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Scoreboard

Tanner Houck
5
Winner Kentucky UK 24-11, 9-4 SEC
2
Mizzou MIZ 25-10, 6-7 SEC
Winner
Kentucky UK
24-11, 9-4 SEC
5
Final
2
Mizzou MIZ
25-10, 6-7 SEC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Kentucky UK 0 0 1 1 1 2 0 0 0 5 6 0
Mizzou MIZ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 8 2

W: Sean Hjelle (5-2) L: Houck, Tanner (3-5) S: Logan Salow (7)

Game Recap: Baseball |

@MizzouBaseball Drops Opener to No. 10 Kentucky, 5-2

Hjelle out-duels Houck in Friday night opener in front of season-high 2,402 fans

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Baseball dropped its season-opener to No. 10 Kentucky, 5-2, on Friday night in front of a season-high 2,402 fans at Taylor Stadium. Kentucky scored five runs (only two earned) off of Mizzou starter Tanner Houck (Collinsville, Ill.), who went 8.0 innings while striking out seven in a losing effort. Kentucky's Sean Hjelle earned the win, tossing 7.0 shutout innings with just five hits allowed and only two walks.

Mizzou falls to 25-10 on the year and 6-7 in SEC play while Kentucky moves to 24-11 and 9-4 in SEC play, sitting atop the SEC East standings. Houck has now gone at least 6.0 innings in 33 of his 39 career starts and 7.0+ innings in 20 of those. He falls to 3-5 on the season while Hjelle improves to 5-2. Mizzou got solo homer in the ninth from Trey Harris (Powder Springs, Ga.) and Brett Bond (St. Louis, Mo.) to cut into the lead, but the unearned runs cost the Tigers in the end.

Houck pitched around leadoff singles in both the first and second innings. Kentucky got the runner to third base in the second, but Houck struck out CF Marcus Carson looking with a nasty fastball on the inside half to strand a runner as Kentucky left two through 2.0 innings.

Kentucky got on the board after loading the bases with no outs in the third, getting a double play to plate a run. Houck walked nine-hole hitter Connor Heady to open the frame as UK put the leadoff man on in each of the first three innings.

Houck was again victimized by the leadoff hitter in the fourth inning as 2B Riley Mahan hit a leadoff solo shot to left center to extend UK's lead to 2-0. Kentucky added another run in the fifth inning on a two-out error to extend the lead to 3-0.

After Mizzou stranded a pair of runners in scoring position in the bottom of the fifth, Kentucky got the leadoff man aboard on a dropped pop up in the sixth inning, Mizzou's second error of the game. That runner scored on a sacrifice fly following a balk to push Kentucky's lead to 4-0. Houck then hit the eight- and nine-hole hitters and leadoff man Tristan Pompey hit a two-out RBI single to push the lead to 5-0.

Mizzou's bats remained quiet against Hjelle, but Mizzou mounted a mini-rally in the ninth inning as Harris and Bond hit homers off of reliever Colton Clearly to cut the lead to 5-2. UK was forced to bring in LHP Logan Salow after a Robbie Glendinning (Scarborough, Australia) single with one out. He picked up two strikeouts to close the game, earning his seventh save.  

Game two of the series will be Saturday at 7 p.m. at Taylor Stadium on SEC Network. For all the latest on all things Mizzou Baseball, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team @MizzouBaseball and like the team on Facebook and Instagram (Missouri Baseball).

Potent Quotables
Head Coach Steve Bieser

Opening statement…
"We would have had to stand on something pretty tall (to replicate Sean Hjelle's arm slot). I mean, a 6-11 gut that throws downhill and had a good angle on the ball. It is still very frustrating. That's two straight Fridays we go out and get dominated with a fastball. We just have to be a little better than that offensively. Whatever it is; whether we give them too much credit and press a little bit, we have had difficulty on Friday nights."

RHP Tanner Houck

On his performance…
"I felt dominant with two pitches today with a heavy lefty lineup. I can't be too down on myself. I thought I threw really well. I need to get the leadoff man more. Hindsight's 20-20 I guess."

Postgame Notes

  • Kentucky now leads the all-time series, 7-6
  • Mizzou falls to 6-7 in SEC play this season.
  • Mizzou is now 0-4 against top-10 teams and 2-6 vs. top-25 teams.
  • Mizzou falls to 2-5 against SEC East teams this season.
  • Mizzou falls to 9-6 in night games this season.
  • Mizzou falls to 5-4 on Fridays this season.
  • Mizzou is now 12-7 in three-game series this year.
  • Sophomore CF Connor Brumfield singled in the third inning to extend his on-base streak to 20 straight games, the longest streak by a Tiger this season.
  • Junior RHP Tanner Houck went 6.0+ innings, marking the 33rd time in 39 career starts that he has done that. It is the 20th time that he has went 7.0+ innings. It was the 10th time he has pitched through 8.0 innings.
  • Friday night featured the largest crowd at Taylor Stadium since April 16, 2016, vs. LSU when 2,559 fans were in attendance. Friday night's game had 2,402 fans in attendance.
  • Junior OF Trey Harris hit his team-leading eighth homer of the season. That matches the most by any Tiger a year ago and is a new career-high for Harris.
  • Harris has five homers in his last seven games.
  • Junior catcher Brett Bond hit Mizzou's first pinch hit homer since May 2, 2015, in the ninth inning. It was Bond's first homer since March 8.
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