COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Baseball (12-24, 5-12 SEC) suffered a 7-5 defeat in 10 innings as Georgia (24-13, 8-9 SEC) leveled the series on Saturday at Taylor Stadium.
The Tigers jumped to the early lead with a pair of runs in the third. Junior Josh Holt, Jr., roped an RBI-double to right center to open the scoring. He then scored when he swiped third and the throw bounded into left field.
Georgia evened the game in the top of the fourth with two runs on four hits. The Bulldogs took their first lead of the series on a solo home run in the sixth from Riley King.
The 3-2 deficit was short-lived for Mizzou, which answered with two runs in the bottom half to reclaim the lead. A perfectly executed hit-and-run from senior Brandt Belk put runners at the corners to start the frame. After Belk stole second, fifth-year Andrew Keefer lined a two-run single to center for the 4-3 lead.
Georgia responded with a pair of runs on a single and a fielder's choice after two walks in the inning to recapture the lead at 5-4.
Down to its final out, Mizzou tied the game on a dropped fly ball in shallow right that allowed pinch-runner Ty Wilmsmeyer to score all the way from first. Georgia scored twice in the top of the 10th on a two-out triple to plate the eventual winning runs.
#ShowMe top performers
HEAR FROM THE SKIPPER
Head coach Steve Bieser on Saturday's contest…
"We didn't play very well. We didn't play well defensively, we made a couple mistakes on the mound and we didn't hit so, honestly, we were fortunate to be hanging in there that tight. We got a nice break there in the ninth to tie it back up and the momentum started to shift to us, and I was just really hoping that we could push through and win it there in the bottom of the ninth. When that didn't happen, I felt like we kind of sank a little bit."
#MIZ TAKEAWAYS
- Miles racked up a career-high eight strikeouts in his outing.
- Saturday was Mizzou's first extra-inning bout of the season.
- Keefer finished with his ninth multi-hit game to move into a tie for the team lead. He's also hit in six-straight games.
UP NEXT
Mizzou and Georgia meet in the rubber match at 1 p.m. on Sunday afternoon. The game will air on SEC Network+.
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