COLUMBIA, Mo. – Kansas State scored once in the ninth and another time in the 10th as the Wildcats came back to defeat No. 14 Missouri, 4-3, Sunday afternoon at Taylor Stadium. The win improved Kansas State to 22-25 overall and 7-14 in Big 12 play. The Tigers fell to 31-16 overall and 11-10 in conference action.
The victory marked the fourth when trailing after seven innings and also the fourth in extra innings, while it was the seventh against ranked opponents.
Down 3-2 entering the ninth, Kansas State was able to tie the game at three apiece as Carter Jurica hit a one-out single up the middle. Scott was next and blasted a double to right field, which moved Jurica to third and gave the Cats the tying run at third base with just one out. Nick Tepesch (1-3) then replaced Hicks and hit Drew Biery with a pitch to load the bases. Justin Bloxom was next and hit a deep fly ball to left field, which was deep enough to score Jurica and tie the game.
Daniel Edwards (3-3), who came out of the pen in the eighth inning, shut down the Tigers in the ninth as well as he fanned the first batter and forced a ground ball for the second out of the game. Greg Folgia followed with a walk, but was thrown out by Daniel Dellasega to end the inning.
Adam Muenster led the 10th inning off by reaching on a throwing error by third baseman Lee Fischer, which allowed Muenster to move to second. Following a strikeout by Tepesch, Byron Wiley, who pinch hit for Dellasega, was intentionally walked. Derek Bunker, another pinch hitter, was next and struck out for the second out of the inning. Jurica followed and, on the first pinch of the at bat, the ball got away from Mizzou catcher Trevor Coleman and both Muenster and Wiley were able to advance one base. However, Coleman, attempting to throw out Wiley at second, sailed a ball into center field, which allowed Muenster to score the eventual winning run.
Jurica led the Cats offensively as the freshman was 3-for-6 with three runs scored. Scott recorded his third multi-hit game of the series, as the senior was 2-for-3 with a double. Bloxom drove in two runs, while Jason King also brought in a run on a sacrifice fly.
Thomas Rooke, who replaced K-State starter A.J. Morris in the fifth inning, allowed one run on two hits in three innings of work, breaking a 21-scoreless-inning streak.
For the third-straight game, Kansas State plated one run in the first inning. Jurica led off with a single to right field, and was then bunted over to second by Scott. Following a ground out, Bloxom ripped a single up the middle to plate Jurica and give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead.
Morris escaped danger in the bottom of the first inning as the Tigers had the bases loaded with one out. However, Morris forced an inning-ending groundball to hold Missouri scoreless in the first frame for the first time in the series.
The Tigers tied up the game with one run in the second inning as Morris hit Andrew Thigpen to lead off the inning and Thigpen was then bunted over to second base and moved to third on a groundout. Folgia was next and hit another ground ball to second base to plate Thigpen.
K-State took the lead right back in the third as Jurica and Scott led the inning off with a pair of singles and both were moved up one base on a sacrifice bunt by Drew Biery. Bloxom followed with a walk and King lifted a fly ball to right field, deep enough to plate Jurica and give the Cats a 2-1 lead.
Mizzou tied the game up with a Steve Gray solo home run to lead off the fourth inning. The Tigers could have done more damage in the inning, though, as Thigpen followed Gray with a double and moved to third on a groundout. However, Kyle Mach hit a sharp groundball to Nate Tenbrink at third, who dove for the ball and threw out Mach at first, which kept Thigpen at third. Morris then came back to strike out Folgia, which ended the threat.
Kansas State had a chance to take the lead in the top of the seventh as Dellasega hit a leadoff double and was then sacrificed over to third by Dane Yelovich for the first out of the inning. Following a strikeout, Missouri starter Rick Zagone hit Scott, but came back to strike out Biery to end the threat.
The Wildcats again had another opportunity to score in the eighth inning as King forced a one-out walk and, two batters later, Tenbrink singled through the right side to give Kansas State runners on first and second with two outs. However, Scooter Hicks, who came into the game to face Tenbrink, struck out Dellasega to keep the Cats scoreless.
Missouri took the lead with one run in the eighth inning when Aaron Senne led the inning off with a walk, which would be the end for Rooke. Edwards came in and forced to fly-ball outs, but Gray followed with a double down the left-field line to score Senne to first and make the score 3-2.
Kansas State will step out of conference for the final time this season as the Wildcats host No. 3 Arizona State at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Tointon Family Stadium.
