MILLINGTON, Tenn. - Mizzou baseball got another strong pitching performance, this time from junior Peter Fairbanks (St. Louis, Mo.) as he pitched Mizzou to a 10-1 win on Sunday morning (March 1) at USA Stadium, completing a three-game sweep of UIC. Fairbanks went 7.1 innings, allowing just four hits and one unearned run. He did not walk a batter and struck out eight, just one off of a career high as he earned his first win of the season. Sophomore Jake Ring (Ingleside, Ill.) launched his first career homer to spark a three-run third that helped put the game out of reach.
Mizzou has now won six in a row and moves to 10-1 with the win, giving the Tigers their best start to open a season since 1985 when the team won its first 14 games under coach Gene McArtor. Pitching has been the story as Mizzou has yet to allow more than three runs in a game this season while allowing no more than one in each of the last six games (five total runs). Mizzou tallied 12 hits and scored 10 runs, its second-most of the season, led by three hits from Zach Lavy (Auxvasse, Mo.) and two from Ring as each tallied a pair of RBI on the day. Andrew Schwaab (St. Charles, Mo.) tallied his first career save in the win.
After Fairbanks tallied an eight-pitch, 1-2-3 inning in the second, UIC got to him for an unearned run in the third. Ryan Howard (St. Charles, Mo.) booted a ball at short to open the frame, but a pair of fielder's choice outs pulled Fairbanks to within an out of getting through the inning.
Mizzou then answered in the bottom half of the third, highlighted by the first career homer from Ring, a solo shot over the Olympic Torch replica in right center at USA Stadium. That tied the game at 1-1 and the Brett Peel (St. Charles, Mo.) created some offense for some more run support. He walked on a full count after a great at-bat and promptly stole second. Josh Lester (Columbus, Ga.) then singled him in and Lester then stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error. He added a huge insurance run to put Mizzou on top, 3-1, after three.
Fairbanks settled in from there as he allowed just one baserunner in the fourth and fifth innings, moving his strikeout total to seven as the game moved through five innings. In fact, Fairbanks retired 10 in a row before a two-out error by Brett Bond (St. Louis, Mo.) stopped the streak in the seventh. But Fairbanks retired the next batter he faced to send the game to the bottom of the seventh with Mizzou leading, 3-1.
Mizzou added an insurance run in the seventh and then broke the game open in the eighth, scoring five times to extend the lead to 9-1. That five-run inning came after Schwaab got a huge inning-ending double play in the top of the inning. He then came out and closed the door in the ninth.
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