Baseball Drops Opening Day Matchup in Fort Myers, 8-5

Friday, February 13

Fort Myers, Fla.

5 P.M.

Missouri

0-1

Mount St. Mary's

1-0

Mount St. Mary's

Missouri

Baseball Drops Opening Day Matchup in Fort Myers, 8-5

2/13/2026 10:23:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

FORT MYERS, Fla. – Mizzou baseball dropped its Opening Day contest of the 2026 season on Friday, falling 8-5 to Mount St. Mary's at Terry Park in Fort Myers, Florida.

Left-handed pitcher Javyn Pimental returned to the mound for the first time since May 4, 2024, after missing last season due to Tommy John surgery. The lefty went five innings and allowed just one run on four hits, striking out a pair and walking just one.

The Tigers jumped out to a 5-1 lead after plating two runs in the first, one in the second and two more in the third. Outfielder Pierre Seals drove in the game's first run with a bases-loaded walk before an RBI single from Donovan Jordan made it a 2-0 Mizzou lead.

Freshman Blaize Ward made his first career start, batting second and playing left field. After singling and scoring a run his first time at the plate, he singled to right field and drove in Tyler Macon to extend the lead to 3-0, Tigers.

Mount St. Mary's got on the board in the top of the third inning with an RBI single from Alex Mendes, but the Tigers responded with another pair of runs in the bottom of the third on an RBI ground out by Eric Maisonet and an RBI double over the left fielder's head off the bat of Keegan Knutson to make it a 5-1 Mizzou lead.

The Mountaineers responded with three runs in the top of the sixth, taking advantage of the Tiger bullpen after Pimental exited (5.0 IP, 82 TP), closing the gap to a one-run Mizzou lead.

The game-changing play came with the bases loaded and one out in the seventh inning when Mount St. Mary's Christian Bauman took a 1-2 pitch deep to right field for a grand slam, giving the Mountaineers an 8-5 lead that would hold the rest of the way.

NOTEBOOK

Ward ended the game 2-for-4 with a pair of singles, an RBI and a run scored and was hit by a pitch in his first collegiate action.
South Carolina transfer Jase Woita went 2-for-3 with a run scored and was hit by a pitch twice in his first game as a Tiger.
Jordan, Maisonet, Knutson and Gehrig Goldbeck each went 1-for-4, respectively. Jordan, Maisonet and Knutson each drove in a run.
Freshman left-handed pitcher Isaiah Salas made his debut in the ninth inning and notched his first collegiate strikeout. He retired both men he faced.
Mizzou left nine runners on base while the Mountaineers stranded just four.

The Tigers and Mountaineers are back at Terry Park tomorrow evening for game two of the three-game series. First pitch will now be at 5 p.m. CT – moved back two hours from its original scheduled time of 3 p.m. CT.

All games can be streamed on the Varsity Network by Learfield, with longtime Mizzou play-by-play announcer Tex Little on the call and Matt Michaels providing color.

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