NASHVILLE, Tenn. – No. 14 Mizzou baseball dropped its series finale at No. 8 Vanderbilt on Sunday at Hawkins Field. Vanderbilt scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to rally past the Tigers, who stranded eight men on base and squandered a great outing from junior right Peter Fairbanks (St. Louis, Mo.), who scattered five hits over 6.1 innings with just two runs. He struck out four and walked just two.

Mizzou’s 3-4-5 hitters – Ryan Howard (St. Charles, Mo.), Josh Lester (Columbus, Ga.) and Trey Harris (Powder Springs, Ga. – each tallied two hits with Lester clubbing his fourth homer of the season in the sixth inning. Mizzou left 27 runners on base in the three-game series. It is the first time Mizzou has been swept in SEC play this season.

Fairbanks was sensational through the first four innings, allowing just one hit and one walk, facing the minimum through four innings. Mizzou threatened to score in the fourth, putting runners on the corners with no outs but couldn’t get a run across. The Tigers then had two men on in the fifth and couldn’t capitalize. The Tigers stranded six runners through five innings.

Zander Wiel then got to Fairbanks in the fifth, launching a solo shot to left center on the first pitch Fairbanks threw in the frame, staking the Commodores to a 1-0 lead. He pitched out of the fifth, allowing just two hits through five, unfortunately one left the yard.

But as quick as Vanderbilt jumped on top, the Tigers tied the game. Just like Wiel did, Lester jumped on the first pitch that Buehler threw in the sixth for a solo homer over the bleachers in right field. It was his fourth homer of the season and it tied the game at 1-1. Trey Harris (Powder Springs, Ga.) then singled in the next at-bat, but the Tigers couldn’t get anything else going.

Mizzou took the lead on a two-out, RBI single by Jake Ring (Ingleside, Ill.) who knocked in Jack Klages (St. Louis, Mo.) on a hard-hit ball back up the middle. Klages led off the frame with a single before advancing to third as he reached base in three plate appearances Sunday.

Vanderbilt then tied the game on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the frame after Faribanks put runners on second and third with just one out. Austin Tribby (Springfield, Mo.) did a great job of pitching Mizzou out of that jam, getting the final two outs of the seventh inning, including a strikeout looking of Vandy catcher Karl Ellison to strand the go-ahead run at third base.

Mizzou then got into trouble in the eighth inning as a hit and an error on a sacrifice attempt put runners on the corners with no outs. Then, with the bases loaded, Dansby Swanson roped a Breckin Williams (Oronogo, Mo.) pitch off the wall in left for a two-run, go-ahead double. Vandy added another run on a two-out single by Will Toffey and took a 5-2 lead into the ninth. Mizzou went 1-2-3 in the ninth inning as Vandy completed the sweep.

Mizzou will look to snap its four-game losing streak Tuesday at No. 15 Missouri State. First pitch is slated for 6:30 p.m. at Hammons Field.

— MU Sports Information —