The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Missouri
No. 3 Baseball upended by Missouri, 8-5
05.20.2006 | Baseball
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The Tigers pounded out 13 hits to overcome two early deficits as No. 3 Texas lost an 8-5 contest to Missouri in front of 1,942 fans at Taylor Stadium on Saturday, May 20.
Although the Longhorns (38-17, 19-6 Big 12) attempted to battle back in the later innings, UT lost its second straight decision to Missouri (28-24, 11-15 Big 12), marking only its second conference series loss of the year.
While Mizzou jumped in front 1-0 in the bottom of the first on a solo home run from Jacob Priday, the Horns countered with a two-run blast off the bat of Bradley Suttle (Borne, Texas to pull on top 2-1 in the second. Answering immediately in the bottom of the frame, the Tigers had Evan Frey reach after being hit by a pitch, steal second and score on a two-out hit from J.C. Field to tie the game at 2-2. In the third, Nick Peoples (Round Rock, Texas) drew a one-out walk and Chance Wheeless (Round Rock, Texas) and Drew Stubbs (Atlanta, Texas) followed with back-to-back doubles to plate two runs and give UT a 4-2 advantage.
Coming right back in the bottom of the third, Missouri put two runners on to open the inning via a single and a walk before a bad-hop base hit and a double-play groundout brought in two scores and tied the game at 4-4. Hunter Mense then connected on a two-out home run to stake the Tigers to a 5-4 lead. Although the Longhorns would place a runner in scoring position in two of the next three frames, Mizzou starter Rick Zagone worked out of trouble each time to maintain the one-run advantage. UT reliever Kyle Walker (The Woodlands, Texas), meanwhile, came on in relief to start the fourth and retired nine in a row. Texas would then load the bases on a pair of bunt base hits and a walk in the seventh, but MU reliever Brant Combs retired the first batter he faced to end the threat.
In the bottom of the seventh, Mizzou used a pair of singles and a wild pitch with one out to place runners at second and third before consecutive two-out hits from Priday and Zane Taylor made it 7-4 in favor of the Tigers. While the Longhorns would bring the tying run to the plate in the eighth but were denied by reliever Nathan Culp, Missouri combined a pair of hits with a double-play grounder in the bottom of the frame to plate another score and grab an 8-4 lead. Down to their final three outs, UT attempted to rally for a second straight day by having its first two batters reach in the ninth. While a pair of wild pitches and a sac fly from Preston Clark (Rockwall, Texas) made it an 8-5 game, that was as close as UT would come as Culp induced a groundout to seal the win and notch his first save of the year. Zagone, who struck out three over 6.2 innings, earned the win, and Texas reliever Joey Parigi (Monterey, Calif.) shouldered the loss.
Leading the way offensively for UT was Stubbs, who went 2-for-4 with a RBI, and Suttle, who collected two hits in three at bats while scoring one run and driving in a pair. On the other side of the ledger, Missouri had its attack paced by four players with multi-hit performances, including Priday, who scored twice and drove in two runs during a 2-for-4 day, and Taylor, who went 3-for-4 with two RBI. Of additional note for the Longhorns, Walker matched a career-best by working four innings of relief while striking out five and Kainer upped his current hit streak to 12 games.
These two teams wrap up this three-game conference series at Taylor Stadium with a 12 p.m. Central contest on Sunday, May 21.
