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Missouri upsets Vanderbilt on walk-off, hands Commodores first SEC loss

Wade-Peeryby: Wade Peery04/08/23
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(Photo by Jonathan Street/Icon SMI/Corbis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The Missouri Tigers stunned the Vanderbilt Commodores on Friday night, thanks to a walk-off two-run single by Matt Garcia. The Tigers defeated the Commodores, 5-4, after Garcia brought in the winning runs in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Missouri was trailing 4-3 with one out in the bottom of the ninth, when he smacked a single to lift his team to victory, handing Vanderbilt their first SEC loss this season.

After the winning run scored, the entire Tigers’ team rushed to the outfield of Taylor Stadium to immediately celebrate with Garcia, who was surrounded and mobbed in the Missouri outfield.

Check out the winning play below.

Missouri moved to 20-10 overall this season and 4-7 in the SEC, whereas Vanderbilt moved to 25-6 overall and 10-1 in the SEC. Vandy superstar Enrique Bradfield, Jr. had a triple and a stolen base in the loss for the ‘Dores. Tigers’ centerfielder Ty Wilmsmeyer swatted a two-run home run blast in the second inning to tie the game at 2-2.

Then, Juju Stevens doubled to right center field in the fifth inning to give the Tigers their third run of the game. Missouri pitcher Rorik Maltrud had seven strikeouts and allowed five hits in seven innings of work in the winning effort.

The win for Missouri snapped a four-game losing streak, including a 7-6 loss to the Commodores in Game 1 of their series. They’ll play the third and final game of the series on Saturday. Start time for that one is slated for 2:00 PM ET.

The Tigers have been playing well against SEC teams from the state of Tennessee this year, as they swept the Volunteers in convincing fashion, 3-0. Their lowest margin of victory in that series was three runs, when they defeated the Vols 7-4 in Game 2.

Luke Mann and Hank Zeisler are currently tied for the team lead on Missouri in home runs. They’ve both swatted nine home runs this season. Zeisler also leads the team in RBIs with 33. When it comes to total bases, Luke Mann has the team lead and by a fairly significant margin.

Missouri’s next series against a SEC opponent will be next weekend, as they face off against the Texas A&M Aggies. That one begins on Thursday, April 13th. It will be a three-game series. Missouri defeated Texas and TCU earlier this season in the college baseball showdown.