EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Cayden Nicoletto’s two-run homer sparked a three-run, ninth-inning rally that lifted University of Missouri baseball to an 11-8 non-conference victory over SIUE Tuesday evening at Roy E. Lee Field.
Moments after the Cougars scored a pair of unearned runs to tie the game at 8-8 in the bottom of the eighth, Tyler Macon singled to open the ninth, before Nicoletto lifted an 0-1 pitch from Kyle Rossy over the left-field wall to give the Tigers the lead for good. Chris Patterson capped a three-RBI night with a run-scoring triple that extended the margin to three runs, and Kadden Drew finished off the victory with a scoreless home half to complete an impressive four-inning relief effort.
The Tigers (12-20) built an early lead behind a career performance from Pierre Seals, who homered in the first inning to hand Mizzou a 2-0 lead, then drove home two more runs with a two-out double in the fourth. Patterson contributed a two-out hit of his own, driving in two runs with a third-inning single that flipped a 5-4 SIU lead into a one-run Tigers advantage.
Mizzou, which scored two runs in each of the first four innings, got a strong starting effort on the mound from Wil Libbert, who surrendered just one earned run while striking out five Cougars over the first 5.0 innings. The Tigers would have to overcome eight defensive miscues on the evening, including errors in each of the first two innings that led to four unearned SIUE runs.
In the second, the Tigers took advantage of a Cougars error to take a two-run lead, only to have the home club return the favor in the bottom half of the inning, as a two-out throwing error opened the door to a three-run rally.
After Seals’ two-run single in the fourth handed the Tigers an 8-5 advantage, Libbert closed out his performance with his best inning of the evening – a 1-2-3 fifth in which he struck out the side. From there, Drew (3-1) picked up where the freshman left-hander left off, setting down the side in order in the sixth and fanning two Cougars in the seventh, despite a pair of errors that produced the sixth SIUE run of the game.
But SIUE (13-18) pushed home two runs in the eighth to even the score, as four Missouri errors led to the sixth and seventh unearned runs of the contest for the Cougars.
Macon wasted little time in igniting the Tigers’ offense in the ninth, drilling a leadoff single to left-center on a 1-0 pitch, setting the table for Nicoletto’s heroics.
Libbert and Drew combined to allow just one earned run on 10 hits, while striking out eight SIUE batters. In addition to Seals’ three-hit performance, Macon finished 2-for-5 and scored three runs to help power the Tigers.
TIGER NOTEBOOK
- Missouri improved 21-6 all-time vs. SIUE with its victory.
- Patterson drove in three runs with a 2-for-5 effort, giving the freshman 13 RBIs in his last eight games (since March 29 vs. Texas).
- The Tigers committed eight errors for the first time in a game since March 27, 2016 vs. Vanderbilt.
- Seals matched his Mizzou career high with his three-hit game while driving in four runs – also a career best for the senior transfer.
- Drew earned his first mound victory in seven appearances since March 1 (vs. Evansville); his 4.0 innings represent his longest relief outing as a Tiger.
- Libbert allowed just one earned run, marking the fewest he has allowed in his seven starts this season.
- Mizzou logged 12 hits, marking its 17th double-digit hit total this season.
- With the win, MU improved to 4-0 on Tuesday this season and a combined 5-0 in midweek games (including Wednesdays).
- The Tigers also won their first true road contest of the season, improving to 1-7 in such games.
UP NEXT
The Tigers travel to Gainesville, Fla., to open a three-game Southeastern Conference series against Florida Thursday evening at 6 p.m.
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