OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. - Things are rolling for the Missouri Tigers.
Eric Garcia's single in the bottom of the ninth inning Thursday lifted the Tigers to a 6-5 win over Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Baseball Tournament.
"It felt great," Garcia said. "I feel like we're riding our confidence right now."
With the win, the eighth-seeded Tigers (26-30) advance to Saturday morning's semifinal against either Oklahoma State or Texas. Game time will be 9 a.m.
"I'm really proud of these guys, not just this weekend, but over the last five or six weeks," Missouri head coach Tim Jamieson said. "We're looking forward to playing on Saturday.
"We got a great effort from a lot of different people. We only swung the bats well in a couple different innings, but we're fortunate that was enough."
Missouri led 5-0 after seven innings Thursday, only to see Oklahoma State tie it with three runs in the eighth and two in the ninth.
Phil McCormick got the win in relief, his eighth of the season. Missouri starter Rob Zastrynzy pitched seven innings, giving up two runs while striking out seven.
"My arm felt good, everything felt good," Zastrynzy said. "Ben (Turner) gave me a good target, coach (Matt) Hobbs called some good pitches for me and I just executed them."
Missouri scored five runs in the fifth. Jesse Santo had a two-run single in the inning for the Tigers. Other RBI went to Brannon Champagne, Blake Brown and Turner.
Andrew Thigpen led off the ninth for the Tigers with a single, his third hit of the game. Conner Mach followed with a single, also his third hit, to put runners at first and second. After a force out at third, Garcia singled home Mach with the game-winner.
Oklahoma State and Texas play today for the right to advance to Saturday. Either would have to beat Missouri twice Saturday to advance to the final.