By Justin Chartrand

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UK baseball committed five errors and left eight runners stranded in an 8-3 loss to Missouri on Sunday at Cliff Hagan Stadium.

Missouri (17-17, 6-9 SEC) earned the series win with the victory, while UK (23-13, 7-8 SEC) lost its first series at home this season.

“We definitely had chances offensively to break it open, to get an extra few runs,” UK junior outfielder Austin Cousino said.

Junior first baseman A.J. Reed had homered in the past five conference games, but the streak ended Sunday with a 1-for-4 effort from the plate.

UK struck out 11 times at the plate along with leaving eight runners on base.

The Cats’ five defensive errors did not have head coach Gary Henderson happy with his defense.

“You make five errors on a weekend (and) the chances of winning go way down,” Henderson said. “Clearly we threw it away today.”

The Tigers struck first with a single to left field from freshman outfielder Jake Ring driving in senior infielder Shane Segovia. It sparked Missouri to a 2-0 lead after the third inning.

UK answered the Tigers in the next inning with a two-run double by junior infielder Max Kuhn to tie heading into the fourth inning.

The Tigers quickly responded by tacking another run on junior pitcher Andrew Nelson to regain the lead.

“Nelson wasn’t his best, but he gave us a chance to win,” Henderson said.

Reed tied the game again with an RBI single in the fifth inning.

The Tigers regained control of the lead in the sixth inning after an RBI single by senior pitcher Eric Anderson.

Missouri added on four insurance runs in the ninth inning to provide the final advantage.

UK was held scoreless for the final four innings as the Tigers capped off a series-clinching victory over the 12th-ranked Cats.

“There’s certain pieces of what we’re doing that are getting better and that part is really encouraging,” Henderson said. “But you just have to play defense.”

The Cats entered Sunday’s matchup with the series tied at 1-1.

UK committed two errors and allowed a go-ahead three-run home run in the eighth inning as the Cats fell to the Tigers, 8-7, Friday.

The Cats bounced back on Saturday as Reed ignited the Cats offense with a two-run home run in the fifth inning in a 12-0 UK victory.

UK will hit the road to take on Louisville Tuesday.

“Baseball is a tough sport,” Cousino said. “We’ll learn and we’ll come back Tuesday ready for Louisville.”