COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Baseball raced past Eastern Kentucky, 13-4, Tuesday afternoon at Taylor Stadium in its 2017 home finale. The Tiger offense exploded for 11 runs over the first three innings and freshman Kameron Misner (Poplar Bluff, Mo.) hit his sixth homer of the year and matched a career-high with four RBI in the win. Mizzou moves to 32-21 on the year with the win. Sophomore LHP Michael Plassmeyer (St. Louis, Mo.) earned the win to go to 5-1 on the year.
Eastern Kentucky got hits from the first three batters in the order with just one leaving the infield and that led to a 1-0 lead for the Colonels in the first. Mizzou turned a big 6-4-3 double play behind Plassmeyer in the inning to escape with just the one run.
That lead was short-lived as Mizzou exploded for six runs in the bottom of the first, getting three hits, three walks and a hit batter. Brett Bond (St. Louis, Mo.) had two RBI, Misner added another and Alex Samples (Bridgeport, Texas) had three RBIs on a two-out double to stretch the lead to 6-1.
Despite the wind and the wild first inning, Plassmeyer pitched around a win-aided leadoff double in the second inning. Misner then hit a three-run homer, his sixth of the year, to extend the lead 10-1 after a sacrifice fly by Nelson Mompierre (Miami, Fla.). Misner had four RBI through two innings.
Mizzou added one more run in the third and two more in the fourth before EKU scored two more in the fifth. Junior RHP Nolan Gromacki (Smithville, Mo.) inherited a bases-loaded jam with one out, but got a 6-4-3 double play to escape the jam in the fifth inning.
EKU got a solo homer in the sixth inning by Brenden Overton to cut the lead to 13-4. Reliever Cameron Dulle (St. Louis, Mo.) came in and did a nice a job, tossing 2.2 shutout innings without a hit. He allowed just one walk and struck out three in a solid outing.
Mizzou closes the regular season this Thursday-Saturday at Tennessee in a three-game series. 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 (Missouri Baseball).
Potent Quotables
Head Coach Steve Bieser
On Chris Cornelius and Kameron Misner's big days at the plate…
"The good thing is, I don't' consider them freshmen anymore because they have 50-plus games under their belt. They have more experience than a lot of guys get in this league. Just really need to see them continue to grow and buy into what we are trying to do. As a unit, player to player, position to position, we have a lot of improving to do. We continue to get better each time out and I am really pleased with the way Chris and Kameron – they went through some tough times – but they are bouncing back and playing well down the stretch, which is always a good sign."
Postgame Notes
- Mizzou now leads the all-time series with EKU, 3-1.
- Mizzou finishes 2017 with an 18-13 record at Taylor Stadium.
- Sophomore LHP Michael Plassmeyer made his first start since April 15 on Tuesday. He earned his first win since March 18.
- Freshman Kameron Misner started at first base for the first time in his career.
- Misner hit his sixth homer of the year Tuesday and matched a career-high with four RBI, his seventh multi-RBI game of the year.
- Misner's six HRs on the year are the most for a #Mizzou freshman since Trey Harris had seven in 2015.
- Junior Alex Samples hit his first double since April 21 at Ole Miss and tallied a career-high three RBI in the game. His three RBI in the game equaled his total in the previous 14 games combined.
- Brett Bond tallied his team-leading 12th multi-RBI game of the year. He also posted his 15th multi-hit game Tuesday.
- Mizzou's 13 runs are the most for Mizzou since April 12 against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
- Reigning SEC Freshman of the Week Chris Cornelius hit a double and a triple Tuesday. His last six hits have gone for extra bases. He now has11 doubles on the year and three triples. His 11 doubles are just one off the team lead.
- Cornelius tallied his 10th multi-hit game of the year.
