Missouri baseball made the Arkansas-Little Rock Trojans its 20th consecutive victim of defeat in an 11-8 victory at Taylor Stadium on Tuesday night.
Bryce Montes De Oca started the game on the mound for the Tigers in his third start of the season. The number four ran wild in Montes De Oca’s stat line, as he would go on to pitch four innings, allow four hits, four earned runs and record four strikeouts.
Offensively, the Tigers smacked the ball all around Taylor Stadium in the 11-run performance, matching their second-highest mark of the season for runs.
The key for the Tigers offensively lately has been scoring early and often. In each of the last four games, the Tigers have put runs on the board in the first inning.
The Tigers continued the trend of the game, putting up six runs in the first inning to take complete control, though they would ultimately allow the Trojans to score sporadic runs in the later frames of the game.
Coach Steve Bieser expressed contentment with the first inning performance after the game.
“I thought the bright spot was the first inning, how we executed the game plan that we talked about,” he said.
Junior catcher Brett Bond, the Tigers’ offensive leader so far in 2017, came through with strong offensive production in this contest, notably in the first inning when he recorded an RBI single to record the game’s first two runs.
“I thought we did a really good job and we were able to get some big clutch hits there — a couple of two-out RBIs couple different times,” Bieser said. “Just pleased with that first inning.”
Despite allowing eight runs, Bieser remained confident in his team and its performance in the game.
“A win is a win. Tough conditions to hit the ball tonight. We didn’t hit the ball well, but it was tough conditions.”
The Tigers will continue their homestand at Taylor Stadium at 6:30 p.m. Friday, when they host the Arkansas Razorbacks in their first Southeastern Conference home series of the season. Ace Tanner Houck, boasting a 4-1 record paired with a 2.27 ERA, is scheduled to start for Missouri.
_Edited by Eli Lederman | elederman@themaneater.com_
