COLUMBIA, Mo. – University of Missouri baseball used its biggest offensive rally of the season and a strong pitching performance to secure a doubleheader sweep of Binghamton Saturday afternoon at Taylor Stadium. The Tigers scored 13 times in the fourth inning of the opener en route to a 16-6 victory, before Kadden Drew and Brock Lucas held the Bearcats to a pair of runs in a 4-2 decision in the nightcap.

Cayden Nicoletto powered the Tigers' attack, finishing the day 5-for-10 with five RBIs, including a grand slam as part of his second four-hit performance of the season in the opening-game win. Jackson Lovich matched Nicoletto with five hits on the day, while Pierre Seals added four hits in seven at-bats for the Tigers, who tallied 23 hits in the two games.

Lucas (1-1) delivered with his best mound performance of the season in game two, striking out six BU hitters while permitting just one hit over 4.0 shutout innings. He followed another solid start from Drew, who worked 5.0 scoreless frames to begin the ballgame.

The two wins followed contrasting patterns, but Mizzou found a route to victory in both contests to lock up its second doubleheader sweep in as many tries this season.

The Tigers used a 13-run outburst to snap a 2-2 deadlock and seize control of the opening game. Mizzou sent 18 batters to the plate in the decisive fourth inning, touching up Binghamton pitching for 10 hits, including three home runs, in its biggest inning of the season. Mateo Serna belted a three-run shot to open the scoring and hand the Tigers a 5-2 lead, before Brock Daniels followed two batters later with his first round-tripper – a two-run blast to right – to extend the advantage to five runs.

Run-scoring hits by Seals and Kaden Peer, as well as a wild pitch that produced another tally, combined to stretch the margin to eight. With the bases loaded and still only one out, Nicoletto laid into the first pitch he saw from Aiden Milburn and drove his first home run as a Tiger over the right-field wall for a grand slam and a 14-2 bulge. A walk and back-to-back singles by Brady Picarelli and Lovich accounted for the final Mizzou run of the rally.

BU responded with a pair of two-run rallies to cut the deficit to 15-6, but the Tigers came up with a run in the seventh after a walk, a hit batsman and an error set up Serna's RBI single that completed the run-rule victory.

Josh Kirchhoff (1-0) earned the win with an inning-and-a-third effort in relief, allowing one earned run with two strikeouts. In all, four Mizzou hurlers combined to strike out 10 Bearcats, including four over the first four innings from starter Wil Libbert.

Game two saw both Drew and BU starting pitcher Vincent Luther find a groove early. Drew struck out a pair of hitters in the first inning and induced an inning-ending double play in the third.

Luther allowed a second-inning Mizzou run after Lovich singled, moved into scoring position on Seals' two-out hit and scored on a wild pitch. The Tigers added a run in the fourth when Seals led off the inning with a double to right, advanced to third on Jedier Hernandez's ground ball to third and scored on a perfectly executed squeeze bunt by Keegan Knutson.

The Bearcats finally got to Drew in the sixth, using a Devin Sullivan double and a Freddy Forgione single to put their first run on the board. A wild pitch brought home the tying run, before Lucas relieved Drew and promptly retired three straight hitters – two via strikeouts – to strand the potential go-ahead run in scoring position.

Lucas only got better from there, giving up a leadoff single to start the seventh, before retiring nine consecutive Bearcats to close out the game.

The Tigers put together the decisive rally in the bottom of the seventh, with Lovich and Seals once again leading the charge. With Nicoletto in scoring position after a leadoff walk and a Tyler Macon sac bunt, Lovich legged out an infield single. Peyton Basler's single to left brought home the go-ahead run, and Seals doubled the lead to 4-2 with his base hit through the left side that plated Lovich.

Given the lead, Lucas made quick work of the Bearcats in the eighth and ninth innings, fanning three of the six hitters he faced to lock up his first win of the campaign.

TIGER NOTEBOOK

• Mizzou improved to 2-1 in its first-ever series against Binghamton.
• Serna stretched his career-best hitting streak to nine games with a 2-for-4, 4-RBI effort in game one; despite going hitless in game two, he reached via a hit-by-pitch to extend his on-base streak to 14 games, which is also a career best for the sophomore. 
• Lovich notched a pair of multi-hit games, giving him five for the season and extending his hitting streak to seven games, dating back to Feb. 28. 
• Nicoletto extended his hitting streak to eight games and his on-base streak to 10 straight contests.  
• The first contest marked the 10th time Mizzou has registered at least 11 hits this season and the fifth game in a row.
• Serna recorded a home run in the first game marking his 17th RBI and fifth multi-RBI game of the season. 
• Daniels' home run in the opener marked his first since April 20, 2024 vs. LSU. 
• Peer extended his on-base streak to nine games in a row, going 2-for-4 with three runs scored in the opener, good for his fifth multi-hit effort of 2025.
• Mizzou's 13 runs in the fourth inning of game one marked its best offensive inning since a 14-run inning vs. Northern Kentucky on March 2, 2024. 
• MU recorded its third game of the season with at least three homers in the opener (Feb. 16 vs. Stetson and Feb. 25 vs. Lindenwood).   
• The 10-run decision in game one marked the second time this season the Tigers have run-ruled an opponent (March 1 vs. Evansville).  
• Seals' three-hit performance marked his first multi-hit game of the season. 

UP NEXT
Mizzou will wrap up its series with Binghamton, as well as its nine-game home stand, with a 1 p.m. contest Sunday at Taylor Stadium.

University of Missouri baseball single-game tickets for the 2025 season are on sale now. Fans can purchase tickets by calling the ticket office at 1-800-CAT-PAWS or by visiting MUTigers.com.

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