COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Baseball (12-30, 5-17 SEC) fell 5-4 in the series opener against No. 5 Tennessee (35-11, 15-7) on Friday night at Taylor Stadium.
Fifth-year Andrew Keefer opened the scoring with a solo home run to left in the bottom of the second inning. The Tigers tacked on two more in the third on senior Brandt Belk's two-out, two-run single to make it 3-0.
Tennessee responded with a pair of runs in the fourth to pull within 3-2. The Vols knotted the game at 3-3 in the sixth on a two-out bloop-double.
Mizzou retook the lead immediately in its half of the sixth. Belk doubled down the first base line and scored when Keefer sent a single of his own over the first base bag.
The game turned in the top of the eighth when Tennessee's Max Ferguson lifted a two-run homer to right to give the Vols their first lead at 5-4.
#ShowMe top performers
HEAR FROM THE SKIPPER
Head coach Steve Bieser on another close loss…
"Disappointing. I mean we're right there and we get momentum, and we've just got to get better. We've got to be more skilled and we've got to be able to execute some things. We threw 200 pitches in today's game and the winning team throws [121] pitches and you can't throw 200 pitches in a game. You've got to go through the zone more than we went through the zone."
#MIZ TAKEAWAYS
- Keefer produced his team-leading 10th multi-hit.
- Belk's double was his 13th of the season.
- Sophomore Torin Montgomery collected a hit to extend his hitting streak to four games.
- Graduate Lukas Veinbergs worked two scoreless innings in relief.
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