Mizzou baseball evens up the series with LSU

COLUMIBA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Mizzou baseball team will play for the series win against LSU on Sunday at Taylor Stadium, following Saturday's 8-7 win over the Baton Rouge Tigers.

LSU almost made a comeback in the ninth inning, plating three runs to make it a one-run ball game, however, pitcher Ryan Magdic closed the door for his second save of the season.

Javyn Pimental earned the win on the hill for the Tigers to improve to 2-2 on the season. He threw for five innings and allowed just one earned run on two hits. Pimental struck out four batters.

Head coach Kerrick Jackson's team got a quick start at the dish. In the home half of the first inning, Helias alum Trevor Austin and catcher Jedier Hernandez each drove in a run to get a 2-0 advantage.

Mizzou led 3-1 headed into the bottom of the fifth, but that's when the hometown Tigers, seemingly, blew the game open. Austin started a four-run inning with an RBI double to left center. Thanks to hits from Matt Garcia and Danny Corona, MU ended up leading LSU 7-1 at the end of the fifth.

The Baton Rouge Tigers made Mizzou fans nervous in the ninth inning, as relief pitcher Carter Rustad looked to close out the series-tying win, with an 8-4 lead in his pocket. He let a run go on an RBI double to right center, which put LSU within three.

After Rustad gave up that run, Jackson pulled him and put Magdic in to close the game out. However, the left handed pitcher promptly gave up a two-run homer, which put LSU within one, 8-7. Despite the drama, Magdic did close out the game to earn a save.

It was a good day at the dish, overall, for Mizzou. Brock Daniels, Austin and Garcia all finished with the team-high two RBI.

With the win, Jackson and company improved to 18-22 overall in 2024 and 6-11 in SEC action.

Up next - the two Tiger teams will face off with the series on the line on Sunday, April 21. First pitch is slated for 2 p.m. at Taylor Stadium.