COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Baseball (12-33, 5-20 SEC) fell 5-4 to No. 3 Mississippi State (36-11, 17-8 SEC) as the Bulldogs rallied in the seventh to steal the series opener at Dudy Noble Field.
The Bulldogs struck first, scoring a pair on three hits in the bottom half of the first. Mizzou responded in the second as senior Alex Peterson worked a walk before stealing second and moving to third as the throw bounded into center field. Sophomore Ty Wilmsmeyer then laced a single through the left side to cut the deficit to 2-1 in the early going.
Mizzou took the lead in the third with a pair of two-out runs. Junior Tre Morris scored on a double steal to knot the game at 2-2 before junior Joshua Day drove in the go-ahead run with a single to left center.
The Tigers added to their advantage in the fifth as Keefer sparked the inning with a lead-off double. Redshirt Sophomore Luke Mann drove him home with a single up the middle for a 4-2 lead.
Mizzou’s lead held until the seventh when Mississippi State scored three runs on three hits. A two-out, bases-loaded infield single scored a pair of the runs to give the Bulldogs a 5-4 lead.
On the mound, junior Jacob Kush turned in a gem for his first career start at Mizzou. The right-hander settled in after surrendering a pair of first inning runs to work a season-long five frames. He struck out four Bulldogs and allowed just three hits.
#ShowMe top performers
- Andrew Keefer: 3-for-3, 2 R, 2B, SB, BB
- Jacob Kush: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 4 K, 2 BB
- Luke Mann: 1-for-2, RBI
HEAR FROM THE SKIPPER
Head coach Steve Bieser on the one-run loss…
“I mean it’s a really tough loss and I hurt for the guys. I thought we played really sound baseball and we knew they were going to make a charge, we knew that we needed to hold them off there and we just couldn’t find that final out in that inning. They were able to scoot two guys across on the infield hit and that’s the difference in the ballgame.”
#MIZ TAKEAWAYS
- Mizzou stole home for the second time in its past two road games.
- Mann’s RBI was his 19th of the season, second-most on the team, and first since April 16 at Florida.
- Kush did not allow a hit after surrendering three hits and both runs in the first inning.
- Keefer’s 3-for-3 night was his second of the season and team-leading 12th multi-hit game.
- Sophomore Spencer Miles worked 1.1 innings of hitless relief.
- Mizzou fell 5-4 in the series opener against a top-5 opponent for the second-straight week.
UP NEXT
Mizzou and Mississippi State meet in game two of the series on Friday night. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. on SEC Network +.
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