Missouri Baseball Completes a Comeback against Auburn in Series Opener

A four-run eighth turns the game around for Missouri, helping them secure the 12-11 win in the first game of the series against Auburn.

Mizzou Athletics

The Missouri Tigers put up a back and forth game against the Auburn Tigers. They ultimately got the win after a late offensive resurgence.

A double in the eighth with the bases loaded ended up being the key hit in the game and gave Missouri their final lead. MU took the series opener against Auburn 12-11.

Missouri's first two runs of the game came from an unusual suspect. Junior third baseman Justin Colon sent a home run into the Missouri bullpen after freshman shortstop Drew Culbertson's two-out single.

The Missouri Tigers didn't hold the lead very long, giving up five runs in two innings, three of those being solo home runs in the fourth.

The damage in the three-run inning, could have been worse. Junior catcher Jedier Hernandez saved two more runs from coming across by throwing them out at second. The first runner of the inning was hit-by-pitch, but was caught at second. The next batter homered, but thanks to Hernandez, no one was on. A walk and a caught stealing before the third homer of the inning forced another solo shot, instead of a two-run homer.

But unlike previous games, they didn't leave those runs unanswered. Missouri put up one in the fourth with the help of a double and an error that pushed junior left fielder Danny Corona to third, a groundout brought him home.

MU put up another run in the fifth to make it a one run game with singles from Colon, sophomore first baseman Brock Daniels and sophomore right fielder Jackson Lovich. They then loaded the bases with a walk and no outs.

Two outs later, the tying run came across with another walk. A pitching change was followed by a wild pitch to give Missouri the lead in the fifth inning.

Missouri's lead once again did not last long. Sophomore Brock Lucas inherited the bases loaded from graduate Jacob Peaden. A two-run double in the seventh from Auburn turned the lead over and a bases-clearing triple pushed the score to 10-6. A groundout after the triple made it 11 runs for Auburn.

An attempt at a comeback started in the bottom of the seventh. Missouri took advantage of two free baserunners with two singles to score two runs. Another run came across in the eighth with an RBI single from Hernandez, his third hit of the night.

There were two outs in the bottom of the eight with the bases loaded. Graduate Matt Garcia was at the plate. He sent a double to the wall in left center to bring everyone home and give Missouri the lead.

Junior Bryce Mayer had one of the best pitching performances of the night. He came into a bases-loaded jam in the eighth and pitched through it with a double play and a ground out. Despite some struggle in the ninth, he sent the Missouri fans home happy.

Missouri's record improves to 22-28 on the season and 8-17 in SEC play, while Auburn drops to 23-25 and 5-21. The Tigers will take the field for game two at 3 p.m. CT on Saturday.