COLUMBIA, Mo.- Junior Greg Folgia had his second two-home run game of the season, including an inside the park homer in the sixth inning, to lead Missouri to an 8-5 win over Kansas on Friday night at Taylor Stadium. The Tigers have won seven-straight Big 12 games and nine of their last 10.
Folgia put the Tigers on the board with a solo shot in the bottom of the first inning. Missouri made it a 2-0 lead after a run in the second, before Kansas' Buck Afenir connected on a three-run home run in the third inning to put the Jayhawks in front.
Mizzou (29-22, 15-10 Big 12) responded by scoring runs in each of its next three at-bats, including a solo home run by junior Aaron Senne in the fifth. In the sixth inning, Folgia drove in three on an inside the park home run, as he hit a ball off the wall in centerfield. The KU centerfielder, Jason Brunansky, was injured trying to make the play and Folgia rounded the bases as the ball got away from Brunansky.
With the two homers on Friday, Folgia increased his team lead to 11 on the year. He drove in five runs on the night, adding a sacrifice fly in the eighth and has a team-best 57 RBI. It was Folgia's third five-RBI game of the season.
Senne's home run in the fifth was his third of the season. Senior Kyle Mach doubled to lead off the second inning to extend his hitting streak to 10 games, which matches his career long. Freshman Garrison McLagan saw his first playing time for the Tigers in Friday's series opener, as he was in the lineup as the designated hitter. He singled in his second at-bat and finished 1-for-4.
Junior Kyle Gibson took the win to move to 9-3 on the year. He struck out eight in eight innings pitched, allowing four runs on seven hits and walking just one. Gibson has won each of his last five starts and moved into sixth place on MU's single-season strikeouts list with 115 Ks on the year.
After the Afenir home run and a double by Tony Thompson in the third, Gibson retired 14-consecutive batters and 16 of the last 17 he faced.
Kansas (34-17, 12-10) scored all of their runs on homers, adding solo homers by Robby Price in the eighth and Thompson in the ninth.
Game two of the series will is set for 2 p.m. on Saturday at Taylor Stadium.