April 10, 2009
WACO, Texas - - Mizzou junior Kyle Gibson recorded his fourth complete game of the season as the Tigers defeated No. 7 Baylor, 5-3 on Friday night in Waco, Texas. Gibson struck out six in the game, allowing three runs on nine hits.
Gibson has pitched a complete game in four of his five starts in Big 12 Conference games this season. He improves to 5-3 on the season with he win.
"Kyle found his groove and gave us an opportunity," Head Coach Tim Jamieson said. "We got some great at-bats and Kyle was strong at the end. There were a lot of things going on around him and he was able to keep his composure."
With the victory on Friday, Missouri (17-17, 6-7 Big 12) has won four-straight over the Bears.
Baylor (21-10, 7-6) scored first, getting two runs in the first inning, which included a solo home run by Aaron Miller.
The Tigers cut the lead in half in the fourth inning when senior Steve Gray doubled to drive in junior Aaron Senne, who had led of the inning with a single.
Senne later led off the sixth inning with a double and was followed by junior Greg Folgia, who hit his team-leading fifth home run of the season. The two-run shot gave the Tigers their first lead of the day.
Senne was 2-for-3 on the night with two runs scored and has had two hits in each the last four games.
Missouri loaded the bases by drawing three-straight walks to open the eighth inning. After a double play, Folgia scored from third base on a wild pitch. Junior Trevor Coleman then crossed the plate when senior Kyle Mach singled. Mach advanced to second on the play as the throw for the BU shortstop was offline and ended up the in the Mizzou dugout.
Gibson had just one strikeout through the first six innings, but struck out two batters in a 1-2-3 seventh inning, then sat down three on strikes in the eighth inning. The three strikeouts in the eighth sandwiched a double by Dustin Dickerson and a single by Shaver Hansen to drive in Dickerson with the Bears third run of the game.
Coleman and Mach each had two hits in the game. Mach's second-inning single extended his hitting streak to five games.
Due to expected inclement weather on Sunday, Missouri and Baylor will play two games on Saturday, with game one of the doubleheader set to start at 3 p.m.