COLUMBIA, Mo. - Mizzou Baseball (20-14, 4-8) took the lead early and was able to hold on to earn a 4-3 victory over Auburn (15-17, 3-9) on Saturday (April 9) to take the series, Mizzou's second consecutive SEC series win.

Freshman LHP Michael Plassmeyer (St. Louis, Mo.) earned the win with the strongest start of his career, allowing no runs on only three hits through 5.2 innings. He tied his career-high with five strikeouts while only walking one batter. Freshman Brian Sharp (Liberty, Mo) came into the game in the ninth inning to earn his team-leading fifth save of the season to strand a pair, striking out both batters he faced.

Junior CF Jake Ring (Ingleside, Ill) went 2-4 at the plate and scored a run to continue an impressive six-game stretch in which he has scored and reached base in each game. Sophomore catcher Brett Bond (St. Louis, Mo.) hit his fourth home run of the season in the second inning, giving him two RBI in the game.

Ring stole his SEC-leading 20th base of the season in the first inning, which set him up to score on a single from senior 1B Zach Lavy (Auxvasse, Mo.) to give the Tigers the lead. The two-run shot from Bond in the second inning extended the lead to 3-0. After Mizzou conceded runs in the seventh and eighth innings, sophomore LF Trey Harris (Powder Springs, Ga.) drove in his 26th run of the season on a single past the first baseman in the bottom of the eighth to bring the score to 4-2.

Auburn managed to score another run with one out in the ninth inning, leading Sharp to come into the game with Mizzou's lead at 4-3. He struck out both batters he faced to secure the victory, bring his ERA down to a team-best 1.56 on the season.

Hear From Mizzou

Mizzou Head Coach Tim Jamieson

Opening statement...

"It's nice to win one at home to take advantage of being at home. I thought we played really well. I would have liked to hit a little better but I thought we played good defense and really got good pitching."

On Plassmeyer finding his groove...

"No question. He was even better today than he was against Arkansas. He made better pitches against a better offensive team than what he had against Arkansas. That's real promising. You can put Tribby in the 'pen and start Mike. That makes our staff a little better."

On how scoring runs early helps starters settle in early...

"No question that it helps. The percentages will tell you that the team that scores first wins about 70 or 80 percent of the time and that's something that's huge for us. It lets everybody relax a little bit."

Mizzou LHP Michael Plassmeyer

On his performance...

"I came in with the approach to fill up the zone and throw strikes. Letting them put the ball in play and let the defense made the play."

On his role as a weekend starter...

"Before, I was trying to be a little too perfect. I felt like giving hitters a little too much respect. I just kind of got back to throwing strikes the way I got here. I went back to my original standpoint."

Postgame Notes

• Mizzou leads the all-time series with Auburn 10-4.
• Mizzou is now 7-11 when being outhit by their opponent.
• Mizzou improves to 4-2 against the SEC West.
• Mizzou is now 4-4 against a left handed starting pitcher.
• Michael Plassmeyer struck out the side for the first time in his college career in the first inning.
• Plassmeyer struck out five batters in his first 2.2 innings of work. Five strikeouts in a single game ties his career high.
• Plassmeyer finished the day pitching 5.2 innings giving up three hits and no runs while striking out five. Plassmeyer has now pitched 9.1 consecutive innings without allowing a run.
• Plassmeyer improves to 3-2 on the year with a 4.22 ERA in six starts.

Jake Ring stole his SEC leading 20th base of the season in the first inning. He has been successful in 20 of 23 attempts this year.

• Ring became the eighth Mizzou player ever to record 20 steals in a single season.
• Zach Lavy recorded his team leading 31st RBI of the year during the first inning. It was Lavy's 12th two-out RBI of the year, also a team high.
• Mizzou scored a run in the first inning for the 15th time this season. They have scored in the opening frame in each of their last four games.
• Brian Sharp walked in the second inning to reach base safely for the 15th straight game, the longest reached base streak of any player on the team this season.
• Brett Bond bond hit his fourth homerun of the season over the bullpen in left. That ties him for the team lead in homeruns with Shane Benes.
• Bond's homerun gave him RBIs 21 and 22 on the year for him, fourth most on the team. He now has five games with multiple RBI in the 2016 campaign.
• Kirby McGuire walked in the fifth inning to extend his reached base streak to 10 games.
• Ring had an infield single in the fifth inning to give him his 11th multi-hit game of the year, second most on the team.
• Trey Harris collected his 26th RBI of the season in the eighth inning, the second most on the team.
• Brian Sharp recorded his team leading fifth save of the season.
• This is Sharp's third game with both a strikeout and a run scored.