Mizzou walks off two-day, weather-delayed game in 10th inning
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
It took two days, a near three hour rain delay and a suspension of play due to dense fog...but Mizzou baseball secured a win in game one of its series against Vanderbilt.
That victory came in fittingly dramatic fashion, as Tiger outfielder Donovan Jordan knocked Vanderbilt's offering up the middle in the bottom of the 10th to bring home Kam Durnin and capture the walk-off win, 8-7.
Head coach Kerrick Jackson and company didn't get off to the hottest of starts when the game first got going, on Friday. By the time the eighth inning rolled around, MU was in a 6-1 deficit and was searching for answers.
They found them in the eighth inning, when the Tigers put up a six-run frame to take the lead. It all started when Jordan reached on a throwing error from the Commodores and only snow-balled from there. Kaden Peer, Keegan Knutson, Eric Maisonet and Blaize Ward all drove in runs in the home half of the eight to grab a 7-6 lead over Vanderbilt.
However, things got interesting...and the fog got dense in the ninth inning.
The Commodores managed the tie game up at seven with a two-out, ground-rule double that put runners on second and third. That call was a bit controversial, as Vandy argued that it was a home run, which would've given them a lead in the ninth inning. However, the umps kept the ruling of a ground-rule double.
After that, play was suspended in the top of the ninth with two outs until Saturday at 4 p.m., since the fog had gotten so dense.
Once the action resumed, Coach Jackson put pitcher Juan Villareal on the hill to close out the ninth inning and he did that and then some. The Panama native ended up closing out the game for the Tigers, allowing just one hit and fanning a pair of Vanderbilt hitters.
Of course, the heroics belonged to Jordan, though. He drilled that two-out, game-winner up the middle on the second pitch he saw and won the game.
For Vanderbilt, that loss will likely put the team's 19-year NCAA Regional streak in jeopardy, as the Commodores are in danger of missing out on the postseason.
