CARY, N.C. - Missouri baseball opened its season with a four-game sweep of Iona on Friday and Saturday at the USA Baseball Complex. The Tigers are now off to their best start since 2004.
Missouri began the weekend with a 4-3 win thanks to a walk-off walk by Josh Lester. The Tigers had trailed 3-0.
Junior Breckin Williams earned the win after pitching the top of the ninth.
Senior Brett Peel had three hits, a walk, a steal and a run in the game. Starting pitcher Peter Fairbanks set a career high with nine strikeouts.
In the second game of the Friday doubleheader, the Tigers edged Iona 1-0.
Reggie McClain threw eight shutout innings, allowing just three hits and striking out 10, a career high.
Freshman Brett Bond had the game's only RBI, a one-out single in the fifth inning to drive in freshman designated hitter Trey Harris. Williams earned the save.
Saturday, the Tigers began the day with a 6-3 win against Iona.
Freshman Tanner Houck pitched six innings for the win, allowing three runs on seven hits and five strikeouts. Williams got his second save.
Missouri scored three runs in the first, one in the second and two in the seventh. Zach Lavy scored two runs for the Tigers, and six different players drove in a run.
To complete the sweep, Missouri went off for a 14-2 win in game two of the Saturday doubleheader.
The Tigers had 15 hits and scored five runs in the fifth. Sophomore shortstop Ryan Howard hit his first homer of the season in the inning. Howard also had a double, and Lester had three hits and four RBI. Lavy had four hits, a career high.
The game was called in the seventh inning because of a run rule. Missouri hadn't scored 14 runs in a game since Feb. 21 of last year.
The four-game series sweep is Missouri's first since 2008.
The Tigers will be back in action next weekend in Corpus Christi, Texas, in a four-game tournament with Sam Houston, Corpus Christi and Purdue.