@MizzouBaseball Defeats SLU in Kauffman Stadium

Tuesday, March 29

Kansas City, Mo.

6:30 p.m.

University of Missouri

15-12

Saint Louis

12-13

St. Louis

Mizzou

3/29/2016 9:50:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Photo Gallery

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Mizzou Baseball (15-12, 0-6 SEC) defeated Saint Louis 5-3, on a windy Tuesday evening at Kauffman Stadium. The Tigers scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth, capitalizing on a RBI from freshman Brian Sharp [Liberty, Mo.] and an RBI double from Shane Benes (Town & Country, Mo.). The defense played a crucial role in Mizzou's victory, turning a season-high five double plays, the most in a game since April, 26, 2014 against Florida.

Mizzou's double play in the seventh inning halted a Billiken's rally as freshman Ian Nelson [Lake St. Louis, Mo.] stopped a one-hop ground ball up the middle to start the double play. Benes snagged a liner at the hot corner and caught a runner off first base to cap the game in the ninth for Mizzou's fifth and final double play.

Ryan Lee [Grandview, Mo.] got the start for the Tigers, allowing four hits to earn the Billikens two runs in the top of the first. Zach Lavy [Auxvasse, Mo.] returned the favor with a RBI to score Ryan Howard [St. Charles, Mo.] at the bottom of the first.

In the fifth, the Mizzou bats woke up. Benes hit his second double of the game to drive in Lavy. Sharp continued the streak, scoring on a wild pitch.

SLU returned the favor in the sixth inning with a RBI to score its third run. To little avail, Mizzou scored again in the bottom of the eighth with Lavy singling to left side to score in run number five – it was Lavy's team-leading sixth multi-RBI game this season.

Liam Carter (Highland Park, Ill.) earned his first career save, tossing a pair of shutout innings with just one hit and a walk.

Mizzou will be back in action on the road to face Arkansas in a three game series over the weekend, the first being Friday evening at 6:35 p.m. For all the latest on all things Mizzou Baseball, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on twitter @MizzouBaseball and like the team on Facebook and Instagram (Mizzou Baseball).

Hear From Mizzou
Head Coach Tim Jamieson

Opening Statement…
"Yeah, we played good defensively. We didn't pitch particularly great, we didn't hit particularly great, but we made plays when we had to."

On the 5 double plays made…
"A lot of them were really good ones. One or two of them were simple, but the rest of them were pretty good."

On getting a win…
"Well we got some breaks on defense, but we didn't get as many on offense. But I thought we hit some balls hard and our outfield made some good plays, and we win the game. That's a boost for us."

On the importance of this win…
"Any win is big, but with the stretch we have been on it's that much more important."

Game Notes

Mizzou is now 5-6 all-time in games played at Major League Baseball stadiums in the state of Missouri and 2-4 in games played at Kauffman Stadium.
Mizzou now leads the all-time series against St. Louis, 76-18, and is 15-1 under Head Coach Tim Jamieson.
Tonight's attendance at Kauffman Stadium was 724.
Junior SS Ryan Howard went 1-for-3 in the game and is now on a three game hit-streak. Howard has reached base safely now in five consecutive games.
Junior Jake Ring had a stolen base in the game and now has a team-high 14 stolen bases.
Senior 1B Zach Lavy had two RBIs in the game and now leads the team with 21 RBIs.
Lavy now has six two-RBI games, a team-high.
Sophomore 3B Shane Benes hit his fourth double of the year, tying for fourth best on the team.
Benes' two hit game marks his first two hit game since March 5^th against UIC.
Mizzou made five double plays in the game, a new season-high.
Sophomore CF Johnny Balsamo went 1-for-2 in the game, is now on a two-game hit streak.
Mizzou forced The Billiken's Brett Shimanovsky's to give up his first earned run in his last five game appearances. Shimanovsky had not allowed any earned runs since March 11^th against Purdue.
Freshman Liam Carter closed out the game for his first career save.