April 15, 2009

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COLUMBIA, Mo. - - Missouri finished off a two-game sweep over Indiana State with a 12-2 win on Wednesday afternoon at Taylor Stadium. The Tigers pounded out 17 hits led by junior Greg Folgia and senior Steve Gray, who each had three hits in the game.

Folgia drove in three runs, finishing the game 3-for-5, while Gray was 3-for- 5 with one RBI and two runs scored.

Mizzou (19-19) scored once in the third inning before putting up a six-run bottom of the fourth. The Tigers had six hits in the fourth inning, including back-to-back RBI doubles from senior Ryan Lollis and Folgia. They also got an RBI singles from Gray and senior Kyle Mach and sacrifice flies by juniors Trevor Coleman and Michael Liberto.

Liberto led off the fifth inning by drawing a walk and later scored on an error by the ISU catcher on a failed pickoff attempt. Also in the fifth, Folgia delivered an RBI double for the second-straight inning to make it a 9-0 advantage for Mizzou.

After Indiana State (20-13) scored two runs in the top of the eighth, the Tigers answered with three runs in the bottom half of the inning. Liberto drove in his second run of the day with an RBI single and Lollis drove in sophomore Ryan Ampleman on a sacrifice fly. Folgia then added an RBI single for his third RBI of the game.

The Tigers used 10 pitchers in the game, improving to 9-3 in games in which they use the staff pitching approach. Missouri pitchers retired the first eight batters of the game for Indiana State. Sophomore Phil McCormick started and pitched a 1-2-3 first inning, striking out two of the three batters. Sophomore Kelly Fick then turned in perfect second inning, before sophomore Nick Tepesch turned in a scoreless third. Tepesch was credited with the win to improve to 3-3 on the season.

Missouri returns to Big 12 Conference play as it travels to Manhattan, Kan. this weekend for a three-game series with Kansas State. The series will open at 6:30 p.m. on Friday.