NASHVILLE, Tenn. – No. 14 Mizzou baseball dropped game two of its series at No. 8 Vanderbilt, 12-2, on Saturday afternoon (April 25) at Hawkins Field. Vanderbilt’s Philip Pfiefer struck out a career-high 13 Mizzou batters en-route to his third win of the season. Mizzou’s Tanner Houck (Collinsville, Ill.) was tagged with the loss after allowing seven runs on nine hits, both season-highs for the freshman.
Junior Josh Lester (Columbus, Ga.) and sophomore Ryan Howard (St. Charles, Mo.) each finished the game with two hits and senior Jake Ivory (St. Charles, Mo.) tallied his second career homer in the fifth inning. Howard and Ivory had the team’s RBIs on Saturday. The loss is just Mizzou’s third on Saturday this season, dropping the Tigers to 12-3 on Saturdays. Mizzou is now 26-17 and 12-8 in SEC play. Vanderbilt moves to 32-12 and 14-6 in SEC play.
Houck cruised through the first two innings before getting into trouble in the third. He allowed a bunt single to catcher Jason Delay. He was moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt and Ro Coleman then reached on a fielder’s choice to put a pair of men on ahead of a three-run homer by Rhett Wiseman, his second of the weekend. That gave Vanderbilt a 3-0 lead after three innings.
The Tigers looked primed to respond to the three-spot in the third, putting the first two runners on in the fourth. But strikeouts from Zach Lavy (Auxvasse, Mo.) and Trey Harris (Powder Springs, Ga.) and a fielder’s choice by Shane Benes (Town & Country, Mo.) got Vanderbilt out of the jam
Mizzou got on the board in the fifth inning on Ivory’s second career homer, a shot over the right field wall. But Vanderbilt came right back in the bottom of the frame, scoring on a two-out RBI double by Dansby Swanson to regain a three-run cushion at 4-1.
Vanderbilt then came back and put up a crooked number in the sixth, extending the lead to 7-1 before Houck was lifted in favor of Austin Tribby (Springfield, Mo.). Mizzou added another run in the seventh on an RBI double by Howard and Lester nearly cut into the lead as he drove a pitch to the warning track with runners on second and third, but it was caught for out No. 3 to end the threat. Vandy added a run in the seventh inning and four more in the eighth on a grand slam by Zander Wiel. Mizzou then got nothing in the ninth.
Mizzou and Vanderbilt will play the series finale Sunday at 1 p.m. at Hawkins Field. Peter Fairbanks (4-3, 2.48 ERA) will get the start for the Tigers against Vanderbilt’s Walker Buehler (3-1, 2.68 ERA). For all the latest on Mizzou baseball, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on twitter @MizzouBaseball.
Junior Josh Lester (Columbus, Ga.) and sophomore Ryan Howard (St. Charles, Mo.) each finished the game with two hits and senior Jake Ivory (St. Charles, Mo.) tallied his second career homer in the fifth inning. Howard and Ivory had the team’s RBIs on Saturday. The loss is just Mizzou’s third on Saturday this season, dropping the Tigers to 12-3 on Saturdays. Mizzou is now 26-17 and 12-8 in SEC play. Vanderbilt moves to 32-12 and 14-6 in SEC play.
Houck cruised through the first two innings before getting into trouble in the third. He allowed a bunt single to catcher Jason Delay. He was moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt and Ro Coleman then reached on a fielder’s choice to put a pair of men on ahead of a three-run homer by Rhett Wiseman, his second of the weekend. That gave Vanderbilt a 3-0 lead after three innings.
The Tigers looked primed to respond to the three-spot in the third, putting the first two runners on in the fourth. But strikeouts from Zach Lavy (Auxvasse, Mo.) and Trey Harris (Powder Springs, Ga.) and a fielder’s choice by Shane Benes (Town & Country, Mo.) got Vanderbilt out of the jam
Mizzou got on the board in the fifth inning on Ivory’s second career homer, a shot over the right field wall. But Vanderbilt came right back in the bottom of the frame, scoring on a two-out RBI double by Dansby Swanson to regain a three-run cushion at 4-1.
Vanderbilt then came back and put up a crooked number in the sixth, extending the lead to 7-1 before Houck was lifted in favor of Austin Tribby (Springfield, Mo.). Mizzou added another run in the seventh on an RBI double by Howard and Lester nearly cut into the lead as he drove a pitch to the warning track with runners on second and third, but it was caught for out No. 3 to end the threat. Vandy added a run in the seventh inning and four more in the eighth on a grand slam by Zander Wiel. Mizzou then got nothing in the ninth.
Mizzou and Vanderbilt will play the series finale Sunday at 1 p.m. at Hawkins Field. Peter Fairbanks (4-3, 2.48 ERA) will get the start for the Tigers against Vanderbilt’s Walker Buehler (3-1, 2.68 ERA). For all the latest on Mizzou baseball, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on twitter @MizzouBaseball.
