April 18, 2014
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Mizzou -, No. 22 Mississippi State -
April 18, 2014
Notes
Redshirt senior OF Eric Anderson lined a leadoff double to center in the bottom of the first. It was the 17th time in 26 games he has reached base safely in the first inning since moving to the leadoff spot. He is reaching base at .563 clip when leading off an inning this season.
Anderson has also reached base safely in 12 consecutive games. The senior is on fire with a .331 batting average, which is the second highest on the team. He went 2-for-5 at the dish on Friday night.
Kendall Keeton lifted a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the third frame, scoring Anderson for his 15th RBI of the season. The Tigers now have four players with 15 RBI or more, as Keeton joins Anderson (15), Ryan Howard (16) and Dylan Kelly (17).
Junior Logan Pearson ripped his first triple of the season in the bottom of the fourth, worked a walk in the sixth and added an infield single in the eighth. Pearson has reached safely in six straight games. He recorded his fourth multi-hit game of 2014.
Dylan Kelly was hit by a pitch twice, extending his on-base streak to 14 games. The senior catcher has been plunked 12 times this season. He eventually came around to score on a wild pitch in the seventh inning, tying the game at 2-2. Kelly has crossed the plate 14 times, which puts him at the third on the squad in runs scored.
Junior pitcher Brett Graves tossed 7.0 efficient innings, giving up two runs while striking out three and walking none. It marks the seventh time in 10 outings that the No. 22 collegiate prospect has thrown at least seven innings.
Graves did not walk a single batter for the first time since his Feb. 22 performance against Wake Forest.
The Tigers have a knack for limiting walks. They lead the SEC with just 80 walks allowed and rank fifth nationally in that category.
Graves kept the game deadlocked at 2-2 when he squashed a seventh-inning Bulldog rally with a huge one-out, 6-4-3 double play.
Junior hurler Keaton Steele was solid in four innings on the mound. With seven strikeouts on Friday, Steele has now fanned 12 in 11 innings of work against Mississippi State. Steele struck out the side in the 10th to keep the Tigers in it.
Josh Lester went 2-for-3 at the plate with two strikes.
Mizzou has now faced an SEC-high 21 Top 50 RPI teams, posting a 9-12 record in those games.
