Missouri baseball looked to gain its first conference win of the year in a series against the now No. 1-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks. It became clear early, however, that the Tigers’ hopes of achieving this would be quickly shot down.

Pitching woes run rampant

The Tigers allowed 51 runs and were swept by the Arkansas Razorbacks in a series that never saw a game make it past the seventh-inning stretch. The Razorbacks’ bats were on fire the whole series, totaling 46 hits and six innings with five or more runs scored.

Of the 14 pitchers sent out by Missouri over 18 total innings, only two didn’t allow a run, with eight of those pitchers allowing four or more runs. Given the all-around performance, there were no true bright spots at the mound for the Tigers in this series.

The two most memorable performances at the mound were seen from relief-pitching graduate students Xavier Lovett and James Vaughn. Lovett saw action in game three as a reliever where he allowed four runs and six hits in just over three innings pitched. Vaughn also took the mound as a reliever in game two where he allowed just one run and two hits in a bit over one inning pitched.

Solid hitting, but still struggling

While the mound crumpled entirely, the Tigers at the plate put up a fight with a few early-inning runs. Missouri scored nine runs in the series’ three games, keeping the early game portions competitive. Of the Tigers’ nine total runs, eight were scored in the first three innings.

First-year Chris Patterson and junior Keegan Knutson led the way with three total hits each. Patterson was the only Tiger to have a multi-hit game, going 2-for-3 in game two, while Knutson racked up the most runs of any Tiger with four and tied for most RBIs with sophomore Kaden Peer at two.

Arkansas domination at the plate

The Razorbacks’ hitting could not be stopped as Arkansas racked up a total of 16 multi-hit performances with five three or more performances (two of which were four-hit performances).

Each game in the series saw a Razorback go for five or more RBIs, with game one’s standout being Cam Kozeal, who went 4-for-5 at the plate with three runs and five RBIs. Charles Davalan then went 2-for-5 at the plate with two runs and seven RBIs. Kozeal had another strong performance in game three, going 3-for-5 at the plate with three hits and six RBIs.

Edited by Killian Wright | kwright@themaneater.com
Copy edited by Ella McGuire and Emma Short | eshort@themaneater.com
Edited by Annie Goodykoontz | agoodykoontz@themaneater.com