COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Tigers scored eight runs in the first three innings to take a commanding lead and eventually win 9-3 over Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Wednesday (March 25) to split the midweek series with the Golden Lions. Andrew Schwaab (St. Charles Mo.) got the start on the mound for the Tigers and earned his first win of the season.
Mizzou's offense got things started quickly; scoring five runs in the first inning to jump out to a commanding lead. Back-to-back walks to start the game followed by three consecutive hits from Trey Harris (Powder Springs, Ga.), Josh Lester (Columbus, Ga.) and Ryan Howard (St. Charles, Mo.) got the bats rolling for the Tigers. Logan Bone (Festus, Mo.) made his first start of the season and capped off the first inning with an RBI double for the 5-0 Mizzou lead.
Harris continued his hot hitting in the second inning with a two-out single that sparked another Tiger rally. After stealing second base and reaching third on an error Harris came around to score on a balk from Arkansas-Pine Bluff pitcher Humberto Medina. In the third inning Bone continued to take advantage of his first start and tallied his second hit and second RBI of the day to drive in Zach Lavy (Auxvasse, Mo.). Bond was then driven in on a sacrifice fly from Logan Pearson (Bentonville, Ark.) to give the Tigers and 8-1 lead.
Schwaab made his second start of the season and pitched 3.0 innings and gave up one run on one hit and one walk while striking out two. Bryce Montes De Oca (Lawrence, Kan.) relieved Schwaab in the fourth inning and allowed two runs in the fifth inning after hitting Robert Colon and Mitch Bruckshaw. They eventually came around to score on a wild pitch and error to bring the Golden Lions within five, 8-3.
Tigers picked up another run in the sixth inning on a Lavy RBI single that scored Harris. A pair of fielder's choices set up Lavy with the RBI situation. Lake Dabney (Driftwood, Texas) took the mound for the Tigers in the sixth inning and was able to keep the Golden Lions bats at bay to preserve the Tiger lead.
Jace James (Oklahoma City, Okla.) came in to pitch the ninth inning for the Tigers and went three up, three down to seal the Tiger victory.
Next up for Mizzou is a trip to Texas A&M for a weekend series against the Aggies that kicks off on Friday night at 6:35 p.m. For all your Mizzou baseball updates check out MUTigers.com and make sure to follow the team on twitter @MizzouBaseball.