles and a chaotic pitch, and a solo homer successful nan 5th pushed nan Commodores up 4–0. McDevitt still battled, striking retired six and limiting nan harm wherever he could, but nan discourtesy down him stayed quiet.

Dane Bjorn took complete successful nan sixth and kept Vanderbilt disconnected nan committee for an inning earlier giving up a solo homer and an RBI azygous successful nan seventh. Missouri yet scratched crossed a tally successful nan bottommost half connected hits from Kam Durnin and an RBI single. by Blaize Ward, but it wasn’t capable to spark thing bigger.

Through 7 innings, nan Tigers trailed 6–1, had missed aggregate scoring chances, and had watched Vanderbilt’s starter rack up 8 strikeouts complete 7 innings. It looked for illustration nan aforesaid communicative Missouri had lived done each season.

Then nan eighth inning flipped everything connected its chaotic head.

Trailing 6-1, successful which this Missouri discourtesy hasn’t been capable to drawstring hits together each night? I’ll admit it, I didn’t spot thing that I’m astir to picture coming. Not astatine all. This inning showed maine why we watch assemblage baseball. It showed maine that each it takes sometimes is 1 spark to ray a flame. Five hits and 1 tally turned into an instant classical eighth inning.

The freshman who’d costs his squad a tally what felt for illustration lifetimes—but successful reality was a fewer hours earlier—this clip did nan opposite. He started a rally, not ended one, arsenic he opened nan bottommost half of nan eighth pinch a azygous to right, his 2nd of nan evening.

Mateo Serna followed by driving a double into nan left‑field corner, yet giving Missouri a existent scoring threat. Donovan Jordan, who had been stranded earlier successful nan game, delivered nan first breakthrough pinch an RBI azygous to right. It was a large hit, and Mizzou was opening to drawstring together accordant contact, thing that had been absent each night.

From there, nan inning snowballed much than a children-filled vicinity connected a canceled schoolhouse day. Kadan Peer jumped connected a transportation and sent it into nan right‑center spread for an RBI double, cutting nan shortage to 6–3 and forcing Vanderbilt to make its first uncomfortable mound sojourn of nan night.

Now I’m not a immense individual instrumentality of bunting successful general. Gifting a squad an retired to move a runner-up successful definite situations doesn’t make consciousness to me. Missouri didn’t do that. They brought flashbacks to thing I’d witnessed from them successful non-conference play. Bunt, and bunt to get connected base. This strategy was executed quintessentially.

Keegan Knutson followed up Peer’s at-bat by dropping down a bunt that turned into an RBI single, scoring Serna from third. That deed to Mizzou was truthful nice, they had to do it doubly arsenic Eric Maisonet followed pinch different bunt single, this 1 scoring Jordan. 6-4 Commodores.

Taylor Stadium had turned into thing it hadn’t been since nan hold that occurred 1 time earlier — large and awake. Two batters later, Jase Woita walked to load nan bases, and nan business was clear. One out, down 6-5, Durnin to nan plate.

Durnin, aft forcing rather nan pitch-battle, worked a locomotion to unit successful nan tying run. The rally past came afloat circle arsenic nan Tigers hitters had rotated done nan full of nan lineup.

Ward, who had started nan full rally, rolled a grounder to nan correct broadside that brought Maisonet home. In little than 15 minutes, Missouri had erased a five‑run shortage and taken a 7–6 lead and had a double-digit tally successful nan deed column, marking nan 5th clip since Mar. 28 that they’d accomplished that feat successful SEC play.

Here’s wherever things sewage hairy: for me, everyone other successful nan property box, and everyone connected nan field. It wasn’t nan truth that nan ninth inning didn’t connection a cleanable ending for Friday’s Mizzou closer, Sam Rosand. Vanderbilt put 2 runners connected pinch 2 outs, and past came nan plaything that made a chaotic evening moreover much unclear. Quite literally.

A heavy thrust deed by Brayden Holcomb—who had already homered successful nan game—left his bat astatine 108 miles per hr and traveled 379 feet according to nan SEC Network tv broadcast. Yet, cipher could spot it. The shot vanished into nan fog that had built up from nan seventh inning and into right-center section pinch nary outfielders moving.

Holcomb and nan different 2 runners each did nan correct thing. They ran astir nan bases and scored, putting Vandy up 9-7 and giving Mizzou nan balanced of an Uno reverse paper successful a miraculous comeback. Right? Actually wrong.

The umpires, aft gathering for astir 10 minutes, wished nan deed was a ground-rule double, tying nan crippled astatine 7, scoring Cade Sears from 2nd base, putting Holcomb astatine second, and Brodie Johnston connected third, who was primitively connected first.

I can’t thief but wonderment really they sewage to that conclusion, particularly since nan miles per hr and feet traveled shown connected nan broadcast, arsenic good arsenic nan Trackman data, which was tweeted retired by 11Point7 College Baseball, each theoretically make consciousness that nan eventual shot way ended successful a location run.

Holcomb himself had his ain ruling connected really nan arena genuinely went down, tweeting post-suspension that he was “100% affirmative that nan shot went complete nan fence.” But nan boring reply to a astir absorbing conclusion is this. Ultimately, nary matter nan intelligence jigsaws this crippled provided some teams and me, location will beryllium a shot crippled resumed astatine 4:00 p.m CT, not connected nan aforesaid time it began, but nan next.