MIAMI – Mizzou Baseball came up short on Sunday (Feb. 18), falling to Florida International, 11-5, failing to complete the season-opening series sweep. Mizzou went on top, 5-2, with five runs in the fifth inning but gave the lead right back in the bottom half of the frame. Mizzou falls to 2-1 on the season.

Mizzou hit six batters in the game and that was a key reason for the Panthers’ four-run fifth that sank the Tigers. Mizzou stranded nine men on base in the loss.

RS sophomore Cody Siebenberger (Smithton, Ill.) took the loss while FIU RHP Steven Casey earned the win. Junior OF Connor Brumfield (Columbia, Mo.) tallied a career-high four hits while sophomore 1B Kameron Misner (Poplar Bluff, Mo.) walked in four of his five plate appearances, tallying an RBI and a run. Junior OF Zach Hanna (Shawnee, Kan.) had a three-run, bases-loaded double in Mizzou’s five-run fifth as well.

TURNING POINT
After Mizzou took a 5-2 lead with five runs in the top of the fifth inning, three coming on a Zach Hanna (Shawnee, Kan.) double, the Panthers responded with a four-spot in their half of the frame. That gave FIU a 6-5 lead that it never surrendered. DH Christian Khawam delivered the go-ahead hit, a two-run double. FIU then tacked on five more in the eighth inning. The Panthers then iced the game with five in the bottom of the eighth.

TOP TIGERS
– Junior OF Zach Hanna drove in a career-high three runs with his bases-clearing double in the fifth inning.

– Sophomore Kameron Misner walked three times in the game, earning an RBI and scoring a run. He walked eight times in the series.

– Junior OF Connor Brumfield tallied a four-hit performance with a double from the leadoff spot.

UP NEXT
Mizzou will stay in the Sunshine State for another week, first playing at Miami on Wednesday (Feb. 21) at 5 p.m.

— Mizzou Athletics —