Missouri evens series with 12-6 win at LSU

BATON ROUGE, La. — No. 24 Missouri recorded eight runs in the top of the eighth inning to even the series against No. 16 LSU with a 12-6 win Saturday night in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field.

Missouri improved to 15-4 overall and improved to 1-1 in Southeastern Conference action. With the loss, LSU dropped to 13-7 and 1-1 in the league.

LSU and Missouri conclude the series at 2 p.m. CT Sunday in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field. The game may be viewed on SEC Network+, which is accessible through Watch ESPN and the Watch ESPN app.

Missouri starter Michael Plassmeyer improved to 3-0 on the season after holding LSU to two runs on five hits, struck out eight and walked one in seven innings of work.

Junior right-hander Caleb Gilbert (2-1) limited Missouri to two runs on seven hits in 4.2 innings of work. He also recorded four strikeouts and one walk.

Missouri was clinging to a 2-1 lead entering the eighth inning and erupted for eight runs in the top of the frame against six different LSU pitchers.

“It’s a shame what happened in the eighth inning, because it was an unbelievable game up to that point,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “Their starting pitcher was outstanding; he was throwing a nice slider that we were really having a tough time with. Caleb pitched very courageously into the fifth and gave it everything he had. It looked like the game was going to go down to the wire, but the top of the eighth just unraveled on us.

“We’ve just got to accept this loss like men, turn the page and get ready for tomorrow.”

In the bottom of the fourth inning, right fielder Antoine Duplantis led off with a single to right field and first baseman Austin Bain drew a walk in the next at-bat. After a sacrifice bunt by catcher Hunter Feduccia moved the runners to scoring position, left fielder Beau Jordan lifted a ball into right field, and Duplantis tagged on the sacrifice fly to give LSU the 1-0 lead.

Missouri took its first lead of the weekend in the top of the fifth inning. With two outs, first baseman Kameron Misner drove a single to right field and stole second. Catcher Brett Bond then homered to right field to give Mizzou the 2-1 edge.

In the top of the eighth inning, Missouri scored eight runs on three hits. Misner led off the inning with a double to centerfield, and with one out, third baseman Brian Sharp singled to second base and then stole second to put runners in scoring position. Misner scored on a passed ball, and with one out and the bases loaded, a hit by pitch and a walk brought in Sharp and pinch runner Cade Bormet.

Second baseman Mark Vierling scored on a single through the left side by Harris. Three walks and a fielding error with two outs brought the Missouri lead to 10-1.

Jake Slaughter entered to pinch hit in the bottom of the eighth inning and launched a home run to left field on the first pitch he saw from Plassmeyer. With one out, center fielder Zach Watson followed with a dinger of his own to left field, shortening the Mizzou lead to 10-3.

Missouri tacked on two runs in the top of the ninth to make the score 12-3. Back-to-back singles by third baseman Alex Samples and shortstop Chirs Cornelius put runners on first and second for center fielder Connor Brumfield, who ripped a RBI single up the middle. With two outs, catcher Brett Bond singled to centerfield, driving in Cornelius for the final Missouri run.

LSU struck for three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning after Nick Webre led things off with a pinch-hit single to right field. Beau Jordan followed with a single to third base, and designated hitter Bryce Jordan doubled to left field, driving in Webre. With one out, pinch hitter Daniel Cabrera grounded out to second and pushed across Beau Jordan. Watson followed with a double off of the Missouri third baseman to drive in Bryce Jordan.

Right-hander John Kodros was the first pitcher out of the bullpen for the Bayou Bengals. The freshman recorded the final out of the fifth inning, which led the way for fellow freshman Devin Fontenot’s two innings of work. The right-hander allowed one run on one hit and struck out two.