COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mateo Serna’s grand slam punctuated a six-run outburst and propelled University of Missouri baseball to a 10-6 victory over in-state rival Missouri State Tuesday evening at Taylor Stadium. With the victory, the Tigers won for the fourth-straight time in the series and completed their second-consecutive season sweep of the Bears.
Serna drove in a career-high five runs, four of which came on his second home run in as many games this season against the Bears (17-22) as part of a six-run sixth inning that turned a one-run game into a 9-2 Mizzou advantage.
The Tigers (19-23) rode a strong start from junior right-hander Bryce Mayer and back-to-back RBI singles from Kaden Peer and Trevor Austin to an early 2-0 advantage. Mayer, who struck out six Bears and scattered five hits over 4.0 scoreless innings, worked out of jams in both the first and second frames, getting inning-ending punchouts in each to keep MSU off the scoreboard.
After MSU starter Tyler Charlton retired the first six Tigers of the game in succession, Mizzou put its offense into gear with one out in the third, using a Drew Culbertson base hit and a hit batsman to generate its first scoring threat of the game. Peer turned on a 1-2 pitch from Jake Syverson (0-2) and lined a run-scoring single to right, driving in Culbertson with the first run of the contest. Moments later, Austin followed suit, lining a two-strike offering into right-center to bring in another baserunner for a 2-0 MU lead.
Danny Corona extended the Mizzou lead to three runs in the fourth, driving a first-pitch offering over the wall in center field for his first home run as a Tiger.
Following Mayer’s scoreless four innings to open the night, MU left-hander Daniel Wissler (3-1) worked a pair of 1-2-3 innings to keep the Bears in check. MSU used a pair of extra-base hits to break up the shutout bid in the sixth, as Cody Kelly’s two-bagger chased home Nick Rodriguez, who led off the inning with a double of his own. Logan Chambers added an RBI single to slice the margin to one run.
But Austin delivered his second key hit of the game to lead off the home half of the sixth, punching a double into left-center field to spark the Tigers’ pivotal rally. Thomas Curry and Matt Garcia drew walks to load the bases, and Serna made the Bears pay, driving a 1-0 pitch from Eric Loomis well beyond the wall in left-center for a back-breaking grand slam — the first for a Mizzou hitter this season — stretching a one-run lead into a five-run cushion.
Mizzou wasn’t quite done, as two additional walks and a Bears defensive miscue loaded the bases once more. Brock Daniels delivered another damaging blow, lining a two-run single to left to extend the lead (9-2), as well as his career-best hit streak (10 games).
Serna made it an eight-run game with an RBI single in the seventh after Austin drew a leadoff walk and Curry singled to spark the MU offense once again. In all, Austin reached base safely in each of his final four plate appearances and factored in three of the Tigers’ four scoring rallies on the night.
The Bears chipped away at the Mizzou lead with a run in the eighth, before putting three ninth-inning tallies on the board to close the gap to four runs.
TIGER NOTEBOOK
- With the victory, Missouri now holds a 34-31 all-time advantage over the Bears, including a 20-14 edge in Columbia.
- The Tigers have claimed wins in the last four meetings, marking their longest win streak in the series since 2018-19.
- Daniels extended his career-best hit streak to 10 games (dating back to April 7) and logged his eighth multi-RBI game of the campaign.
- Daniels is batting .400 (22-of-55) in the month of April, which includes three home runs and 21 of his 24 RBIs on the season.
- Mayer blanked the Bears on five hits through four innings, marking the longest scoreless outing of his Mizzou career.
- Serna’s grand slam was the first for a Tiger since May 6, 2023, when Luke Mann connected for a slam against Ole Miss.
- With his 2-for-5 performance, Serna also logged his first multi-hit effort as a Tiger.
- Corona fourth-inning homer was the first of his Mizzou career and the 19th of the junior transfer’s collegiate career; it was his first long ball since clubbing a pair of homers for Wake Forest in a Super Regional win vs. Alabama on June 11, 2023.
- Austin his team-leading 12th multi-hit game of the season and moved into sole possession of third place on Mizzou’s career HBP chart (44).
- Wissler notched his third victory of the season, holding MSU to two runs on three hits with four strikeouts over 3.0 innings.
- Mizzou improved to 13-11 in nonconference action this season, clinching a winning non-SEC record with just one nonconference left on its schedule.
UP NEXT
Mizzou opens a three-game Southeastern Conference series with Tennessee Thursday (April 25) evening in Knoxville. First pitch from Lindsey Nelson Stadium is set for 6 p.m. (CDT).
