April 29, 2014
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COLUMBIA, Mo. - Fifth-year senior Eric Anderson (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) provided the heroics for Mizzou (20-24), driving in two runs in the bottom of the ninth to force extra innings and scoring on his own triple with an error in the 11th, giving the Tigers a 6-5 extra-inning win over SEMO (29-15) on Tuesday (April 29) at Taylor Stadium. It was Anderson's first career walk-off hit. Fellow senior Dillon Everett (Phoenix, Ariz.) launched a homer in the fourth, the second of his career. Dylan Kelly (Roswell, Ga.) and Ryan Howard (St. Charles, Mo.) also drove in runs in the contest, Kelly with his 10th two-out RBI of the season, good for the team lead. Kendall Keeton (Columbia, Tenn.) tallied three hits.
Sophomore starter Alec Rash (Adel, Iowa) threw two innings, pitching into the third inning and giving up two runs, neither earned, on four hits and striking out two batters before giving way to Ryan Phillips (Columbia, Mo.), who was strong in his three innings on the mound, allowing a run but striking out four and throwing 26 strikes on 39 pitches. Andrew Schwaab claimed the win for Mizzou, the first of his career, throwing 2.2 innings of shutout baseball. Tuesday night's contest was Mizzou's fifth extra-inning battle in its last nine games.
An error proved costly for the Tigers in the first as Andy Lennington fought off an inside fastball with an inside-out swing, blooping a single to left for a 1-0 edge. Rash issued two free passes to start off the second, hitting a batter and walking another, eventually loading the bases with one down but escaping harm with a double play. SEMO was in business to start the third as Matt Tellor doubled to right, eventually scoring on an infield single by Derek Gibson for a 2-0 lead. Phillips took over for Rash with two on and no outs, working out of the jam to keep SEMO off the board the rest of the way.
Everett launched a homer to the bullpen in left field, a solo shot with one out to cut the deficit to 2-1 after four innings. A leadoff walk followed by a botched throw on a sacrifice bunt ended Phillips' day in the sixth ining, leaving runners on the corners and no outs for Austin Tribby (Springfield, Mo.). He struck out the first batter he faced, but a wild pitch to Andy Lack brought in another Redhawk run, pushing the guests to a 3-1 lead through the game's first six innings.
Breckin Williams (Oronogo, Mo.) was sharp in a scoreless seventh after stopping the bleeding in the sixth at one run, and Mizzou got on the board in the bottom of the frame after Keeton legged out a double and Howard shot a hard liner up the middle to cut into the SEMO lead and make the score 3-2. The Redhawks answered right back, pushing another run across as a two-out single to center brought in SEMO's fourth run of the game, pushing the visitors' cushion back to two. Kelly claimed a two-out RBI to bring in Logan Pearson (Bentonville, Ark.) in the bottom of the eighth, once again making it a one-run game.
Derek Gibson launched a solo homer in the ninth inning, giving SEMO a 5-3 lead in the game's final frame. MIzzou then capitalized on Anderson's two-out double to left-center, tying the game at five and forcing extra innings. Schwaab pitched into trouble in the 10th, allowing back-to-back two out singles but escaped harm by forcing a 6-3 groundout to end the frame. Anderson's heroics continued in the 11th, as he scored on his own triple with a SEMO error, giving Mizzou a 6-5 win.
Mizzou takes on No. 8 Vanderbilt this weekend at Taylor Stadium. For all the latest on Mizzou baseball, follow the team on Twitter (@MizzouBaseball) or visit MUTigers.com.
