A change in scenery failed to deliver a change in fortunes for the Missouri baseball team Wednesday night at Taylor Stadium. In their first game back home of the month, the Tigers (13-20) extended their losing streak to eight games with a 7-2 defeat to visiting Southern Illinois—Edwardsville.
Although not reflected in the final score, the contest was a low-scoring game that went down to the wire. Through eight innings, SIUE held a slim 3-2 lead behind the combined pitching efforts of starter Travis Felax and winning pitcher Dustin Quattrocchi. The two collectively shut down the Tigers to one earned run on seven hits in the nine inning game.
The SIUE offense finally helped out its dueling arms in the final inning, racking up four insurance runs as the wheels fell off of what was a six-man rotation of Missouri pitchers.
“You’ve got to give (the SIUE batters) credit,” senior outfielder Jonah Schmidt said. “They put the ball in play and found holes. We didn’t.”
As they have majority of the current streak, struggles to cash in on offensive opportunities cemented yet another loss for the Tigers. Missouri scored just two earned runs for the game – one earned – while leaving seven men on base. On more than one instance, the Tigers were unable to produce with runners in scoring position.
The game’s display of scoring opportunities gone to waste joins a string of similar outings that have characterized the team’s current losing streak. Wednesday’s contest marked Missouri’s 10th consecutive game of scoring fewer than five runs.
“When you lose almost every game and you have runners in scoring position with less than two outs almost every time, I have a hard time believing that’s breaks,” coach Tim Jamieson said. “That’s guys just not getting it done.”
The Tigers came out empty from the onset Wednesday, relegating themselves to a game of catch-up the rest of the way. SIUE capitalized for single runs in the second and third innings off Missouri sophomore starter Eric Anderson (4.0 innings, 2 ER).
The Tigers did tie the game at 2-2 in the sixth inning, only to see SIUE take the last lead it would need the very next inning at 3-2.
With the struggles to deliver in crucial offensive situations as well as the late bullpen collapse, it was evident to some of the players that the key to turning the season around is a boost in collective morale.
“I wouldn’t mind even coming out with too much energy, and see how that plays out,” Schmidt said. “We need to mix something up because obviously we’re not getting the job done.”
The Tigers will look to the weekend series with arch rival Kansas for the motivation to get back on track.
“When Kansas comes to town, it’s a whole new ball game,” junior designated hitter Conner Mach said. “We’ll be ready to put it on them.”