Mizzou baseball earned a 5-4 road victory over No. 24 Kentucky on Friday evening at Kentucky Proud Park to kick off a three-game series with the Wildcats. Sophomore RHP Trey Lawrence had a career outing out of the pen, throwing three scoreless, one-hit innings of relief (5 K) to earn the win while redshirt-freshman Donovan Jordan‘s RBI single in the ninth was the game winner.
Right-hander Josh McDevitt made his eighth start of the season on the mound for the Tigers (18-13, 2-8 SEC) and had good stuff all night. The junior threw five gutsy innings (104 pitches, career high) and allowed just one earned run (three total) while striking out seven Wildcats (22-7, 5-5 SEC) and walking three.
Kentucky got on the board first with a sac-fly off the bat of Tagger Tyson, but the Tigers responded with a three-run third inning to take their first lead of the contest. A two-out single by shortstop Kam Durnin sparked a rally, as a walk drawn by Kaden Peer in the next at-bat followed by an errant throw back to the pitcher by the Kentucky catcher put Durnin and Peer at the corners. From there, a wild pitch allowed Durnin to score the first Mizzou run before Jase Woita won a seven-pitch at-bat with an RBI single, followed by another single by Pierre Seals and yet another by freshman Blaize Ward, driving in Woita to make it a 3-1 lead for the Tigers.
Mizzou added a run in the top of the fourth after a leadoff single by catcher Mateo Serna set up a two-out RBI single by Durnin later in the frame to extend the lead to three runs.
The Wildcats scratched back for two unearned runs in the bottom of the fourth after an error in right field by Seals put the leadoff batter on second base. An RBI single by Carson Hansen plated the first run for UK before a two-out single later in the inning off the bat of Luke Lawrence brought Hansen home to make it a one-run lead for the Tigers after four.
McDevitt headed back out to the mound for the fifth after using 90 pitches to get through the first four frames and finished strong. The junior righty fanned the first two Wildcats he faced before inducing a fly out to right field to finish the 1-2-3 inning, ending his day at 104 pitches
Kentucky tied the game in the bottom of the sixth on a two-out RBI single up the middle by UK leadoff hitter Jayce Tharnish.
Right-handed sophomore Trey Lawrence walked a tight rope in the bottom of the seventh after relieving lefty Kadden Drew, who put the leadoff hitter on with a walk. Lawrence got a quick out before walking a pair of Wildcats to load the bases but escaped the jam with a popout to third base two pitches later to keep the game tied.
Lawrence went back out for the eighth and again worked himself in and out of trouble before ultimately striking out the side and stranding a pair of runners in scoring position.
A one-out double by Keegan Knutson gave the Tigers the spark they were looking for in the ninth. Redshirt-freshman Donovan Jordan came to the plate and delivered a clutch RBI single through the right side to score Knutson and give Mizzou a 5-4 lead.
Lawrence returned to the mound in the ninth to try and close out the second ranked road win for the Tigers this season. The sophomore from Palmetto, Florida, worked a 1-2-3 frame with a pair of strikeouts to seal the 5-4 victory and earn his second win of the campaign.
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