Columbia, Mo. ? Buck Afenir, Robby Price and Tony Thompson each homered Friday night, but Missouri’s Greg Folgia hit a pair of home runs — including a three-run, inside-the-park homer in the sixth to break open a one-run game — as the Tigers beat No. 23 Kansas University, 8-5, in Big 12 baseball at Simmons Field.

With Missouri up, 4-3, and two on with two outs in the sixth, Folgia lined a ball off the wall in center field that eluded the Kansas outfield, allowing the Missouri center fielder to record the first inside-the-park homer against the Jayhawks in 11 years.

The Jayhawks fell to 34-17 overall, 12-10 in the Big 12, while MU improved to 29-22 and 15-10.

The Tigers plated single runs in the first two innings.

However, in the third, the Jayhawks finally broke through against Missouri ace Kyle Gibson. With two outs, Price doubled, and Brian Heere walked, setting up Afenir to blast his seventh homer of the season. Afenir cracked a 2-1 pitch into the Missouri bullpen giving KU a brief 3-2 lead.

Thompson followed with a two-out double down the left-field line. However, Gibson settled down and retired 13 in a row until Price’s solo homer with one out in the eighth.

Thompson added a solo shot in the ninth inning.

Despite the loss, KU officially qualified for the Big 12 tournament thanks to Oklahoma State’s loss to Oklahoma. Kansas hasn’t made the field since winning the 2006 tournament.

Game two in the Missouri series will start at 2 p.m. today.