Two-Out Rally Dooms @MizzouBaseball in 2-1 Loss at Kentucky

Friday, May 20

Lexington, Ky.

11 a.m. (CST)

University of Missouri

26-28, 9-20

Kentucky

31-24, 14-15

Mizzou

Kentucky

Two-Out Rally Dooms @MizzouBaseball in 2-1 Loss at Kentucky

5/20/2016 1:30:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Mizzou Baseball dropped game two of its series at Kentucky, 2-1, on Friday afternoon at Cliff Hagan Field. The Tigers lost despite a masterful start from senior RHP Reggie McClain (Duluth, Ga.) who went 8.0 innings and scattered just six hits with eight strikeouts and no walks in a loss. Two infield hits came around to score in the bottom of the sixth inning and that backed UK starter Dustin Beggs, who went 8.0 innings shutout innings, scattering just six hits with two walks and six strikeouts in his ninth win of the year.

The loss means Mizzou will need to do scoreboard watching on Friday as it looks to secure a spot in next week's SEC Tournament. Mizzou can still clinch a berth to the tournament on Friday with losses by both Tennessee and Georgia.

McClain and Beggs matched each other inning for inning as each pitcher kept throwing up zeroes quickly and efficiently. Mizzou threatened in multiple innings to begin the game but had two runners picked of and hit into a 6-4-3 double play as the Tigers stranded four runners through six.

After retiring nine in a row with two down in the sixth, McClain surrendered two straight infield hits. SS Riley Mahan then roped a 1-2 pitch past Ian Nelson (Lake St. Louis, Mo.) at second to plate a run and put runners on the corners with two down. UK then pulled off the double steal to plate another run to extend the lead to 2-0 after six.

Mizzou's offense was quiet in the seventh and eighth innings as Beggs held the Tigers at bay. UK brought in closer Sean Hjelle for the top of the ninth inning. SS Ryan Howard (St. Charles, Mo.) led off the frame with a double and scored on a Trey Harris (Powder Springs, Ga.) groundout. But pinch runner Johnny Balsamo (Kansas City, Mo.) was picked off to end the game.

The rubber game of the series is slated for a 12 p.m. (CT) start tomorrow. For all the latest on all things 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

Opening statement…
"Reggie competed his butt off and pitched well. They scored two runs when we made a complete of defensive bad choices. They should not have scored a run. And then we lose more than an inning worth of runners on pick offs."

On the pickoffs…
"Well it's hard to say because you don't know what would have happened. But you know that we would have at least had people on base with people at the plate swinging the bat and you can't get a chance to score runs if you don't have runners on base."

Game Notes

Mizzou still leads the all-time series with Kentucky, 6-5.
Mizzou falls to 6-7 on the season.
OF Kirby McGuire led off the game with a single and has now hit safely in four straight games.
3B Brian Sharp tallied his second consecutive multi-hit game, his seventh of the season. It marked the first time in his career that he had multi-hit games in back-to-back games.
McClain has now tossed a quality start in three of his last four starts.
McClain eclipsed the 100.0-inning mark for the second consecutive year on Friday.