Birthday Slam and Strong Pitching Leads Mizzou Baseball Over Missouri State

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Birthday's typically consist of a variety of celebrations from parties to dinners, but in the case of Missouri redshirt freshman Donovan Jordan, his was spent at Taylor Stadium.

Instead of unleashing a huge grin in front of a stack of presents, Jordan celebrated with a raised hand to left field and an ear-to-ear smile as he joined his teammates at home base.

That celebration came courtesy of Jordan's second home run of the year. Wrapped in the form of a 349-foot deep shot to left field, Jordan gifted the Tigers' with a birthday present to boost them against their in-state rival.

Not only did the three-run homer snap a three-game drought of deep balls, it gave the Tigers a comfortable 5-2 lead that would reflect the final score.

The home run and the five-run performance from Missouri's bats aided a slow start on the mound that saw the Tigers give up a run in each of the first two innings. With the score knotted at 2-2 and starting pitcher Jackson Sobel pulled in the third inning, the Tigers were in need of a mound revival before the fourth inning.

Following Jordan's big shot, that coincidently fell right in the Tigers' bullpen, Missouri pitching was virtually unstoppable. Junior Keyler Gonzalez pitched six innings, besting his previous season high of 2.1 innings and completely flipped the script for Missouri.

After Missouri gave up three hits and four walks in the first three innings, the Gonzalez-led Tigers didn't allow a single run in the final six frames.

Gonzalez kept Missouri State, who ranks top two in Conference USA in batting average and runs, scoreless with two hits allowed and nine strikeouts in six innings pitched. The performance stunted Missouri State, matching its season low of two runs and snapping a four-game winning streak.

As for Missouri's bats, the team finished with five hits, five walks and three players with atleast one RBI. Alongside Jordan, freshman Blaize Ward and graduate Jase Woita each hit RBI singles in the first inning to get Missouri's scoring started.

Missouri will return to SEC action at 7 p.m. Thursday, in the first of a three-game series against South Carolina at Taylor Stadium.

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