HOOVER (Interstat) — The Missouri Tigers opened the Southeastern Conference baseball tournament with a 10-8 victory over the Mississippi Rebels on Tuesday night at Hoover, Alabama.

Missouri, the seed with a 23-30 overall record, outhit Mississippi 14-9 and erased an early deficit with a five-run fifth inning to seize control. The Tigers never trailed after the third inning.

Mississippi, the seed, dropped to 36-21.

Mississippi struck first in the bottom of the first inning when Dom Decker homered down the left-field line for a 1-0 lead. The Rebels added a run in the second on a homer by A. Fawley to go up 2-0.

Missouri answered in the top of the third. After a single by Seals and a stolen base, Kam Durnin homered to left-center field, scoring two runs and putting the Tigers ahead 3-2.

The Tigers broke the game open in the fifth inning. Durnin walked and stole second, and after a walk to Ward, Mateo Serna singled to drive in Durnin. Jordan walked to load the bases. Kaden Peer then hit a grand slam to left-center field, clearing the bases and extending the Missouri lead to 8-2.

Jase Woita added a solo home run in the sixth inning to make it 9-2.

Mississippi responded in the bottom of the fifth with four runs. T. Bissetta doubled in a run, J. Utermark singled, and H. Eric singled to drive in two. O. Paino doubled to score another, cutting the deficit to 9-6.

Missouri plated an insurance run in the top of the eighth on a single by Serna that scored Frost, making it 10-6.

The Rebels made one last push in the bottom of the seventh. With two runners on, H. Eric homered to left field, scoring two runs and pulling Mississippi within 10-8.

That was as close as Mississippi would get. Missouri reliever Eli Skidmore entered in the seventh and pitched 2.2 scoreless innings, striking out five without allowing a hit. He earned the win and was the top star for Missouri.

Skidmore’s outing was particularly sharp after a recent rough stretch. In his previous four appearances, spanning May 9 to May 16, he had allowed two earned runs in four innings with three strikeouts. On Tuesday, he retired eight of the nine batters he faced.

Missouri starting pitcher Josh McDevitt worked 5.2 innings, striking out eight but allowing six earned runs on no hits — an unusual line attributable to five walks and several hard-hit balls that found gaps. He was replaced by Brayden Villarreal, who gave up two runs in one-third of an inning before Skidmore took over.

Missouri shortstop Kam Durnin finished 2-for-3 with a home run, two runs batted in and three walks. Catcher Mateo Serna went 3-for-5 with two RBIs. Center fielder Kaden Peer drove in four runs with his grand slam. First baseman Jase Woita was 2-for-6 with a solo homer.

For Mississippi, center fielder Hayden Federico went 2-for-5 with a home run and four RBIs. Second baseman Dom Decker was 2-for-5 with a homer and an RBI. Pitcher Wil Libbert allowed four hits and two earned runs over four innings with three strikeouts.

The game featured numerous replay reviews. Missouri successfully challenged two calls, including an overturned out call at second base in the fifth inning that kept a rally alive.

Mississippi put the tying run on base in the ninth inning when O. Paino was hit by a pitch, but reliever Owen Kelly induced a groundout to third base to end the game.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Mississippi 5, Missouri 2. The ELO system gave Mississippi a 74.40 percent probability to win, and the Rebels were installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 2.5.