Mizzou baseball suffered its 12th-straight loss in a Border War thriller against rival Kansas, falling 6-5 on Tuesday night at Taylor Stadium.
The Jayhawks jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Junior center fielder Derek Cerda singled, sophomore first baseman Brady Ballinger drew a walk and graduate right fielder Jackson Hauge sent a three-run opposite field home run to right to begin the game.
Despite allowing three runs in the first inning, MU sophomore right-hander Josh McDevitt pitched through two innings, collecting two strikeouts in his last inning of work.
Missouri’s relievers held Kansas scoreless for the next three innings.
Freshman righty PJ Green, who pitched against Georgia in Game 2 on Saturday and Game 3 on Sunday, relieved McDevitt and made an appearance in the third straight game for the Tigers (13-35, 0-24 Southeastern Conference). Green locked Kansas down in his one inning of work, and freshman right-hander Victor Christal followed up with two scoreless innings.
While the bullpen threw zeroes on the board, Mizzou’s offense chipped away and eventually took its first and only lead of the game.
Freshman right fielder Tyler Macon scored on a wild pitch in the third inning to notch MU’s first run of the game, and the Tigers followed up by scoring two runs in back-to-back innings to take the lead.
Junior left fielder Brock Daniels pulled a towering home run to right field to lead off the fourth.
Two batters later, junior shortstop Jackson Lovich drove a home run off the scoreboard in left field, tying it at 3.
Freshman third baseman Patterson began the scoring in the fifth inning with an RBI double to left field and Keegan Knutson made it 5-3 with a line drive single to center field that scored Patterson two at-bats later.
Junior righty Brock Lucas allowed a solo home run in the sixth, but limited the damage, and senior right-hander Kaden Jacobi hung another zero in the seventh inning.
After walking his third batter of the inning, junior southpaw Tony Neubeck was in a bases-loaded jam.
MU coach Kerrick Jackson walked to the mound to talk to his pitcher, but walked away without making a change, giving Neubeck the opportunity to escape the situation.
The Jayhawks (37-13) scored two runs in the inning, one off of a sacrifice fly to center field immediately after the mound visit and another on a ground ball hit to a diving Knutson at second base that turned into an RBI infield single to give Kansas a 6-5 lead.
Senior first baseman Cayden Nicoletto reached base with a single to begin the bottom of the ninth inning, but the Tigers failed to rally behind the hit.
Mizzou next faces Texas A&M (27-20, 10-14) in a three-game series. Game 1 is slated for 6 p.m. Friday in College Station, Texas.