COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Baseball snagged the series sweep with an 11-10 victory over the UIC Flames after a walk-off solo home run by freshman OF Kameron Misner (Poplar Bluff, Mo.) to deep right center field on a 2-0 pitch in the bottom of the ninth. Trey Harris (Powder Springs, Ga.), Brian Sharp (Liberty, Mo.) and Chris Cornelius (St. Louis, Mo.) each tabbed a homer, marking the first time Mizzou has tallied four home runs in a game since the series finale against UIC last season on March 6 when Mizzou crushed four long balls.
Mizzou has now won 10 in a row, matching the longest streak by the Tigers since 2012. The Tigers are now 10-1 on the year, matching their best start to a season since 1985 (also opened 2015 with a 10-1 mark). UIC falls to 4-6 on the year.
Sharp had a great game for Mizzou, going 2-for-3 with two RBI and two walks. He made the transition to the mound in the eighth, limiting UIC to just one hit while fanning a batter as well. The righty earned his first win since March 4 of last season in a 7-4 victory over UIC.
Andy Toelken (Green Cove Springs, Fla.) found himself in a bind early in the contest putting three runners on after a hit batter, a single to left and a walk. UIC pushed the first run of the day across the plate with a single lined to center field. The Flames added an additional run off a fielder’s choice to take a 2-0 lead heading into the bottom of the first.
Junior Nelson Mompierre (Miami, Fla.) drew a walk to get the momentum rolling for Mizzou in the bottom of the third. With a runner on, Cornelius approached the dish and blasted a two-run bomb over the left field wall to make it a tie ball game. Juniors Brett Bond (St. Louis, Mo.) and Matt Berler (Hoover, Ala.) knocked a pair of singles but remained stranded after a groundout to end the inning. Berler has now reached base safely in eight consecutive games, dating back to the beginning of the season.
Sharp blasted an opposite shot homer to left field in the bottom of the fourth to put Mizzou ahead, 3-2. UIC climbed back on top in the top of the next inning after a two-run shot to left off the bat of Cody Bohanek. The Flames tacked on a pair of runs after back-to-back solo shots in the sixth inning by Scott Ota and Bowen Ogata. However, sophomore LHP Ty Shoaff (Akron, Ohio) entered the game and retired three consecutive batters to get out of the inning.
Mizzou rallied in the bottom of the sixth to put two runners on base after a rip up the middle by Alex Samples (Bridgeport, Texas) and a free pass to Sharp. Harris followed with a double smoked down the left field line for his 10th hit of the season, plating two for Mizzou and making it a 6-5 ball game, UIC.
The offensive production continued for Mizzou as Bond smacked a two-out single through the left side for the game tying RBI in the bottom of the seventh. Sharp sustained the hitting brigade with single up the middle to put Mizzou ahead. With runners on the corners, Harris stepped to the plate and crushed a three-run bomb over the center field wall for his first homer of the season, giving Mizzou the 10-6 lead.
UIC did not go down without a fight as the Flames plated four in the top of the eighth after a five-hit inning including a game tying double by Ricardo Ramirez. Sharp pitched a lights-out ninth inning to send the game to the bottom of the ninth, paving way for the walkoff homer by leadoff batter Misner. He went 0-for-4 in the game before working a 2-0 count in his final at-bat and roping a fastball through the pine trees over the fence in right center.
Mizzou will play its first home midweek games this week at Taylor Stadium, hosting Eastern Illinois Tuesday and Western Carolina Wednesday.
— Mizzou Athletics —