COLUMBIA, Mo. – Three Missouri pitchers combined to toss a four-hit shutout as the Tigers completed the three-game sweep of Kansas State with a 7-0 victory Sunday afternoon at Taylor Stadium.
The Tigers improved to 21-17 on the season and 5-9 in Big 12 play as they recorded their first conference sweep of the season. The Wildcats fell to 19-21 on the year and 3-12 in Big 12 action, and they were shut out for the third time this year.
Brett Graves, a freshman right-hander, lasted 6.2 innings in his second start of Big 12 play, working around four hits with a walk and three strikeouts. Graves only worked with runners in scoring position on two occasions, once in the third when Tanner Witt was doubled off second base on a fly ball and the other when Witt reached third base in the sixth. Graves induced a strikeout, a fly out and a ground out to finish off the sixth inning and keep the Wildcats scoreless.
The fly ball double play in the third started a string of seven-straight men retired by Graves, while he sat down the final five Wildcats he faced. Jake Walsh came out of the Tiger bullpen to record the final out of the seventh and the first two outs of the eighth. Dusty Ross, who picked up his second save of the year, worked around a two-out walk in the eighth before retiring the side in order in the ninth.
K-State starter Kayvon Bahramzadeh (4-2) suffered the loss as he allowed three runs on four hits in six innings of work. The right-hander surrendered a two-out, two-RBI single to Blake Brown in the first inning to give MU a 2-0 advantage. A caught stealing ended the Tiger first and Bahramzadeh settled in as he retired nine-straight batters to keep the Missouri lead at just two.
The string was broken by Dane Opel in the fifth inning on a leadoff home run to make the score 3-0, but Bahramzadeh was still able to tie his season-long outing and tally five strikeouts, his third-straight game with at least five fanned batters. Bahramzadeh left the game with the Wildcats trailing by just three as he picked up his sixth quality start of the season.
Missouri was led at the plate by Brown, who had three hits and added a RBI late in the game on a single in the eighth. Opel added to his RBI total with a two-run single after Brown’s base hit in the eighth, while another Tiger run scored in the inning on a wild pitch.
Witt led the Wildcats offensively with his 15th multi-hit game of the season by going 2-for-3.
(Story courtesy of KStateSports.com)
NEXT GAME: Tuesday, April 24 vs. WICHITA STATE (24-19 overall, 6-6 Missouri Valley)
The Wildcats return home for a non-conference tilt Tuesday, April 24, against in-state foe Wichita State. The game can be heard in the Manhattan area on Sports Radio 1350 KMAN. Coverage on KMAN begins at 6 p.m. First pitch from Tointon Family Stadium is set for 6:30 p.m.
