ARLINGTON, Texas – Missouri clawed its way back from an early four-run deficit to pull out a 9-8 victory over No. 16 TCU in 10 innings Sunday evening at Globe Life Field, capping a 2-1 season-opening weekend at the College Baseball Showdown.
Ty Wilmsmeyer led Mizzou’s 16-hit attack with a 4-for-5 night at the plate. But it was his one-out walk and aggressive baserunning in the decisive 10th frame — along with more dominant pitching by the Mizzou bullpen — that proved to be the tipping point in a back-and-forth battle that saw the Tigers score six times in their final four turns at bat to pull out the victory over the Horned Frogs.
After Wilmsmeyer coaxed a walk from TCU’s Garrett Wright, Justin Colon’s grounder to second was misplayed for an error. Next, another miscue on an errant throw to second allowed Wilmsmeyer to ultimately trot home with the go-ahead run.
Zach Franklin (1-0) punctuated the victory with a scoreless bottom of the 10th that included two more strikeouts, finishing a critical three-inning effort over which he punched out seven hitters and allowed just one hit.
The victory came after TCU built a 6-2 lead early in the contest, as the preseason Big 12 Conference favorites struck for three runs in the first and fourth innings. Both clubs broke from the gate swinging hot bats, with Mizzou cashing in on Ross Lovich’s RBI single in the first, before TCU responded with three runs in the home half of the inning.
Austin Davis, who reached base safely in all four of his five trips to the plate, started the inning with a bunt single, before Brayden Taylor drove him home with a base hit. David Bishop delivered the biggest of the Horned Frogs’ three hits in the rally, driving a two-run double into the gap in right-center field to give TCU a 3-1 advantage.
Mizzou, which left 16 runners on base in the contest, threatened again in the second, loading the bases with one out on three singles. But TCU starting pitcher Sam Stoutenborough worked his way out of the jam by fanning back-to-back Tigers to keep it a two-run game.
Tre Morris came off the Missouri bench to drive in a third-inning run with a clutch two-out single, pulling the Tigers to within a run.
TCU rode a pair of walks, the lone Mizzou error of the game and an RBI double by Davis to another three-run rally, taking what appeared to be a commanding four-run cushion into the middle innings.
Tiger dual-sport standout Sam Horn provided a lift out of the Tiger bullpen, with the freshman right-hander touching 97 MPH and recording three strikeouts and allowing just one hit over 3.0 innings in his Mizzou Baseball debut.
The Tiger offense rode the momentum to a fifth-inning scoring rally, using another two-out hit by Morris to draw back to within three runs.
Then, in the seventh, two of TCU’s five errors spurred a two-run outburst that once again pulled MU to within a single run. Mann drove in his third run of the weekend with a two-out single through the shift on the right side, and a fielding miscue on Chick’s hot shot to third brought home Wilmsmeyer to make it a 6-5 game.
Mizzou completed the comeback in the eighth, as Trevor Austin’s leadoff triple and Matt Garcia’s fielder’s choice grounder produced the equalizing tally.
Franklin amplified the shift in momentum by fanning the side in the home half of the eighth, before two-out RBI singles by Juju Stevens and Austin handed the Tigers an 8-6 lead.
A hit batsman and a pair of walks opened the door for the Frogs in the bottom of the ninth, and Bishop burned the Tigers for the second time with a two-run single after Franklin had worked to within one strike of finishing off TCU.
But Mizzou rebounded promptly after Wilmsmeyer, who hit a blistering .583 for the weekend, reached base safely for the fifth time in the game.
In a combined 7.0 innings, the Mizzou relief corps of Carter Rustad, Horn and Franklin combined to strike out 11 TCU hitters while yielding just four hits to keep the Tigers within striking distance. For the weekend, Tiger relievers accounted for 29 of the staff’s 39 strikeouts in 17.2 innings, over which they allowed just eight hits.
In addition to Wilmsmeyer’s big night, Austin finished with three hits and Morris went 2-for-5 after entering the game in the third inning.
UP NEXT
Mizzou travels to Miami for a four-game set against FIU next weekend. The Tigers and Panthers will open their series with a pair of 5:30 p.m. (CT) contests, Thursday (Feb. 23) and Friday (Feb. 24), before concluding the weekend with a 4 p.m. game Saturday (Feb. 25) and an 11 a.m. tilt Sunday (Feb. 26).
