Equipped with all but its newfound sweet stroke, the Missouri Tigers baseball team was unable to capture victory in the battle for Missouri on Wednesday at Taylor Stadium. Missouri State took the annual in-state slugfest, 5-2.
Fresh off of three wins in four road games, the Tigers were without their recent hot bat in the return to the Taylor Stadium diamond. Missouri scored just two runs on seven hits in the defeat.
Missouri’s two runs came in the bottom of the third inning and jumpstarted the game’s scoring. With starter Jeff Scardino looking comfortable on the mound, the Tigers grabbed a 2-0 lead on sophomore first baseman Eric Garcia’s second home run in the last two games.
But the lead was only momentary. Scardino was tagged with his first runs allowed of the game when Missouri State left fielder Derek Mattea delivered a two-run single in the top of the fourth to knot the game up at two runs apiece.
After a scoreless fifth inning, Missouri State utilized its own deep shot from first baseman Luke Voit to grab a 4-2 lead in the top of the sixth.
Behind lock-down pitching, the Bears would maintain that lead for the remainder of the contest, adding an insurance run in the ninth to make the final score 5-2.
The Missouri State pitchers held the Tigers to just seven hits for the game, four of which came from two players. Junior left fielder Conner Mach settled into his leadoff spot to grab two singles, and Garcia added a single to his scoring blast.
Momentarily uplifting as it was, Garcia’s shot proved to be the peak of a lulled night of offense for a retooled Tiger lineup.
“It wasn’t a great night for offense,” Missouri coach Tim Jamieson said. “We just need to be more competitive up and down the lineup. There really weren’t a lot of chances. We just need to create more innings.”
Mach saw the inability to produce as a continuation of the team’s struggle with runners in scoring position.
“In a close game like that it just really comes down to who takes advantage of their runners on base, and today that was them,” Mach said. “So give them a lot of credit. They played better than us today.”
With the one-game series behind them, the Tigers will look to regain their stroke for when Texas A&M comes to town on Friday.
“We’re planning on winning,” Garcia said. “I can feel (the season) turning around, and I hope it ends the way I want it to.”