Mizzou eliminated from SEC Tournament contention

STARKVILLE, Miss. (KMIZ)

Mizzou Baseball's race to the SEC Tournament has ended. MU has been mathematically eliminated from earning a spot in the conference tournament, following its 4-3 loss in Thursday's series opener at Mississippi State.

Although the Tigers remain in 13th place in the SEC standings, Mizzou is now three games behind LSU, Ole Miss and Florida for the final spot in the conference tournament with only two games left in the regular season, removing them from postseason contention. Kerrick Jackson's crew now has an 8-20 record in conference play this season.

MU scored all three of its runs on solo home runs from Helias alum Trevor Austin, Jackson Lovich and Danny Corona on Thursday. Austin and Lovich hit back-to-back home runs to tie the game 3-3 in the sixth inning, but Mississippi State scored the go-ahead run in the home half of the same frame on an RBI double from Joe Powell to put the Bulldogs in front for the rest of the night.

Corona and Kaden Peer both tallied multi-hit performances for the Tigers while Austin, Lovich and Mateo Serna each recorded one hit. Mizzou finished the game with two more hits than Mississippi State but posted just one hit with runners on base and struck out 15 times.

Ian Lohse was charged with the loss, allowing two runs on two hits over three innings of work out of the bullpen. He also posted a team-high three strikeouts. Kaden Jacobi was MU's starting pitcher, tossing three innings and giving up two runs on three hits.

Up next - Mizzou will aim to even its series with Mississippi State in the first of its final two games of the 2024 season. First pitch for game two on Friday, May 17 is scheduled for 6 p.m.