For the second straight day a big inning by the Tigers proved to be the deciding factor as the No. 6 Texas A&M baseball team fell to Missouri 9-1 Saturday afternoon at Taylor Stadium.
The loss knocked the Aggies (29-14, 14-6 Big 23) out of first place in the Big 12 Conference standings, a game back of Texas. Missouri, meanwhile, secured the series win and improved to 19-24 overall and 6-10 in league play.
One of the lone bright spots in the contest for Texas A&M was sophomore outfielder Tyler Naquin, who went 2-for-4 at the plate and extended his career-best hitting streak to 19 games. The run is the longest by a Big 12 hitter the season and the eighth longest streak in Aggie baseball history.
Early in the afternoon, the contest had the look of a pitcher’s duel as Texas A&M’s Michael Wacha and Missouri’s Matt Stitles traded scoreless frames for the first four innings.
Aggie senior catcher Kevin Gonzalez broke the ice on the scoreboard as he led off the top of the fifth with his third home run of the season, a solo shot that found the back wall of the Missouri bullpen in left field.
Wacha (5-3) ran into trouble in the bottom of the sixth as the Tiger offense exploded for nine runs on seven hits while the Aggies committed three errors. The frame’s biggest blow was a three-run long ball off the bat of Mizzou right fielder Blake Brown.
Freshman Derrick Hadley replaced Wacha on the mound and pitched the game’s final 2.1 innings for the Aggies. Wacha’s final line showed the A&M right-hander charged with four earned runs on eight hits while striking out six and walking three.
Stites (3-3) picked up the win for the Tigers, allowing just the one run while notching eight strikeouts in eight innings of work.
Texas A&M will send junior pitcher Ross Stripling (8-2, 2.43 ERA) to the mound in Sunday’s series finale, which is slated for a 1 p.m. first pitch. Missouri will counter with freshman lefty Rob Zastryzny (2-4, 3.94 ERA).