In the final game of the regular season — and on Senior Day — the Mizzou Tigers tried to avoid a sweep but came up short, falling 12-1 in seven innings to Mississippi State. With the loss, Missouri finishes the season 16-38 overall and 3-27 in SEC play. The Tigers will head to Hoover, Alabama, as the No. 16 seed in the SEC Tournament, where they’ll face No. 9 Alabama.
Just like in the first two games of the series, the Bulldogs struck early and never looked back — this time tagging Mizzou starter Josh McDevitt for six runs before he could record the final out of the first inning.
Josh McDevitt’s final line: 0.2 IP 6 H, 6 R, 0 BB, 1 K, 35 TP
Head coach Kerrick Jackson turned to his bullpen in the first inning, handing the ball to Xavier Lovett in an effort to stop the bleeding. Lovett induced a ground ball on the first batter he faced, finally sending the Tigers to the plate — already trailing 6-0.
The Bulldogs’ offense kept rolling as the game went on, adding two more runs in the second inning with a two-run home run.
The Tigers finally got on the board in the bottom of the second — their first and only run of the game. Mateo Serna led off the inning with a single, and back-to-back hit-by-pitches to Keegan Knutson and Jedier Hernandez loaded the bases with one out. Brock Daniels followed with a deep fly ball to center field, scoring Knutson on a sacrifice fly to cut the deficit to 8-1.
That was it for the Tigers’ offense, as they managed just two more hits the rest of the way — finishing with only four total in the game.
The Bulldogs added to their lead with a leadoff home run in the top of the fourth, then tacked on three more in the sixth. New Mizzou pitcher Josh Kirchhoff loaded the bases with two walks and a hit-by-pitch, setting up a fielder’s choice that brought in one run. A two-RBI double followed, pushing the lead to 12-1 and putting Mississippi State in position to run-rule Missouri for the second straight day.
The Tigers got a runner on in the bottom of the seventh — a two-out single from Jedier Hernandez — giving them a slim chance to extend the game. But it wasn’t enough, as Mississippi State closed the door on both the game and Missouri’s regular season.
Jackson Lovich, who recorded two of Missouri’s four hits in the season finale, wraps up the regular season with a .354 batting average. The draft-eligible infielder has been on a tear, collecting 10 hits over his past six games. He finishes the regular season leading the team in every major offensive category except doubles, where he ranks second.
With the regular season now complete and the SEC officially reshaped to 16 teams, all programs are heading to Hoover for the conference tournament — a place Missouri hasn’t been since 2023, when it lost to Auburn in the first round.
For weeks, it appeared the Tigers would face Auburn in the first round. However, due to a series of last-minute wins and losses across the SEC, Missouri is now slated to take on Alabama — the same team that swept the Tigers just a few weeks ago.
The SEC Tournament begins Tuesday, with Missouri set to open play at 9:30 a.m. against Alabama at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Hoover, Alabama. The game will be available on ESPN Radio and streamed live on ESPN+.