University of Missouri
Nebraska
Mizzou Routs Nebraska, 22-9
5/17/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 17, 2008
COLUMBIA, Mo. - - No. 14 Mizzou locked up the fourth seed in next week's Big 12 Conference Championship by defeating No. 5 Nebraska 22-9 on Saturday at Taylor Stadium. It was the second game this season in which the Tigers have scored at least 20 runs, as MU pounded out 23 hits in Saturday's victory.
Of the 11 players to have plate appearances for in the game for Missouri, nine recorded at least two hits. Junior Steve Gray was 4-for-5 with five RBI and three runs scored. He was only a triple short of hitting for the cycle. Sophomore Folgia drove in six runs, finishing 2-for-5 on the afternoon.
Freshmen Andrew Thigpen and Jonah Schmidt each hit home runs and each had four RBI, while senior Jacob Priday was 3-for-6 with an RBI and three runs scored.
The Tigers scored four times in the first inning, then put together back-to-back six-run innings in the second and third to build a 16-2 lead after three innings.
Nebraska scored three runs in the top of the fifth inning and again in the top of the sixth, but Missouri answered with three runs of its own in its half of the fifth and sixth innings.
Gray drove in his first run of the game on a sacrifice fly in the first, then had a two-run double in the second and an RBI single in the third. He singled again in the fifth and then hit his eighth home run of the year in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Gray is 7-for-8 in the two games this weekend against Nebraska, with a home run, two doubles and seven runs batted in. Over the last six games, he is hitting .545 with three homers and 13 runs batted in.
Folgia set a career high with his six RBI on Saturday, driving in the runs on a three-run triple in the second inning and a three-run home run in the fifth. The home run was his third of the season.
With the win, the Tigers improve to 36-17 on the year and are 15-11 in the Big 12 Conference. They have clinched the fourth seed in the Big 12 Conference Championship, which begins on Wednesday. Nebraska falls to 39-11-1 overall and 17-8-1 in the Big 12.
The final game of the series and of the regular season is Sunday at 3:30 p.m. The game can be seen on FSN.
