Wildcat Rally Falls Short Against Missouri

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Kansas State, down 13-7 entering the ninth, came back with three runs and had the go-ahead run at the plate, but Scooter Hicks struck out Rob Vaughn and forced Jordan Cruz to foul out to end the game as the 14th-ranked Tigers hung on for a 13-10 win over Kansas State Friday evening at Taylor Stadium. With the victory, the Tigers improved to 30-15 overall and 10-9 in Big 12 play. The Wildcats dropped to 21-24 overall and 6-13 in conference action.

Mizzou scored seven runs in the first two innings to jump start its 13-run, 18-hit night. The Tigers homered five times on the night, including two by Jacob Priday, who finished the game by going 4-for-5 with three RBI. Ryan Lollis, Aaron Senne and Trevor Coleman also homered for Mizzou.

Junior shortstop Drew Biery led the Wildcats offensively by going 4-for-5 with four RBI, including a solo home run in the fifth inning. Brett Scott finished 3-for-5 with a single, a double and his first-career triple. Justin Bloxom and Byron Wiley also added a pair of RBI for Kansas State.

Scott led the inning off the ninth inning with a double down the right-field line and advanced to third on a fly out. Bloxom followed with a triple off the right center-field wall to plate Scott and get the Wildcats within five at 13-8. King followed with a walk and Derek Bunker hit a pinch-hit RBI single to left field to score Bloxom and move King to second. Wiley then hit another RBI single through the right side to bring home King and get Kansas State within three. Hicks came into the game and Biery greeted him with a single to load the bases, but Hicks struck out Vaughn and forced Cruz to foul out to end the game.

Missouri junior pitcher Aaron Crow (10-0) picked up the win in 5.1 innings of work, but gave up six runs – only four of which were earned – on eight hits and struck out eight batters. Hicks picked up his fourth save of the season as he got the final two outs of the ninth to seal the victory. Kansas State’s Lance Hoge (1-6) suffered the loss as he could only go 1.0 inning, allowing seven runs on seven hits.

Kansas State jumped out in front of Missouri in its first at bat as Cruz led the game off with a double down the right-field line, then moved to third on a passed ball. Two batter later Nate Tenbrink hit a ground out to second to score the run and make the score 1-0.

Missouri took the lead in the bottom half of the inning as the Tigers plated five runs in the first. Lollis hit a one-out double off the left center-field wall and was followed by a two-run home run by Senne over the right-field wall for a 2-0 lead. Priday, Coleman and Dan Pietroburgo followed with a single, a double and a walk, respectively, to load the bases with just one out before Andrew Thigpen doubled to clear the bases and make the score 5-1.

K-State began to chip away at the Tiger lead in the second inning as King led the inning off with a single up the middle and was bunted over to second by Muenster. King then went to third on a Wiley groundout and scored on a Biery single up the middle to make the score 5-2.

The Tigers plated another two runs in the second to extend its lead to 7-2 on a Priday two-run home run.

Priday hit another homer in the fourth, a leadoff shot to left field, who was followed by another solo homer by Coleman to extend the lead to 9-2.

The Wildcats got a run back in the fifth with a Biery leadoff solo home run to left center-field to make the score 9-3.

The Wildcats got back into the game with three runs in the sixth and another single run in the seventh. Bloxom led the sixth off with a walk and Muenster walked two batters later. Wiley then hit a one-out single through the right side to plate Bloxom and make the score 10-4. Biery drove in both Muenster and Wiley with a single of his own through the right side to get the Wildcats within three at 10-7.