After facing an early four-run deficit, Missouri scored 10 of the final 11 runs of the night to cruise to a 10-5 victory over the Missouri State Bears Wednesday evening at Simmons Field in Columbia. The Tigers sweep a two-game season series from the Bears for the first time since 2000.
Conner Mach and Dane Opel provided much of the offense for the Tigers, combining to go 7-for-8 with six runs scored and five runs batted-in. Opel kicked off MU’s scoring charge with a two-run homer in the fourth, while Mach’s second double of the game ignited a three-run seventh inning rally that snapped a 5-5 tie.
Missouri (26-22), which topped the Bears (34-15) in 11 innings in the two clubs’ first meeting of the season on April 25, scored all three of its runs in the seventh with two men out to turn the tide for good. Scott Sommerfeld’s two-run double to center was the key blow, and Eric Garcia scored the third run with a base hit to right.
The Tigers would ice the game in the eighth, with Mach and Opel adding a sac fly and an RBI single, to help stop the Bears’ four-game win streak.
Story courtesy of Missouri State Athletics.
