LEXINGTON, Ky. – After Mizzou Baseball rallied from down 6-1 to take a 10-6 lead, Kentucky’s Cole Kottam hit a go-ahead eighth-inning grand slam as the Wildcats claimed the series finale, 11-10,Sunday afternoon at Cliff Hagan Field. The loss drops Mizzou to 29-15 and 9-12 in SEC play while Kentucky improves to 29-15 and 10-11 in league games.
Junior RHP Bryce Montes De Oca took the loss, allowing the Cottam slam after reliever Nile Ball loaded the bases after what was a gutty outing for Ball as Mizzou rallied to take the lead. Montes De Oca falls to 5-3 on the year. Mizzou got two men on in the ninth, but Zach Hanna struck out to strand the tying run in scoring position.
Mizzou got homers from Trey Harris and Brian Sharp, the latter of which was a go-ahead grand slam in the seventh inning.
TURNING POINT
After falling behind 6-1, Mizzou slowly chipped away at Kentucky’s lead and ultimately tied the game in the seventh inning on a bases-loaded infield single by SS Chris Cornelius. The lineup then turned over to the top and Sharp stepped in and launched a 2-1 pitch over the wall in left field for a grand slam homer, putting Mizzou on top 10-6.
That capped a stretch during which Mizzou scored nine straight runs with big hit after big hit. The hit that got Mizzou back in the game was a two-run blast by RF Trey Harris in the fifth inning. Mizzou then scored two more in the sixth on a Connor Brumfield homer and a Harris two-out RBI single. That set the stage for Mizzou’s five-run seventh inning.
But the lead did not hold. Ball, who was terrific in his first 4.0 innings of work, ran into a wall in the eighth and loaded the bases, hitting two batters in that stretch. That brought in Cottam and Mizzou went to the bullpen to get Montes De Oca. Cottam then turned on a 1-0 pitch and deposited it over the wall in left center for the game-winning slam.
QUOTING MIZZOU
Head Coach Steve Bieser
“Just a real tough loss. We battled. One thing we have to be proud of is that we competed. We spotted them way too many early in that game and it was going to be tough to come back. Then we kind of get everything to swing our way and then I though we did some things late in the game that was not great game-winning baseball.”
TOP TIGERS
- Junior 1B Brian Sharp extended his hitting streak to five games with a double to lead off the game. He scored a run in the first and then added the go-ahead grand slam in the seventh inning. He posted three hits in the loss.
- Senior RF Trey Harris hit his team-leading ninth homer of the year, a two-run shot in the fifth inning. It was his second homer of the series.
- Senior C Brett Bond picked up an RBI single in the first inning and posted a pair of first-inning RBIs during the series.
- Freshman Chad McDaniel extended his hitting streak to six games with a fifth-inning single. He tallied six hits in the series and is hitting 21-for-54 (.389) over his last 19 games.
- Junior CF Connor Brumfield hit his second career homer, a solo shot in the sixth inning, Sunday.
UP NEXT
Mizzou will continue its season Tuesday, stepping out of SEC play for a road game at Big Ten foe Iowa. First pitch for that game is at 3:05 p.m.
— Mizzou Athletics —