Day Walks Off Mississippi State to Claim Series

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Missouri shortstop Josh Day wasted no time in the bottom of the ninth, lifting an opposite field walk-off home run to right field for a 7-6 victory over Mississippi State in Sunday’s rubber match at Taylor Stadium.

Day’s home run was his seventh of the season and his first since April 1. The blast could not have come at a better time for Mizzou (24-17, 7-14 SEC), which captured its third consecutive home series. Luke Mann finished 3-for-4 with his 13th homer of the season while Ty Wilmsmeyer added a three-run shot in the win.

On the mound, Ian Lohse (2-2) earned the win with 2.2 innings of shutout relief work. The left-hander fanned six while allowing just a single hit to keep the game deadlocked in the seventh, eighth and ninth. Carter Rustad also spun another gem out of the bullpen, working 4.1 innings while allowing just one run to keep Mizzou in the game early.

IMPACT INNING

After Lohse slammed the door with back-to-back strikeouts in the top of the ninth, Day wasted no time in the bottom half. Leading off the inning, Day fouled off a pair of offerings from KC Hunt before laying off a pair of pitches to even the count at 2-2. Day sent the next pitch, a breaking ball on the outside corner, deep to right field to send the Mizzou bench streaming onto the field in celebration.

JOOOOOSSSHHHHHHHHHH ??????

It’s a walk-off for the series??#MIZ | #C2E??? pic.twitter.com/7cdLwgkCjL

— Mizzou Baseball (@MizzouBaseball) May 1, 2022

TOP TIGERS

Josh Day: 2-for-4, HR, RBI, R, BB

Ian Lohse: 2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K

Luke Mann: 3-for-4, HR, RBI, R, BB

IN THE NOTES

• The walk-off win was Mizzou’s second of the season. The Tigers walked-off South Carolina back on April 2.
• Day’s walk-off home run was the first by a Tiger since Kameron Misner launched a walk-off blast against UIC on March 5, 2017.
• Wilmsmeyer’s home run was his second of the season and his first since the season opener at Nicholls.
• Mann’s home run was his 13th of the season. The total is the most by a Mizzou player in the BBCOR bat era (2011-pres.).
• Trevor Austin stretched his hitting streak to 12 games with a 1-for-3 day and a run scored.
• Fox Leum picked up his 24th RBI of the season in a 1-for-4 day.
• The Tigers have now won three-straight series over Mississippi State.

FROM THE SKIP

Coach Bieser on the walk-off win to take the series…

“A heck of a game – both clubs, all series, back and forth battling. This is the way it should have come down. They outscored us on night one, we were able to outscore them on night two. Then we had a really tough one here today, but proud of the way the guys responded, stuck to it and were able to battle through.”

UP NEXT

Mizzou hosts SEMO on Tuesday evening at Taylor Stadium. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. on SEC Network +.

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-MUTigers.com-