KTGR ESPN 100.5 FM & 1580 AM
MIAMI – Missouri’s offense racked up 14 hits and scored in five different innings, while three Tiger hurlers combined to strike out 15 FIU hitters in a 10-4 Mizzou victory that handed head coach Steve Bieser his 300th career win Saturday evening at FIU Baseball Field.
Five different Tiger hitters logged multi-hit performances in Mizzou’s second straight win over FIU, including Trevor Austin, who homered for the second time in the series to spark Mizzou’s two-run rally in the third. Ty Wilmsmeyer added key contributions in each of the Tigers’ first two scoring opportunities, finishing 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI and a stolen base.
On the mound, starter Javyn Pimental held the Panthers in check for 4 1/3 innings, surrendering just two unearned runs in the top of the fifth, while fanning four and scattering three hits. A pair of freshman relievers combined to close out the victory, with Sam Horn (1-0) turning in another dominant stint with three strikeouts in an inning and a third to earn his first collegiate win. However, the right-hander was forced to leave the contest due to an apparent injury in the sixth.
Logan Lunceford picked up the baton and carried it to the finish line to earn the save and complete the milestone victory for Bieser, now in his 11th season as a collegiate head coach. Lunceford blazed through the FIU order with eight strikeouts, including five in a row to begin his debut appearance in Black and Gold.
The Tigers (4-2) set the tone for the game early, putting their leadoff man on base in each of the first four innings while building a four-run lead. Fueled by a leadoff walk to Matt Garcia and back-to-back singles from Dylan Leach and Wilmsmeyer, Mizzou loaded the bases with nobody out in the second. Justin Colon’s sacrifice fly brought in the first run of the night, before an FIU throwing error plated a second.
Mizzou added to its advantage courtesy of Austin’s second homer of the season—a solo shot to left-center field to open the third. Walks to Hank Zeisler and Garcia, followed by Leach’s second base hit of the game, loaded the bases once more. Wilmsmeyer came through once again, this time with a sacrifice liner to center that allowed Zeisler to trot home for a 4-0 Tiger lead.
FIU (3-4) cut into the lead against Pimental and Horn in the fifth, using a Steven Ondina RBI double and a two-out single by Dante Girardi to slice the margin in half.
But the Tiger offense had an answer, as Colon’s one-out single kicked off a string of five straight Mizzou hits. Cam Chick made it a 5-2 game with a double to right, before Dalton Bargo plated two more with a single to left-center.
MU tacked on two runs in the eighth via a pinch-hit Jackson Lovich base hit, followed by a Panther error, and Zeisler followed Austin’s lead with a solo blast—his third in as many games against FIU—to open the ninth.
Mizzou out-hit the Panthers by a 14-5 margin, while the three Tiger pitchers combined to strike out 15 FIU hitters.
In addition to the two-hit efforts by Austin and Wilmsmeyer, Bargo, Leach and Luke Mann also two hits apiece, while seven different Mizzou batters recorded an RBI.
UP NEXT
Mizzou wraps up its stay in south Florida, as well as its season-opening, seven-game road trip Sunday with 11 a.m. contest against FIU.
FOLLOW THE TIGERS
For all the latest information on Mizzou Baseball, please visit MUTigers.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow the Tigers on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
-MUTigers.com-
