University of Missouri
28-19, 14-9
Ole Miss
24-24, 10-13
No. 21 Mizzou Takes Series With 18-1 Win Over Ole Miss
5/2/2015 10:59:00 AM | Baseball
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The No. 21 Mizzou Baseball (28-19, 14-9) offense exploded for the most runs in a conference game since 2009 in its 18-1 win against the Ole Miss Rebels (24-24, 10-13) on Saturday afternoon (May 2) at Taylor Stadium. The 2,417 fans in attendance at Saturday's game comprised the largest crowd of the season. Behind freshman pitcher Tanner Houck's (Collinsville, Ill.) performance on the bump, four Tiger hitters tallied three or more RBI to take the series from Ole Miss.
The Tigers struck first in the game with three runs in the first inning. A Jake Ring (Ingleside, Ill.) walk, Ryan Howard (St. Charles, Mo.) single put two on for Josh Lester'steam-leading 34th RBI of the season. With one on, Trey Harris (Powder Springs, Ga.) crushed a two-run, opposite field homer to push the Tiger lead after one inning to 3-0.
Mizzou put up five runs in the fifth inning after Jake Ivory (St. Charles, Mo.) hit his third career homerun. RBI singles from Ring and Howard left one on for Lester's team-leading sixth homer of the season. Eleven Tiger hitters came to the plate in the bottom of the sixth inning. Singles from Brett Bond (St. Louis, Mo.) and Ring put two on for Howard. Howard singled up the middle for two of his three RBI in the game. Lester came up next and doubled to left center for the second of his four RBI. Harris added another RBI to his three on the day with a single through the left side. Zach Lavy (Auxvasse, Mo.) singled through the right side for an added RBI. Bond came up again in the inning and smoked a three-run shot into the Tiger bullpen. The inning ended with the Tigers ahead 17-0.
Houck pitched six solid innings amassing eight strikeouts and surrendering only four hits. Lake Dabney (Driftwood, Texas) and Jace James (Oklahoma City, Ok.) worked through the seventh and eighth innings allowing two Rebel hits. Chris Akmon (Scottsdale, Az.) entered the game to pinch hit in the eighth inning and smashed his first homer at Mizzou over the left field fence. Ryan Lee (Grandview, Mo.) gave up the sole Rebel run (unearned) in the ninth inning, but responded with two strikeouts to seal the deal.
Postgame Notes:
- With the win, Mizzou moves to 28-19 with a 14-9 mark in conference play.
- The Tigers have now won six series against SEC opponents compared to just two conference series wins last year and five total in 2013 and 2014 combined.
- Mizzou and Ole Miss are now tied all-time in the series at 7-7
- Mizzou plated 18 runs on the day, giving them six games on the year scoring double-digit runs.
- 18 is the most runs scored for Mizzou since March 14, 2012, against North Dakota when it scored 21.
- The 18 runs is the most Mizzou has ever scored against an SEC opponent in a league game.
- Trey Harris launched an opposite field two-run homerun in the bottom of the first inning. It was Harris' fourth homer of the year, and the third in the last two weeks.
- Brett Peel singled in Jake Ivory with two outs in the bottom of the second inning, giving him four two-out RBI this year.
- Tanner Houck struck out eight batters on the day, just one short of his career high of nine. Saturday's game marks the fifth time this year that Houck has struck out at least seven batters.
- Jake Ivory sent a solo shot into the bullpen in left field for his third homerun of the year in the bottom of the fifth. Ivory has hit two homeruns in his last four games.
- Jake Ring collected an RBI on his single in the bottom of the fifth inning. He finished the day with one hit and two walks. It's the sixth time this season that Ring has reached base three times in one game.
- Ryan Howard also singled home a run in the bottom of the fifth inning for his second hit of the day. Saturday's contest is Howard's team-leading 17th multi-hit game of the year.
- Josh Lester unloaded on a 1-0 pitch for a homerun in the bottom of the fifth. It was Lester's sixth homerun of the year, which is the most for any Mizzou player in a single season since Dane Opel hit 11 in 2012.
- Lester finished the day with four runs batted in. He leads the team with nine multi-RBI games this season. He also leads the team with 37 on the year.
- Lester's four RBI on the day is the most for a Tiger since Ryan Howard collected four on March 17 against Air Force.
- Lester also extended his hit streak to seven games, just three short of tying the season-long mark set by Brett Peel. He has hit safely in 13 of 14 games.
- In total, eight of the nine original Mizzou starters got a hit in Saturday's game.
- Five Tigers hit homeruns on the day, marking the second time this year that Mizzou has hit at least four homers.
- Saturday's contest marks the first time Mizzou has hit five homers since March 30, 2010 against Purdue
- Six Tigers recorded multiple hits on the day. It is the first time this year that at least six batters have recorded multiple hits.
- Mizzou was 12-for-18 in opportunities with runners on base, and 8-for-10 with runners in scoring position.
- Chris Akmon hit his first career homerun at Mizzou in a pinch-hit at bat in the bottom of the eighth inning
- With the win, Mizzou improves to 13-3 in Saturday games.
- The Tigers' 18 runs is the most since April 24, 2009 when the Tigers scored 18 runs against Texas Tech
- 2,417 fans came to watch the Tigers on Saturday, the largest crowd of the season. The previous was 2,032 against South Carolina.
- This is the most game notes we have ever compiled for a single Mizzou Baseball game.
Coach's Corner
On the offensive outburst...
"Our guys did a great job and Tanner did a great job. You have been around the game long enough you know that this is not typical and this happens from time to time, but we got some good pitches to hit. We took some good swings and I think the win last night relaxed this club quite a bit and we saw the correlation here."
On Houck's impressive performance...
"There were points earlier in the game when the score was closer that he had to make big pitches. A couple of guys started to rally and he really pitched his way out of it. So, I think he pitched as well as he has in a long time."
Tracking the Tigers:
The Mizzou Tigers look to complete the sweep of the Ole Miss Rebels on Sunday afternoon (May 3). First pitch is set for 1 p.m. CT with Peter Fairbanks on the bump. For all the latest on Mizzou baseball, stop by MUTigers.com, catch game broadcasts by Tex Little on KTGR or follow the team on Twitter @MizzouBaseball.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Houck, Tanner (7-3)
L: Brady Bramlett (5-3)
Batting:
RBI: Henri Lartigue 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kyle Watson 1
SB: J.B. Woodman 1
Batting:
2B: Lester, Josh 1 ; Ivory, Jake 1
HR: Lester, Josh 1 ; Harris, Trey 1 ; Akmon, Chris 1 ; Bond, Brett 1 ; Ivory, Jake 1
RBI: Peel, Brett 1 ; Howard, Ryan 3 ; Lester, Josh 4 ; Harris, Trey 3 ; Lavy, Zach 1 ; Akmon, Chris 1 ; Bond, Brett 3 ; Ivory, Jake 1
SF: Lester, Josh 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Peel, Brett 2 ; Ring, Jake 3 ; Howard, Ryan 3 ; Lester, Josh 2 ; Harris, Trey 2 ; Akmon, Chris 1 ; Benes, Shane 1 ; Bond, Brett 2 ; Ivory, Jake 2
CS: Peel, Brett 1
