COLLEGE STATION, Texas – University of Missouri baseball used another shutdown pitching performance to claim its second-straight victory – and a Southeastern Conference series win - over Texas A&M with a 4-1 triumph Saturday afternoon at Blue Bell Park.
For the second consecutive day in the series, Mizzou (15-35, 2-24 SEC) held the Aggies' offense in check. Starting pitcher Sam Horn and reliever Tony Neubeck combined to hold Texas A&M hitless over the first five innings, before four additional Mizzou relievers – PJ Green, Xavier Lovett, Ian Lohse and Brock Lucas teamed up to close out the victory with three hitless innings.
In all, the six Tiger pitchers allowed just two hits and held the Aggies (27-22, 10-16 SEC) scoreless until a two-out error in the ninth snapped a string of 15.1 consecutive scoreless frames by Mizzou pitching. The victory handed Mizzou its first SEC series win of the season.
After rallying for six runs in the ninth inning of Friday's series-opening victory, the Tigers wasted no time in gaining the upper hand in game two, striking for two runs in the first inning against Texas A&M starter Justin Lamkin. Jackson Lovich led off the game with the first of his three hits on the day, then moved to third on Pierre Seals' single to right. Kaden Peer put the Tigers on the board with a run-scoring grounder to the left side of the infield, and Chris Patterson followed with a two-out solo shot to left to make it a 2-0 Mizzou lead.
Given the early cushion, Horn was in control throughout his 2 2/3 innings before rain showers prematurely ended his afternoon with two out in the bottom of the third inning. After allowing a leadoff walk to Jace LaViolette to open the first, Horn rebounded to retire the next eighth hitters in succession, including five via strikeouts, prior to play being delayed for nearly two hours due to the weather.
When play resumed, Neubeck picked up where Horn left off by fanning LaViolette for the final out of the third to kick of a string during which the left-hander sat down seven straight Aggies. Horn and Neubeck combined to dispatch 15 consecutive batters until Gavin Kash led off the sixth with a single to break up the Tigers' no-hit bid. Neubeck responded by inducing a 6-4-3 double play, then struck out Caden Sorrell to strand a pair of baserunners.
In the seventh, Green issued a leadoff walk to Bear Harrison, but Mateo Serna snared a line drive to first, then stepped on the bag to double off the A&M runner for another twin killing. Lovett faced no issues in the eighth inning, retiring the Aggies in order after Keegan Knutson's two-out double plated the third Mizzou run of the day in the top half of the inning.
The Tigers kept the pressure on the Aggies in the ninth, as Tyler Macon's leadoff single sparked another MU threat. With one out, Seals delivered his third hit of the game, driving a double to right-center to stretch the Mizzou lead to four runs.
Texas A&M mounted a two-out rally in the bottom of the ninth against Lohse, loading the bases on a pair of walks and a hit batsman. Lucas appeared to have induced a game-clinching ground out, but the first Tigers error of the series broke up the shutout bid and kept the Aggies hopes alive.
But Lucas bounced back to blow a called third strike past Ben Royo for the final out, leaving the bases loaded in earning his first save of the season.
TIGER NOTEBOOK
- With the victory – Mizzou's third in a row over Texas A&M – the Tigers now have a 41-55-2 all-time record against the Aggies.
- Mizzou out-hit the Aggies by a 11-2 margin, giving the Tigers 23 total hits in their two games vs. Texas A&M, as well as 23 double-digit hit totals this season.
- Lovich extended his reached base streak to 20-straight games with his first-inning single and registered his 16th multi-hit game of the year with a 3-for-5 afternoon.
- Seals matched a career high with three hits and racked up his eighth multi-hit performance as a Tiger.
- Macon (2-for-4) recorded his sixth two-hit game this season, also matching a career best.
- Patterson's first-inning home run was his second as a Tiger.
- Neubeck struck out four Aggies and allowed the only two A&M hits over his 3 1/3 innings, which marked the lefty's longest outing since a 4.0 inning effort vs. Texas Southern on March 4, 2023.
- Neubeck's four K's also marked a personal best since the same outing vs. Texas Southern in March 2023.
- After holding the Aggies scoreless over the final 6 2/3 innings of Friday's victory, the Tigers bullpen started Saturday with six more scoreless frames as part of an overall streak of 15 1/3 scoreless innings by Mizzou pitchers.
- Lucas locked up his first save since May 18, 2024 at Mississippi State and the third of his Mizzou career overall.
- Mizzou's SEC series victory marked the first for the Tigers since a three-game sweep of Florida, April 4-6, 2024.
- The SEC road series win is the first for Mizzou since it concluded the 2022 season by winning two of three games at Georgia (May 19-21, 2022).
UP NEXT
Mizzou and Texas A&M conclude their three-game series Sunday afternoon with a 1 p.m. contest at Blue Bell Park.
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