Mizzou takes rubber game

Freshman Casey Mize struck out six in 3.2 relief innings, but Auburn baseball fell to Missouri 4-3 on Saturday in the series finale at Taylor Stadium.

“We battled,” Auburn head coach Butch Thompson said. “Having a couple of guys out made it tougher to create offense today. We battled hard. It feels like this has happened a lot to us being on the short end, but our guys battled hard. I was proud of that.”

Auburn (15-17, 3-9) put together a ninth-inning rally scoring a run on RBI single by Cody Nulph. The Tigers had two on with one out, but Jonathan Foster and Anfernee Grier both struck out to end the game.

Mize entered in the fifth in a jam and stranded a pair without allowing a run. He proceeded to not allow an earned run over the next 3.2 innings pitched. Mize struck out six with no walks and just two hits allowed.

Jackson Burgreen had three hits to lead Auburn (15-17, 3-9). Jordan Ebert had two doubles to give him 11 on the season.

Mizzou (20-14, 4-8) got a run in the first, then made it 3-0 in the second on a 2-run home run by Brett Bond.

Andrew Mitchell (L, 4-2) completed 4.1 innings and allowed three runs on four hits. He walked four and struck out four.

Auburn got on the board in the seventh with a RBI ground out by Kyler Deese. The Tigers got another in the eighth on a sac fly by Niko Buentello to made it 3-2. It was Buentello’s team-best 38th RBI of the season.

The 38 RBI by Buentello equal Daniel Robert’s team-best total from 2015.

Mizzou got an insurance run in the ninth to widen its lead to 4-2.

Michael Plassmeyer got the win and improved to

Auburn is in action next on Tuesday at Kennesaw State. First pitch is 5 p.m. CT on ESPN3.