On a windy and cool Friday night, a crowd of over 1,200 fans showed up at Simmons Field, drawn by the coverage and speculation about a possible historic record-breaking game. The energy and expectation in the crowd was apparent even before the first pitch. No one was really very sure how many innings it would take for Aaron Crow to set a new all-time national record for consecutive scoreless innings pitched (since no one really knows what the record is for sure), but they all wanted to be there to witness the event when it happened.
Just a few short minutes into the 1st inning, the anticipation crashed to earth as Aaron Crow showed that even Superman has his kryptonite. The excitement shifted from the crowd to the Longhorn dugout as the Texas players, obviously fully aware of the scoreless streak, celebrated at a level not usual for merely scoring the first run of a ballgame.
And by the time the Longjohned Longhorns had finished their seconf inning at bat, our Tigers were down 8-0. I saw a small number of faithless fans head for the exits at that point. Boy were they stupid.
MU answered back with 3 runs in the bottom of the 2nd, Texas added a 9th run in the 3rd, and then the slumping Mizzou offense woke up like an angry man whose home had been invaded.
10 runs in the bottom of the 3rd was the first explosion, followed by more runs as the game went along, piling up to a final tally of 31 runs, against the Longhorns' total of 12.
The 10-run inning was the biggest inning for the Tigers since an 11-run second inning against Mississippi Valley State on May 6, 2006
Jacob Priday (aka The Incredible Hulk), led the attack with his own record-breaking performance.
Priday was 5-for-5 on the night. He set the single-game school record with four home runs, nine RBI and six runs scored. The four home runs is the most ever in the Big 12 Conference and is tied for third most in NCAA history.
With the four homers, Priday moves within one of the Missouri school record with 44 for his career. The nine RBI give him 218, which is four shy of the Mizzou career mark.
Every Tiger in the starting lineup had at least one hit and five had at least three. The 26 hits for Missouri tied a school record, which was set in 2005 against Navy.
The 31 runs are the most scored by the Tigers since they defeated Truman State 30-0 in 2003. It is the most runs scored by MU against a conference opponent since a 27-4 win over Nebraska in 1956. The all-time MU record for runs scored in a single game is 35, set in 1904.
The loss is the worst for Texas since a 25-6 defeat against Texas A&M in 1995. Friday was the first game in which Texas allowed at least 20 runs since 1998.
The 31 runs is the most ever allowed by any Texas baseball team in their ilustrious history.
But hey, they got to celebrate that first run they scored.
Oh, and the winning pitcher in the game?
Aaron Crow.
Records:
Jacob Priday
4 home runs
(previous record:3)
9 RBI (8)
6 Runs scored (tie)
18 Total Bases (13)
Team Records
26 Hits (tie)
65 Total Bases (45)
28 RBI (27)
Top run-scoring games by the Missouri Tigers against conference opponents
BIG 12
2003
MU vs. Baylor
23-18
BIG 8
1977
MU vs. Iowa State
23-5
BIG 7
1963
MU vs. Colorado
21-7
1958
MU vs. Kansas
25-14
MU vs. Kansas State
24-2
1956
MU vs. Nebraska
27-4
1953
MU vs. Kansas State
25-3
1948
MU vs. Iowa State
22-6
The record for most runs scored by MU in a game is 35, in a 35-2 game against William Jewell in 1902.
The 2008 MU Media Guide shows it as being a record set in 1904, but the Year-by-Year detailed records show that game in 1902.
Here in the MU Baseball History pages of SimmonsField.com we have a feature on the 1902 season. In doing that research, we found no record in the Columbia Daily Tribune archives of a 35-run game against William Jewell.
But I'm sure it happened some time.
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