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COLUMBIA, Mo. – Missouri baseball plated three unearned runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to wipe out a late deficit against NJIT and claim the deciding contest of a three-game series with a 5-3 victory over the Highlanders Sunday afternoon at Taylor Stadium.
The Tigers’ fourth comeback win of the season capped a banner weekend for the Mizzou pitching staff, which limited NJIT to a .159 team batting average, while striking out 32 hitters and yielding just 13 hits in the three-game set.
But Missouri’s seventh win in eight games on its current home stand would take a little more than another shutdown mound performance. Moments after the Tigers (12-3) saw their own lead disappear on a Jared Donnelly two-run homer in the top of the eighth, Mizzou cashed in on a defensive miscue and four walks handed out by Highlander pitching in the home half of the inning to reclaim the lead for good.
With one out and the bases loaded, Tre Morris delivered a chopper to the left side of the NJIT infield, which Donnelly fielded cleanly at third, but fired wildly to the plate, allowing both Trevor Austin and Hank Zeisler to slide home safely and put Mizzou back on top by a 4-3 margin.
Justin Colon drove home the third run of the inning with a sacrifice fly to center, before Zach Franklin (3-0) closed out the victory by striking out the side in the ninth.
Mizzou’s pitching staff starred once again, as the trio of Rorik Maltrud, Tony Neubeck and Franklin combined to fan 16 NJIT hitters—a season single-game high for the Tiger staff—while permitting just two walks and five hits.
Zeisler, who reached base safely in three of his four trips to the plate, played key roles in each of Mizzou’s three scoring rallies. The Tiger first baseman doubled and scored in the fifth and drove in a run with a sac fly in the sixth before scoring the go-ahead run in the decisive rally.
Juju Stevens added a run-scoring double to open the scoring in the fifth, after Maltrud and NJIT starter Joe Georgini locked up in a scoreless duel over the game’s first four frames. Maltrud allowed just two hits and one walk while punching out seven Highlanders in his 4.0 innings. Georgini nearly matched that effort, allowing just one baserunner through four innings, before eventually scattering two runs on four hits over 6.0 total innings.
Trailing 2-0 with two out and nobody on in the seventh, the Highlanders finally put their first run on the board courtesy of a walk and an Andrew Eppinger RBI double to slice the margin in half.
The following inning, Ray Ortiz singled to lead things off, and Donnelly followed with his second two-run homer of the series to hand the Highlanders their first lead of the day.
But the Tigers responded immediately, loading the bases on a Austin single and back-to-back walks to Zeisler and Matt Garcia to set up Morris’ critical at-bat.
Franklin earned the win—his third as a Tiger and the 19th of his collegiate career—after striking out six of the eight batters he faced over the final two innings.
TIGER NOTEBOOK
• Mizzou claimed two of three games from NJIT in the two clubs’ first-ever series matchup
• Mizzou improved to 7-1 at home this season and 389-226 all-time at Taylor Stadium
• The Tigers notched their fourth come-from-behind victory of the season
• Luke Mann’s sixth-inning single extended his hit streak to 11 straight games, as the Tigers third baseman went 4-for-11 on the weekend
• The 16-strikeout performance by the pitching staff matched Mizzou’s 16 K’s vs. Oklahoma State on opening day (Feb. 17)
• After homering in nine straight games (Feb. 23-March 7), the Tigers failed to go deep for the second consecutive contest Sunday
• NJIT outhomered MU by a 3-2 count in the series and limited the Tigers’ SEC-leading running game to one stolen base in three attempts on the weekend
• Franklin’s six strikeouts marked his third outing of at least six K’s this season, none of which have been longer than 3.0 innings
• Maltrud established a Mizzou career high with his seven strikeouts in turning in his third straight 4.0-inning appearance
UP NEXT
Mizzou continues its initial home stand of the season Wednesday (March 15) when it welcomes Lamar to Taylor Stadium for a 3 p.m. non-conference matchup.
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Single-game tickets for this weekend’s series, as well as all Mizzou Baseball games in 2023, are on sale now and can be purchased by calling 1-800-CAT-PAWS, or by visiting MUTigers.com/feature/BSBTix.
