The SEMO Conference game between Jackson and Poplar Bluff was a standoff even before the first pitch Monday.
Each side opened with a three-run first inning but Poplar Bluff got a pair of two-out RBI singles in the fourth to pull ahead. That was enough to back Ronin Rice's complete-game effort as the Mules won 5-3 at Bobby Strenfel Field.
"We were a little tight in the beginning, I would say," Mules coach Steven Edwards said.
The start of the game was delayed when players from both sides remained on the foul line following the national anthem. Rice said the pregame standoff may have thrown him off a bit to start the game.
"That was crazy," he added.
Jackson (16-6, 5-2 SEMO) had three hits and a walk in the opening inning but managed just two hits and a walk the rest of the day.
The Mules (13-5, 5-1), meanwhile, had just one hit in their three-run first, taking advantage of an error, two walks and a hit batter to pull event.
"That's something you can't do," Jackson coach Bryan Austin said. "You put up a big inning you can't allow a team to answer back and score runs like that, and we did off one hit."
Edwards said he told his team to just chip away at the three-run deficit.
"Tied the ballgame up and momentum switched," he added. "You know, it's baseball. It's the greatest sport ever and you're going to have to learn how to fight through adversity and our boys did today."
A one-out walk started Poplar Bluff's rally in the fourth. Austin McIntosh, who was 3 for 3, hit a hard grounder off the glove of the diving third baseman and Kyler Carr attempted to go from first to third as the ball trickled into the outfield. But the Indians were able to get there first for the second out as McIntosh moved into scoring position then stole third base five pitches later. Jared Moses followed with a full-count hit up the middle to break the tie. Rice added an RBI single with an opposite-field single.
"I was just trying to put the ball in the hole and I somehow found a way," Rice said.
After a rough start, Rice settled in on the mound. The Poplar Bluff lefty retired nine straight at one point, finishing with three strikeouts, two walks and three runs on five hits.
"I thought the change was he located a lot of off-speed pitches later on in the game which changed our kids' approaches at the plate," Austin said.
Jackson's leadoff hitter Cole Walker laced the first pitch of the game into the right-field gap for a double and Braeden Dobbs drew a one-out walk. Walker scored on a delayed double steal while Colten Weber and Landon Hahn provided RBI singles.
The Mules matched Jackson's start unconventionally. Moses led off with a single and moved to third on a throwing error attempting to get the lead runner on Rice's bunt. Moses later scored on a delayed double steal before Poplar Bluff loaded the bases on a pair of walks and a hit batter.
Michael Anagnostopoulos hit a grounder to the right side, scoring a run when he beat the throw to first as the Indians attempted to turn a double play. With a full count on the next hitter, Anagnostopoulos took a big lead off first base and allowed himself to get picked off, avoiding the tag in a rundown before the tying run scored.
Drew Brown led off the second with a single but the Mules turned an around-the-horn double play.
"It was huge," Edwards said.
Rice and his defense retired 11 of the next 12 hitters.
Dobbs had a one-out double in the third but didn't move and Rice got out of a two-on jam in the sixth after a one-out walk with a strikeout.
Anagnostopoulos made a diving catch in foul ground after a long run in the fifth.
In the seventh, Poplar Bluff's lone error put the leadoff hitter on base but Rice got a strikeout and catcher Mason Libla picked a ball out of the turf to throw out a runner at second.
"That's a big win," Rice said. "It means a lot because district, conference, all that. It puts us in a good spot where we want to be at the end of the year."
The teams could meet again later this week in the SEMO Conference Tournament and in the MSHSAA Class 5 District 1 playoffs.
The Mules end conference play by hosting New Madrid Central on Tuesday. Prior to the game, nine seniors will be honored.