COLUMBIA, Mo. – Jackson Lovich’s grand slam powered a seven-run second inning that helped University of Missouri baseball to a 10-9 victory over in-state rival Missouri State Tuesday evening at Taylor Stadium.
Lovich, who finished 2-for-5 with five runs batted-in, delivered a second clutch hit with his RBI triple as part of the Tigers’ go-ahead, three-run rally in the sixth inning that ultimately paved the way to Mizzou’s fifth-consecutive win in its series with the Bears (19-16).
Missouri (13-23) broke on top with its biggest inning since a nine-run rally vs. UAPB on April 1, using a Pierre Seals leadoff single to ignite its offense in the second. Chris Patterson put the Tigers on the board with a run-scoring double to right-center, before Peyton Basler added an RBI single to make it a 2-0 game. Next, a walk to Keegan Knutson and a Kaden Peer hit-by-pitch forced home another baserunner, setting up Lovich’s second grand slam in his last six games on the first pitch he saw from MSU’s Owen Slater.
In order to notch their eighth home win of the season, the Tigers withstood a pair of MSU rallies after building the early 7-0 lead. The Bears began their comeback with a fourth-inning tally via a Tyler Epstein two-out single, then pulled to within a run with a five-run fifth. Nick Rodriguez came through with a grand slam after the previous four hitters reached base to open the inning.
In the sixth, MSU knotted the score at 7-7 with another long ball, this one off the bat of Curry Sutherland.
But Mizzou responded in its half of the inning, getting a leadoff single from Tyler Macon and a double by Knutson to set the table once more. Peer put the home club on top to stay with his run-producing bouncer to first, before Lovich blasted a triple to center to chase home the second run of the inning. Cayden Nicoletto capped the rally with another RBI single through the left side of the MSU infield to make it a 10-7 contest.
After Mizzou starter Wil Libbert held the Bears in check early, registering a career-best seven strikeouts through the first four frames, another freshman pitcher would complete the victory for the Tigers. PJ Green (1-1) took over in the seventh and promptly retired six straight hitters – recording seven outs – to bring MU to within two outs of victory. The right-hander yielded a one-out walk, followed by a two-run Caden Bogenpohl home run that cut the margin to just one run, but worked around a two-out triple to record the final out on an infield pop-up for his first collegiate mound victory.
In addition to Lovich’s 13th multi-hit and 10th multi-RBI performance this season, three additional Tigers – Knutson (2-for-3), Seals (2-for-4) and Macon (2-for-4) – turned in two-hit nights, while Peer finished with two RBIs to pace Mizzou’s 11-hit attack.
Three Mizzou hurlers, including Libbert, Kadden Drew and Green, combined to strike out 11 Bears, while scattering eight hits on the night.
TIGER NOTEBOOK
- Missouri extended its all-time series advantage over Missouri State to 35-31, having won each of the last five meetings since 2023.
- The Tigers also improved to an unblemished 6-0 record in Tuesday and Wednesday midweek contests this spring.
- Mizzou hiked its non-conference record to 65-25 (.722) over the past four seasons.
- Lovich’s grand slam marked his second as a Tiger – and his second in the month of April after hitting his first vs. UAPB on April 1.
- Patterson extended his career-best hit streak to seven games, having recorded a hit in 10 of his last 11 appearances.
- Seals also extended his hitting streak to six games, equaling a career best.
- Libbert matched a season and career high with his seven strikeouts over 4.0-plus innings; Tuesday’s effort marked his third seven-strikeout performance, with the last coming vs. UAPB on April 1.
- Libbert has tallied 24 punchouts in 17.2 innings of work over his last four mound appearances (since March 25 vs. Illinois).
- Green earned his first collegiate win, limiting the Bears to two runs on two hits with two strikeouts over the final 3.0 innings.
UP NEXT
The Tigers open a three-game Southeastern Conference series with No. 16 Oklahoma Thursday evening at Taylor Stadium with a 7 p.m. first pitch. Single-game tickets for all 2025 Mizzou baseball home contests are available by calling the ticket office at 1-800-CAT-PAWS or by visiting MUTigers.com.
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