Missouri (14–6) was in danger of entering conference play on a four-game skid. The Tigers’ offense had come to a near halt, having scored just seven runs in three games prior to Wednesday afternoon’s series finale against Southeast Missouri State (10–8).
Coach Tim Jamieson said the coaching staff called out the players after Tuesday night’s loss and said they needed to execute better and focus on their jobs.
Four-and-a-half innings into game two against SEMO, the message hadn’t resonated. The Redhawks had jumped out to a 4–0 advantage and chased Tigers’ redshirt sophomore starter Ryan Lee.
However, baseball is a funny sport in that the landscape of the game can change during any inning. Within 44 minutes after the final out was recorded in the top half of the inning, Mizzou had stormed back to take an 8–4 lead. The Tigers would go on to win the game 13–6 and split the series.
“We’re the University of Missouri and they’re SEMO for a reason,” junior shortstop Ryan Howard said. “We needed to come out and make sure we left with a statement.”
The eight-run explosion in the fifth was the most runs scored in a single inning for the Tigers since Feb. 21, 2014 when they tacked on 10 in the sixth inning of a 15–3 win over Radford.
“We saw an example today of what we can do if everybody’s on board,” Jamieson said.
Mizzou was able to manufacture some timely hits during the inning, but a good portion of the damage was self-inflicted by SEMO. The Redhawks rolled out five different pitchers in the frame, walked six batters and threw two wild pitches.
“We knew that once we got (SEMO’s starter) out of the game that they didn’t have a lot of big-time arms,” Howard said. “It was all about being confident and staying with our approach.”
SEMO fought back with a pair of runs in the seventh, but the Tigers pulled away with a five-run eighth inning to make it 13–6.
After losing three consecutive games to Youngstown State (twice on Saturday) and SEMO (Tuesday), Jamieson said the win was huge heading into SEC play.
“We took a step in the right direction,” Jamieson said. “Our tension level and frustration level was climbing every day, so hopefully this will give us a chance to play better baseball.”
Mizzou begins its SEC schedule with a three-game road series against No. 1 Florida (18–1) down in Gainesville. The Gators sport a perfect 13–0 mark at home this season and have won 12 consecutive games. All three contests will be broadcasted on SEC Network +.
_Edited by Alec Lewis | alewis@themaneater.com_
