FORT MYERS, Fla. – Sophomore 1B Brian Sharp (Liberty, Mo.) hit a walk-off sacrifice fly as Mizzou Baseball rallied from down, 5-4, for two runs in the ninth inning to complete a 6-5 win over Eastern Michigan Saturday night in game two of a doubleheader. The win secures the doubleheader sweep for Mizzou, which won earlier on Saturday, 27-9. Mizzou goes to 2-1 on the year while EMU goes to 1-2.
Mizzou trailed, 5-4, going into the ninth inning, but got a leadoff walk from SS Robbie Glendinning (Scarborough, Australia). Leadoff hitter Connor Brumfield (Columbia, Mo.) laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt and EMU threw the ball away into right field, allowing Glendinning to score all the way from first while advancing Brumfield to third. After a walk to put runners on the corners, Sharp came up and notched his game-winning sacrifice fly to left to steal the victory.
Mizzou committed a flurry of early errors, leading to four unearned runs and the 5-4 advantage for EMU. Freshman lefty T.J. Sikkema (DeWitt, Iowa) was incredible in relief of Mizzou starter Andy Toelken (Green Cove Springs, Fla.), tossing 5.1 innings, striking out eight with no walks while scattering just four hits. He was nearly in line for loss despite his brilliance as he allowed EMU's fifth run in the fourth inning on a sacrifice fly, the only run he allowed in the outing.
RS junior RHP Cole Bartlett (Williamsburg, Ind.) pitched out of a jam in the ninth as well. Sikkema allowed a leadoff double and that runner was sacrificed to third base. Then, with runners on the corners, Bartlett got a strikeout and a groundout to escape the jam, earning his first win of the season after Mizzou's rally in the ninth.
At the plate, freshman OF Kameron Misner (Poplar Bluff, Mo.) led Mizzou with two hits and an RBI. Alex Samples (Bridgeport, Texas), Brett Bond (St. Louis, Mo.) and Trey Harris (Powder Springs, Ga.) all also tallied RBIs for Mizzou.
Eastern Michigan got on the board first in the nightcap, scoring a single run in each of the first two innings, jumping out to a 2-0 lead. But Mizzou countered with two in the bottom of the second inning, one coming on a Bond single and another on a Nelson Mompierre (Miami, Fla.) fielder's choice to tie the game at 2-2 after two.
The Eagles scored two in the top of the third thanks to a pair of Mizzou errors, one by Mizzou starter Andy Toelken (Green Cove Springs, Fla.) and another by 2B Chris Cornelius (St. Louis, Mo.). The Tigers got those runs back in the bottom half on RBI singles Misner and Samples.
EMU catcher Nick Jones singled in a run during the top of the fourth to regain a 5-4 lead. EMU relied on sophomore lefty Caleb Hester to settle things down and he did just that, tossing 2.2 shutout innings, striking out three and walking none as he held the Tigers at bay. On Mizzou's side, Sikkema did the same thing, going 4.1 innings in relief, striking out eight in his first career outing.
Those two did a nice job quieting things down as the two teams were held scoreless through the middle innings. Hester was lifted in favor of Matthew Beaton, who tossed a 1-2-3 eighth inning. After EMU threatened in the ninth inning, reliever Sam Delaplaine walked Glendinning to open the ninth and that cued the heroics from Mizzou. Delaplaine took the loss.
Mizzou and EMU will close the series tomorrow at 10 a.m. (CT) at City of Palms Park. The game will air live on KTGR in the Mid-Missouri area and on KTGR.com. For all the latest on Mizzou Baseball, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Twitter (@MizzouBaseball) and like the team on Facebook and Instagram (Mizzou Baseball and missouri_baseball, respectively).
