ATHENS, Ga. – The Mizzou Baseball team recaptured its winning ways Friday night as the Tigers used a five-run third inning and key pitching out of the bullpen by junior RHP Cole Bartlett (Williamsburg, Ind.) to defeat Georgia, 8-5 at Foley Field. A pair of two-run singles in the third by junior 3B Alex Samples (Bridgeport, Texas) and freshman SS Chris Cornelius (St. Louis, Mo.) were the key blows in the inning that put Mizzou ahead 7-1 at the time. The win evened the three-game series at one win apiece, and improved Mizzou to 22-9 overall and 5-6 in Southeastern Conference play, while the Bulldogs fell to 14-18 and 4-7. The victory also broke a seven-game losing streak that saw Mizzou drop five one-run ballgames during the stretch.
Mizzou’s pitchers scattered 14 hits, but stranded 14 Georgia baserunners on the evening. Bartlett (4-0) was very effective out of the ‘pen, and he received the win after going the final 4.1 innings in scoreless relief to close out the game. Bartlett entered in the bottom of the fifth with two on and two out and Mizzou leading 8-5, and he induced an inning-ending groundout to end the threat. He struck out three batters and allowed four hits on the night.
After being shut out for the first time this season last night, the Tiger offense wasted no time Friday, thanks to a two-run first-inning opposite field home run by junior RF and Georgia native Trey Harris (Powder Springs, Ga.). His fifth long ball of the season gave the Tigers a 2-0 lead and came two batters after senior CF Kirby McGuire (Round Rock, Texas) led off the game with a walk. The Bulldogs cut the Mizzou lead in half in the bottom of the frame, scoring a run on a double and two singles off sophomore LHP Michael Plassmeyer. Plassmeyer would pitch 3.2 innings and allow three runs on eight hits and four strikeouts with one walk in his no-decision.
The Tigers sent nine batters to the plate in the decisive third inning. Four singles and a pair of walks did the damage, including the two-run singles by Samples and Cornelius. Samples flared one down the right field line with one out to make it 5-1, and Cornelius followed later with a sharp two-out single up the middle for a 7-1 advantage. McGuire again was the catalyst of the rally, as he led off the inning with a perfect bunt single, and the Tigers would load the bases with no outs, after freshman LF Kameron Misner (Poplar Bluff, Mo.) singled and Harris walked. Freshman DH A.J. Lewis brought in the first run of the frame for the Tigers as he coaxed a bases-loaded walk to score McGuire, for his first career run batted in that made it 3-1 at the time.
Georgia again responded with a pair of runs on three hits and a walk to close to within 7-3. McGuire single-handedly extended Mizzou’s lead to 8-3 in the fourth inning, as he led off the frame being hit by a pitch. He promptly stole second base and then stole third, and he raced home when an errant throw from Georgia’s catcher trying to cut him down at third base bounced into left field.
Mizzou’s freshman sensation LHP T.J. Sikkema, named a mid-season first-team Rawlings All-American earlier this week, came on in relief in the bottom of the fourth to thwart a potential Georgia rally. Plassmeyer left with two on and two out in the fourth, and after Sikkema issued a walk to load the bases, he left them loaded when he struck out the UGA cleanup hitter to end the inning. Sikkema got into trouble in the fifth, allowing two runs (only one earned) on a walk, error and a pair of run-scoring singles that made it 8-5. But Bartlett put out the fire by getting an inning-ending groundout to preserve the lead.
The final game of the three-game set will take place at 1:30 p.m. (eastern) from brand new SunTrust Park in Atlanta, Ga.
— Mizzou Athletics —