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Baseball

Gold Downs Black, 6-4, in Fall World Series Opener

COLUMBIA, MO. – Team Gold held on to edge Team Black, 6-4, and take Game One of Mizzou Baseball's 2016 Fall World Series on Saturday afternoon (Oct. 8) at Taylor Stadium.

COLUMBIA, MO. – Team Gold held on to edge Team Black, 6-4, and take Game One of Mizzou Baseball's 2016 Fall World Series on Saturday afternoon (Oct. 8) at Taylor Stadium.

Freshman OF Kameron Misner (Poplar Bluff, Mo.) blasted a go-ahead, three-run home run in the second inning and that proved to be the difference as both bullpens surrendered just one combined run over the final seven frames to end the game.

Misner's round-tripper capped a frenetic fourth inning that featured nine runs scored. Team Black manufactured four runs in the top half. Following back-to-back base hits by freshman Chris Cornelius (St. Louis, Mo.) and junior Alex Del Rio (Munster, Ind.), an RBI single off the bat of junior Johnny Balsamo (Kansas City, Mo.) and a fielding error plated a pair of runs. Team Black's lead swelled to 4-0 before the end of the inning after two walks and a throwing error allowed two more runs to cross.

Team Gold responded and got on the board quickly when junior Alex Samples (Bridgeport, Texas) ripped an RBI triple to right field. An at-bat later, junior Robbie Glendinning (Scarborough, Australia) smacked a base knock up the middle to score Samples and cut the deficit to 4-2. The rally continued as a walk set up Misner's clutch home run. Misner went 2-for-5 with three RBI at the dish on Saturday.

In the bottom of the sixth, Team Gold tacked on an insurance run. Sophomore Ian Nelson (Lake St. Louis, Mo.) skied a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Glendinning. Glendinning finished 5-for-7 at the plate with two runs scored an RBI.

Team Gold's bullpen was dominant, tossing 7.0 shutout innings to seal the victory. Sophomore Michael Plassmeyer (St. Louis, Mo.) highlighted the effort with three perfect frames and four strikeouts. Sophomore Ty Shoaff (Akron, Ohio) earned a save with spotless inning of work to close out the win.

The Fall World Series continues Thursday, Oct. 13. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. For all the latest on Mizzou Baseball stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @MizzouBaseball.