University of Missouri
21-21
Missouri State
28-11
@MizzouBaseball Routs Missouri State, 17-9, in Series Finale
4/26/2016 10:07:00 PM | Baseball
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Mizzou Baseball (21-21) topped Missouri State (28-11), 17-9, on Tuesday night (April 26) thanks to a pair of two-run bombs over the left field wall by Shane Benes (Town and Country, Mo.) and Zach Lavy (Auxvasse, Mo.). It was a team effort on offense as all nine Missouri players recorded a hit in the game, including six players with at least two hits, as Mizzou scored a season-high 17 runs.
RHP Cole Bartlett (Williamsburg, Ind.) took the ball for Mizzou for his second start of the season and earned his third win of the season. Bartlett kicked off a strong showing on the mound, retiring the first seven batters face and limiting Missouri State to just two hits, one run and one walk through five innings pitched. He finished the night with a career-high four strikeouts.
Lavy led the Mizzou offense with three hits and six RBI, the most for a Tiger since Eric Garcia on March 20, 2010, against Purdue. He also finished a triple shy of the cycle. Benes added three hits and five RBI of his own, including a two-run homer, good for his fifth home run this season. Marquise Doherty (Kansas City, Mo.) and Ryan Howard (St. Charles, Mo.) each contributed to the offensive effort with two hits apiece, Doherty with his first career multi-RBI game.
A pair of walks by Missouri State put two runners on base early in the second for Mizzou. Doherty capitalized with a RBI single to the right side, the second of his career. Connor Brumfield (Columbia, Mo.) followed up with a line shot to right, scoring Ian Nelson (Lake St. Louis, Mo.) and Doherty and giving Mizzou the 3-0 lead to end the second.
Lavy continued the offensive dominance for Missouri in the third with a rip to right field for a RBI double, tallying his 17th on the season. Benes followed up with a grounder to left center, scoring Lavy. Doherty recorded his second hit of the game with a liner to center putting Missouri up, 6-0.
A solo home run by Spencer Johnson in the fourth put Missouri State on the board but Mizzou responded with an explosive bottom half-inning. Jake Ring (Ingleside, Ill.) and Howard rounded up a pair of singles to kick off the fourth inning and Lavy knocked in a run with a sacrifice fly to left field. A Harris single up the middle set Benes up for a two-run blast over the bullpen, putting Mizzou ahead 10-1.
Missouri State threatened in the sixth with a four-run rally after a triple to right field by Steinmetz got the ball rolling. Jake Burger, Justin Paulsen and Jeremy Eierman all tallied RBI singles to bring MSU to within five. Mizzou answered with three runs in the sixth inning off a hard hit single by Benes and two in the seventh inning after a two-run shot by Lavy.
Paulsen tallied the fifth home run of the game with a two-run ball over the left center wall. Missouri State closed out the game with a three-run ninth inning but could not match Mizzou's offensive production.
Mizzou begins a three game series with Tennessee on Friday at Taylor Stadium. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. CT and can be seen on SEC Network+. For all the latest on Mizzou Baseball, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Twitter @MizzouBaseball and like the team on Facebook and Instagram (Mizzou Baseball).
Hear From Mizzou
Head Coach Tim Jamieson
On Zach Lavy and Shane Benes…
"Well Zach has been doing it all year. Zach has been one of the best hitters in the conference all year – just about every weekend. Shane has been a little up-and-down, but had a great game tonight. Hopefully that can build a little confidence and get him going for the weekend."
Senior 1B Zach Lavy
On his six-RBI performance…
"I can't have six RBIs if the guys in front of me aren't up there. You know, I was just taking a solid approach up to the plate and not trying to do too much. Luckily the ball found some grass and then found the cement across the fence. It's just a lot of fun playing with the lead and actually winning. That's the main thing."
On snapping the seven-game winning streak…
"There was a huge monkey on our back and finally it jumped off. Just really happy to get the W, especially against our in-state rivals. Really glad we won."
Postgame Notes
- Missouri State holds a 27-25 edge in the all-time series against Mizzou
- RHP Cole Bartlett earned his second start of the year and reset career high strikeouts with four and innings pitched with five
- Zach Lavy reached base for the 14th consecutive game, leading the SEC in both doubles (17) and base hits (29) after doubling and homering on Tuesday.
- Lavy leads Mizzou with 10 multi-RBI games this season
- Lavy set a new team-high and personal season-high six RBI in a game
- This is the first six RBI game for Missouri since March 30, 2010 against Purdue
- Marquise Doherty tallied his first career multi-RBI game and his first career start in the field
- Jake Ring stole his SEC-leading 22nd base, the most by a Tiger since 1998
- Shane Benes hit his fifth home run on the season, second on the team only behind Brett Bond
- Mizzou set a new season-high in runs and RBI with 17 on Tuesday
This is the first loss for Missouri State when both Spencer Johnson and Jake Burger hit a home run
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Bartlett, Cole (3-4)
L: Cheray,Andy (1-2)
Batting:
3B: Steinmetz,Hunter 1
HR: Johnson,Spencer 1 ; Burger,Jake 1 ; Paulsen,Justin 1
RBI: Johnson,Spencer 1 ; Burger,Jake 3 ; Paulsen,Justin 3 ; Eierman,Jeremy 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Steinmetz,Hunter 1 ; Johnson,Spencer 2 ; Burger,Jake 2 ; Ruff,Landan 1 ; Paulsen,Justin 2 ; Mantle,Ryan 1
Batting:
2B: Brumfield, Connor 1 ; Lavy, Zach 1
HR: Lavy, Zach 1 ; Shane Benes 1
RBI: Brumfield, Connor 2 ; Lavy, Zach 6 ; Harris, Trey 1 ; Shane Benes 5 ; Doherty, Marquise 3
SF: Lavy, Zach 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Brumfield, Connor 1 ; Ring, Jake 1 ; Howard, Ryan 4 ; Lavy, Zach 3 ; Harris, Trey 3 ; Shane Benes 2 ; Nelson, Ian 1 ; Doherty, Marquise 1 ; Klages, Jack 1
SB: Howard, Ryan 1 ; Harris, Trey 1
CS: Lavy, Zach 1
HBP: Lavy, Zach 1 ; Klages, Jack 1
