STARKVILLE, Miss. – Missouri baseball (14-33, 7-20 SEC) launched four home runs en route to a 16-8, series-clinching win over No. 3 Mississippi State (36-13, 17-10 SEC) on Saturday afternoon at Dudy Noble Field.
Mizzou jumped to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first on a two-out, two-run single from senior Clayton Peterson. Twin brother Alex Peterson made it 3-0 Mizzou with a solo home run in the second.
The Mizzou onslaught continued in the third as junior Joshua Day singled home a run to extend the lead to 4-0. Senior Brandt Belk then delivered a pinch-hit grand slam to swell the Tiger advantage to 8-0.
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Mississippi State cut the lead in half in the fourth, using back-to-back homers to spark a four-run inning. The Tigers responded by scoring twice in the fifth to push the lead back to 10-4. Alex Peterson lifted his second homer of the day and Belk scored on a wild pitch to provide the runs.
Another four-run inning for Mississippi State in the fifth cut the Mizzou lead to 10-8 but the Tigers turned to sophomore Ben Pedersen (1-1) who shut down the Bulldogs the rest of the way. Pedersen tossed a career-long 4 2/3 innings while scattering four hits and not allowing a run to earn the win.
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Mizzou tacked on two runs in the seventh, one on a Day single, and then iced the game with a four-run ninth. Sophomore Luke Mann crushed a three-run homer to right field to punctuate the win.
