Mizzou baseball wins slug fest with Lindenwood

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Tiger baseball fans got to see a combined total of 24 runs in the first day of action at Taylor Stadium, on Tuesday. Mizzou came out on top in the slug fest with Lindenwood, 14-10, to improve to .500 on the season.

Head coach Kerrick Jackson's team dug itself into a 4-0 hole in the first inning, courtesy of a couple of bases loaded walks and a two RBI single off the bat of Lindenwood's Sam Grunberg. However, the MU bats came to life in the second.

Freshman Brady Picarelli brought the spark that the Tigers needed with a two-run homer to left field to cut the Lions' lead in half in the second inning. That was one of two home runs on the day for the Missouri-native, as he went 5-for-5 with six RBI and those two homers in his Taylor Stadium debut.

MU finally managed to take the lead in the fifth inning, courtesy of an RBI single from Picarelli to give his Tigers a two-run lead over the Lions. From there, it felt like the two teams traded punches, as Mizzou notched a season-high 17 hits on Tuesday evening.

In the end, Jackson's pitching staff was able to hold off the Lindenwood bats long enough for a four-run win in Columbia. Graduate pitcher James Vaughn earned the win for MU, after throwing for 1.1 innings and striking out two batter, allowing no runs on just one hit.

Every other pitcher did give up a run against Lindenwood, though. Starter Victor Christal got Mizzou in that hole in the first inning, giving up four runs, three of which were earned, on two hits.

Both pitcher Kaden Jacobi and Xavier Lovett let some guys come home, as well. Jacobi yielded four earned runs, after coming in in relief for Christal in the first inning. Then, Lovett closed the game allowing four earned runs on six hits and no strikeouts.

Up next - Mizzou will stay home to host Evansville in a three-game series. Game one is set for Friday, Feb. 28 at 5 p.m.