COLUMBIA, Mo. – One night after rallying from seven runs down to capture a key Southeastern Conference victory over Ole Miss, Missouri seized control early and ran away with a 13-3 run-rule victory to clinch a pivotal series win at Taylor Stadium.
Luke Mann paced the Tigers’ 13-hit attack, belting his third home run of the series—a first-inning, two-run shot that handed Mizzou (27-19, 7-16 SEC) the lead for good. Riding that momentum—and the pitching of Javyn Pimental—the Tigers broke the game wide open by scoring six unearned runs in the fourth to build an 8-0 cushion.
Pimental (1-0) earned his first victory as a Tiger, allowing just one run on four hits while striking out three over 4.0 innings to help Mizzou notch its first three-game win streak since winning six in a row in late March.
In all, four Tigers logged two-hit performances, including Trevor Austin and Ty Wilmsmeyer, who each homered to help fuel the late surge. A suddenly red-hot Mizzou lineup clubbed four home runs, just one night after hitting five round-trippers against the Rebels (24-23, 5-18 SEC).
After homering twice to help spur the Tigers’ comeback victory in Thursday’s series opener, Mann wasted little time in putting his stamp on game two of the series as well. With a man on in the home half of the first, the Mizzou third baseman belted an 0-1 pitch from JT Quinn over right-center field wall for a 2-0 Tiger lead.
Pimental made sure the lead stood, working around leadoff Rebel hits in the first two innings to keep the visitors off the scoreboard. The left-hander retired six straight following a one-out Will Furniss single in the second, setting the Rebels down in order in the third.
Quinn (3-2) was equally as impressive for Ole Miss over the first three frames, dispatching eighth consecutive Tigers from the first through the first hitter of the fourth.
But a pair of Ole Miss errors and a Dalton Bargo base hit sparked a Mizzou scoring opportunity in the home half. After singling with one out, Bargo advanced on an errant force attempt at second, then trotted home on an errant throw to first on Wilmsmeyer’s bunt single to make it a 3-0 game.
Next , Cam Chick delivered his second key hit in as many games against Ole Miss, lining a two-out single to right to plate two more Tigers. Ross Lovich and Austin followed with back-to-back singles that produced another run, before two walks and a hit batsman forced home the final two runs of the rally, giving Mizzou all the offense it would need.
After Wilmsmeyer led off the fifth with his third home run of the season, Austin followed his lead and launched a solo shot to open the sixth. The first five Tigers would reach base in the rally, highlighted by Hank Zeisler’stwo-run homer following a Mann base hit.
Matt Garcia capped the scoring with an RBI double, extending the lead to 13-1.
Ole Miss mounted a threat in the seventh, using run-scoring hits by Calvin Harris and Reagan Burford to close to within 10 runs. But Daniel Wissler piggybacked 2 2/3 innings of solid relief work from Nic Smith by retiring Furniss on a fly ball to left for the final out.
In addition to the efforts of Mann, Austin and Wilmsmeyer, Bargo scored two runs and added a two-hit effort, while Zeisler drove in three runs to lead the Tigers.
Mizzou improved to 11-15 all-time versus Ole Miss and 5-2 against the Rebels at home
The Tigers and Rebels conclude their three-game series Saturday (May 6) with a 2 p.m. contest.
Luke Mann paced the Tigers’ 13-hit attack, belting his third home run of the series—a first-inning, two-run shot that handed Mizzou (27-19, 7-16 SEC) the lead for good. Riding that momentum—and the pitching of Javyn Pimental—the Tigers broke the game wide open by scoring six unearned runs in the fourth to build an 8-0 cushion.
Pimental (1-0) earned his first victory as a Tiger, allowing just one run on four hits while striking out three over 4.0 innings to help Mizzou notch its first three-game win streak since winning six in a row in late March.
In all, four Tigers logged two-hit performances, including Trevor Austin and Ty Wilmsmeyer, who each homered to help fuel the late surge. A suddenly red-hot Mizzou lineup clubbed four home runs, just one night after hitting five round-trippers against the Rebels (24-23, 5-18 SEC).
After homering twice to help spur the Tigers’ comeback victory in Thursday’s series opener, Mann wasted little time in putting his stamp on game two of the series as well. With a man on in the home half of the first, the Mizzou third baseman belted an 0-1 pitch from JT Quinn over right-center field wall for a 2-0 Tiger lead.
Pimental made sure the lead stood, working around leadoff Rebel hits in the first two innings to keep the visitors off the scoreboard. The left-hander retired six straight following a one-out Will Furniss single in the second, setting the Rebels down in order in the third.
Quinn (3-2) was equally as impressive for Ole Miss over the first three frames, dispatching eighth consecutive Tigers from the first through the first hitter of the fourth.
But a pair of Ole Miss errors and a Dalton Bargo base hit sparked a Mizzou scoring opportunity in the home half. After singling with one out, Bargo advanced on an errant force attempt at second, then trotted home on an errant throw to first on Wilmsmeyer’s bunt single to make it a 3-0 game.
Next , Cam Chick delivered his second key hit in as many games against Ole Miss, lining a two-out single to right to plate two more Tigers. Ross Lovich and Austin followed with back-to-back singles that produced another run, before two walks and a hit batsman forced home the final two runs of the rally, giving Mizzou all the offense it would need.
After Wilmsmeyer led off the fifth with his third home run of the season, Austin followed his lead and launched a solo shot to open the sixth. The first five Tigers would reach base in the rally, highlighted by Hank Zeisler’stwo-run homer following a Mann base hit.
Matt Garcia capped the scoring with an RBI double, extending the lead to 13-1.
Ole Miss mounted a threat in the seventh, using run-scoring hits by Calvin Harris and Reagan Burford to close to within 10 runs. But Daniel Wissler piggybacked 2 2/3 innings of solid relief work from Nic Smith by retiring Furniss on a fly ball to left for the final out.
In addition to the efforts of Mann, Austin and Wilmsmeyer, Bargo scored two runs and added a two-hit effort, while Zeisler drove in three runs to lead the Tigers.
Mizzou improved to 11-15 all-time versus Ole Miss and 5-2 against the Rebels at home
- The Tigers clinched just their second SEC series win over Ole Miss in five all-time conference series matchups
- The Tigers also improved to 16-6 at home this spring
- Mann hit his 44th home run as a Tiger, moving to within one homer of Mike Rogers in the No. 2 position on Mizzou’s career home runs chart.
- Mann also recorded a home run for the third consecutive game
- The Tigers matched their 13-hit total from Tuesday night vs. Kansas as their top single-game total since March 17
- Zeisler extended his consecutive games reaching safely streak to 15 straight, dating back to April 11
- Mizzou also increased its season team home run total to 59, moving it into a tie for 10th (with the 2008 Tigers) on the program’s single-season list
- Tuesday’s announced attendance of 1,484 marked the Tigers’ 16th crowd of at least 1,000 fans in 19 home dates this season
- Mizzou’s season attendance total increased to 30,380, which is just 1,070 fans shy of matching the program’s all-time single-season record of 31,450 (set in 2008)
The Tigers and Rebels conclude their three-game series Saturday (May 6) with a 2 p.m. contest.
