Carter Rustad knew he was supposed to pitch on Saturday; he just didn’t expect it to be so early. Nineteen pitches into Saturday’s game, Missouri’s starter, Javyn Pimental, walked off the mound with an elbow issue, and Rustad (6-6, 5.32 ERA) knew he was the next man up. Even worse for Rustad, Pimental had left the bases loaded, leaving a difficult situation for him to handle.
He was given just a few minutes to warm up before being sent in to clean up the mess.