Mann Powers Resurgent Offense in Victory Over Texas A&M

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Missouri baseball scored early and often against Texas A&M Saturday, riding a career-best seven-RBI afternoon by Luke Mann to a 13-5 Southeastern Conference victory over the Aggies in the final contest of the two clubs’ three-game series at Blue Bell Park.

Mann homered twice and drove in runs in each of the Tigers’ four scoring rallies as part of a 3-for-4 performance that helped lift Mizzou (22-13, 5-10 SEC) to its first SEC road victory of the season.

After being held to one run on five hits in Friday’s 13-1 setback, the Tigers broke out the bats early in the series finale, sending 10 men to the plate while scoring four times in the first inning. With one out, Mann set the tone for the rally, driving a 1-0 pitch from A&M starter Carson Lambert (1-1) over the wall in right to hand Mizzou a one-run lead.

The Tigers weren’t done, as Dalton Bargo coaxed a two-out walk, before Hank Zeisler singled. Tre Morris punctuated the rally by lifting a long drive to left for his first home run of the season—a three-run shot that gave the Tigers a 4-0 edge.

Texas A&M (22-14, 7-8 SEC), which homered four times in the game and nine times over the three-game series, used the long ball to chip away at the Tiger lead. Trevor Werner single-handedly brought the Aggies back, belting a two-run homer in the home half of the first after a Jack Moss one-out single.

Werner struck again in the third, launching a two-out shot to center for his eighth round-tripper of the season, cutting the Mizzou lead to 4-3.

But the Tigers responded immediately in the fourth, after a Matt Garcia single, a walk to Cam Chick and a hit batsman loaded the bases with nobody out. Mann drew ball four from Justin Lamkin to force home a run, and Trevor Austin lofted a sac fly to left, before Ty Wilmsmeyer trotted home on a double-steal attempt to make it a 7-3 contest.

Mann struck again in the sixth, belting a no-doubt, two-run homer to right-center after a Wilmsmeyer single. The Tigers put the game on ice with a four-run seventh, with Mann once again playing a central role with a two-out, bases-loaded double that hiked the Tiger lead to nine runs.

Texas A&M scored its final run of the game on a Jace LaViolette opposite-field home run in the eighth.

After Chandler Murphy worked the first 4 1/3 innings, the duo of Austin Troesser (3-2) and Zach Franklin closed out the victory for the Tigers, combining for 4.2 innings of two-hit relief. Troesser earned the victory, allowing just an infield hit with four strikeouts over his 2 2/3 frames.

In addition to Mann’s three-hit afternoon, Carlos Pena and Garcia chipped in with two-hit games, while Wilmsmeyer scored three times for Mizzou.

TIGER NOTEBOOK

• With the victory, Missouri improved to 39-55-2 all-time vs. Texas A&M
• Mizzou drew nine walks in a game for the first time since April 2 at Kentucky
• The win hiked the Tigers’ road record to 6-9 and their combined road-neutral mark to 10-10 this season
• Mann’s first-inning homer gave the third baseman sole possession of the No. 5 spot on Mizzou’s career home run list, while his sixth-inning shot upped his career total to 40
• The multi-homer game marked the sixth of Mann’s Mizzou career and his second this season
• Mizzou outhit an opponent for the 25^th time in 35 contests, improving to 21-4 in such games
• MU notched its first SEC road win of the season and stopped a string of 10-straight SEC road losses, dating back to last May
• Troesser won his sixth decision as a Tiger and his first since March 19 vs. Tennessee

UP NEXT

Mizzou returns to Columbia Tuesday (April 18) for a 6 p.m. nonconference matchup against Missouri State at Taylor Stadium.

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