JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – Missouri farmers are attempting to team up with the state’s firefighters to eliminate forever chemicals and keep first responders safer.

On International Firefighters’ Day, Saturday, May 4, the Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council encouraged farmers to discuss the health and environmental benefits of soy-based foam with local fire departments.

As firefighters take inherent risks just by clocking into work, the Council said they rely on many tools to fight fires – including foam. However, traditional foams pose the risk of exposure to PFAS, forever chemicals.

Agriculture officials indicated that SoyFoam, a safer alternative, eliminates exposure and prioritizes first-responder well-being. The SoyFoam TF1122 from Cross Plains Solutions is the first and only GreenScreen gold-level certified foam. It is 100% free of forever chemicals and fluorines and has been biodegradable certified.

“Farmers know the value of protecting our communities. Just like we nurture our land, firefighters bravely defend our neighborhoods,” said Aaron Porter, Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council (MSMC) chair. “SoyFoam™ isn’t just about crops; it’s about keeping our heroes safe. Let’s stand with our firefighters and support this safer option, ensuring their safety as they protect us.”

The Council noted that another benefit of SoyFoam is that it is made with soy flour. While soy-based products primarily use soybean oil, SoyFoam uses the meal component of the bean. That is a potential of 12 million bushels of soybean.

“We are proud to partner with U.S. Soy to launch this breakthrough firefighting foam for use by fire departments across the nation,” said Cross Plains Solutions’ Managing Partner Alan Snipes. “Our manufacturing plant in Georgia is ready to produce SoyFoam now so fire departments can ask their suppliers to offer it. We also see demand for numerous additional applications, ranging from canisters to sprinkler systems.”

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has reported that forever chemicals have now been found in water, air, fish and soil all across the nation. Exposure has been linked to cancers, reductions in birth weights and thyroid dysfunction. Mitigation through soy-based products could create a real change in quality of life.

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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. The result? He got out of the jam quickly on a strikeout and a double play. Then, he retired twelve of the next thirteen batters he faced, putting four innings’ worth of zeroes on the scoreboard.

Coach Kerrick Jackson said his gameplan was always to use Rustad after Pimental’s day was over, though neither he nor anyone thought his day would end in the first inning.

“[Rustad] was going to be the first guy that we were going to go to today,” he said. “So when [the early exit] happened, his mind was already there. Unfortunately, just earlier than we anticipated.”

By the seventh, the Gamecock offense had begun to wake up, tagging Rustad for three runs. However, Missouri’s offense had left South Carolina in the dust by then, scoring eight runs to put MU up by five. Brock Lucas took over in the eighth and threw two scoreless innings to seal the victory for the Tigers.

Coach Jackson said that Missouri (21-17, 7-16 SEC) appeared Saturday as an entirely different team than the one which lost Friday’s game 10-2.

“What they did last night, I don’t know what worked for them to put them in the mindset that they were in today, but you saw two completely different teams [on Friday and Saturday,]” said Jackson.

Missouri’s offense showed up early and often, starting the first inning with a four-run base-hit brouhaha. Brock Daniels led off with a double which just barely eluded the glove of Carolina third baseman Gavin Casas, and then three of the next four Tigers singled.

Another single, by Drew Culbertson, scored Jackson Lovich from second for the fourth of four runs.

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They tacked on three runs in the next three innings through— you guessed it! Four more singles. Eight of MU’s 12 hits were singles. Small-ball lovers everywhere rejoiced.

Culbertson, in particular, had an impressive game. Twice in the game, the Gamecock coaches ordered their pitcher to intentionally walk Matt Garcia in favor of Drew Culbertson with men on base. On both of those occasions, Culbertson smacked RBI singles instead of going out easily.

In the type of complete performance that Coach Jackson has been reaching towards all year, Missouri showed out on defense with some web gems across the diamond. Matt Garcia and Justin Colon both turned hard-hit grounders into impressive jump-throw putouts, and Jackson Lovich, as if he hadn’t impressed enough with his two-RBI triple, dove for an impressive catch in center field.

Meanwhile, the Gamecocks failed to impress on defense, committing two costly errors. A misplay of a fly ball off the wall by left fielder Kennedy Jones let Brock Daniels score to start off the four-run first. Later in the third, third baseman Gavin Casas made a throw that was way off of first, allowing Mateo Serna to advance to third and load the bases.

That inning then took a turn for the worse, and thus discounted the game from being a “complete” performance. Drew Culbertson singled to score Serna from third, but the other two runners were derailed by baserunning miscues. Jeric Curtis, who was on second, rounded third, bound for home plate, but then changed his mind and instead retreated to third. Matt Garcia had also decided to head to third, and by the time he realized it was occupied, he had already been tagged out.

Indeed, Missouri pitched well, hit well, and defended well, but their only mistakes came on the basepaths.

Jackson said the mistake was indicative of faults he has seen all year.

“It worries me as much as us being inconsistent all year worries me. And that falls under the category of playing good baseball,” he said. “It’s just baseball IQ and understanding the situations.”

Norm Makes Appearance

Many Missouri baseball alumni showed out for Alumni Day, including legendary MU basketball coach Norm Stewart, who was a member of the 1954 College World Series championship team.

Coach Kerrick Jackson said that his ultimate goal at Missouri is to achieve success at the level that Stewart did. The Missouri native, 89, won the Big Eight tournament six times and made the Elite Eight three times. Stewart has been in the news lately, as he was inducted into the Hall of Famous Missourians in Jefferson City on Wednesday.

“Being able to attempt to emulate what he did over that time is always the ultimate goal,” said Jackson. “And he did it for a long period of time and kind of set a standard in the precedent of what Mizzou athletics is supposed to be about.”

They’re anything but predictable.

After Kerrick Jackson lamented his Missouri baseball team’s inconsistency following a Friday night, series-opening loss, Mizzou came out firing, taking down South Carolina 8-3 to even the set Saturday at Taylor Stadium.

Jackson, the night before, said, “We are who we are,” which is to say that the coach never quite knows which Missouri team is about to take the field.

On Saturday, he was proven right.

“You saw two completely different teams,” Jackson said. “So that’s what we’re, as a coaching staff, trying to figure out. How do we get that (Saturday’s) one?”

The Tigers (21-27, 7-16 SEC) were at their best, and at their best from the jump.

The plate discipline and missed chances that aggrieved Jackson to no end in the opener? Gone.

Missouri jumped on Gamecocks (31-15, 12-11) starter Eli Jones, tagging him for five hits in the opening inning. Each of the four run-scoring hits came with two strikes on the count.

Leadoff hitter Brock Daniels stretched a 2-2 hit into a double, and Trevor Austin drove him home. Mateo Serna cracked a single up the right-field line to get Austin across, and Drew Culbertson matched that to give the Tigers a four-run, first-inning lead.

Eight Mizzou players ended the game with a hit. Four players recorded multi-hits, including Culbertson, who entered the game with a .204 average but drove in a game-high three runs. The Tigers finished with 12 hits and 11 strikeouts at the plate.

“You saw both sides of it today. You saw some guys that were in there and got some two-strike hits and then you saw some guys chase with two strikes,” Jackson said. “So, we’re just trying to get them to understand, ‘hey, understand what the approach is, buy into the approach, be consistent with the approach, and good things can happen.’”

More: Legendary Missouri basketball coach Norm Stewart inducted into Hall of Famous Missourians

The pitching woes and late-inning defensive miscues that doomed MU to an eight-run loss in the opener? Far removed in Game 2.

Even under unconventional circumstances.

Missouri right-hander Carter Rustad replaced lefty Javyn Pimental just 13 pitches into his start, after Pimental “felt something in his elbow,” Jackson said. Rustad went 6⅔ innings, by which time he’d allowed five hits for three runs, all earned. He struck out six and gave up no walks. Missouri finished the game with no errors.

Rustad inherited two runners in the first and watched the bases load five pitches into his relief appearance, but struck the next batter out swinging and then drew a groundout to end the inning. After that, he essentially froze the Gamecocks while MU’s offense provided all the necessary run support.

“I don’t want to take any credit for the offensive production, but I think that kind of kept the confidence in the team,” Rustad said. “I think if that kind of gets out of hand, it’s the SEC. It’s tough to come back from stuff like that. So yeah, I think that played a big role in how well I settled throughout the game.”

It was a timely win for the Tigers.

For the time being, Missouri pulled within 1.5 games of each its two closest challengers for a guaranteed postseason berth.

Friday’s loss saw Missouri fall two games behind in the race to make the SEC Baseball Tournament, as Ole Miss and LSU — MU’s main challengers for the 12th and final qualifying spot in the league — both picked up series-opening wins. Mizzou must leapfrog one of those teams to ensure a postseason.

LSU hosts No. 1-ranked Texas A&M and Ole Miss faces Game 2 at Auburn on Saturday evening.

Sunday’s rubber match could be an important one for Missouri, which welcomes last-placed Auburn to Columbia next weekend before a road series at Mississippi State to close the regular season.

It hasn’t happened for Mizzou yet, but there’s a pretty clear, three-word phrase for the remaining seven games, starting with the Gamecocks at 1 p.m. Saturday at Taylor Stadium.

“I don’t think we did anything outstanding today,” Jackson said. … “It was just the same thing we’ve been saying all year: Play clean baseball.”

“Just stay consistent. I think we’ve struggled with that this year,” Rustad said. “And if we can just play baseball like we did today — clean baseball — we’ll be in a great spot the next few weeks.”

More: Missouri football transfer portal tracker: Who is joining, leaving Tigers?