March 8, 2014
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COLUMBIA, Mo. - Mizzou baseball (6-6) took a 5-0 lead through two innings and held on to win by a 6-4 final over Southern Mississippi (6-9) Saturday afternoon (March 8) at Taylor Stadium. The Tigers took advantage of five walks through the game's first two frames, sealing a series victory. John Miles (Columbia, Mo.) had a strong outing, going a season-best 5.1 innings and setting a career mark in strikeouts with six. He earned his second win of the season as he is now 2-0.
Keaton Steele (St. Joseph, Mo.) got the two-inning save for the Tigers, his fourth save of the season and second of the weekend. The reigning first team All-SEC Utility Player has yet to allow an extra base hit this season in 11.1 innings. Kendall Keeton (Columbia, Tenn.) kept his pace of reaching base each game this season alive, extending his streak to 12 games. The win was the Tigers' second of the year against an opposing starting lefty and their third over Southern Miss.
Patience paid off for the Tigers in the first inning, as Mizzou drew three straight walks to load the bases as Dylan Kelly (Roswell, Ga.) and Dillon Everett (Phoenix, Ariz.) hit back-to-back RBI singles for a 2-0 advantage. Jake Ivory (St. Charles, Mo.) wore a fastball to push the Tigers ahead by three runs at the end of the first inning. Ryan Howard's (St. Charles, Mo.) infield single in the second scored Eric Anderson (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) to push the Tigers ahead 4-0 and chase USM starter A.J. Glasshof after only 1.2 innings. Zach Lavy (Auxvasse, Mo.) walked to bring in a fifth Tiger run for a 5-0 lead at the end of two innings.
Connor Baron drove in two runs on a one-out double in the third off Miles, and Mason Robbins added another Southern Miss run with a sacrifice fly to make the score 5-3. Both pitchers settled in from there, recording two straight scoreless frames with Miles retiring eight of nine batters after allowing Barron's double. The Golden Eagles again closed the gap with a run in the sixth after getting doubles off Miles and Austin Tribby (Springfield, Mo.) and recording a run on a RBI single off of Breckin Williams (Oronogo, Mo.) to make it 5-4.
Steele entered in the eighth inning in relief of Williams, tossing a scoreless eighth inning and working around a single. Jake Ring (Inglesdale, Ill.) singled and executed a hit-and-run with Josh Lester (Columbus, Ga.), and a double-steal pushed Ring across to give Mizzou a 6-4 lead heading into the game's final frame.
Mizzou and Southern Miss meet again Sunday (March 9) at noon. Keep up with Mizzou baseball by following the team on Twitter (@mizzoubaseball) or checking in to MUTigers.com.
