For the MU baseball team, the first exhibition game of the fall was anything but normal. A Canadian high school team sat in the visitor’s dugout, a senior spent an inning as the first base coach and the Tigers scored more runs in the game than they had hits.
“I was really pleased with the game,” coach Tim Jamieson said. “I thought our focus and energy were really good throughout the day.”
The Tigers began the fall portion of their schedule Saturday with a 22-2 win against the Ontario Blue Jays, a high school baseball team from Canada. According to the MU baseball website, this was the first time in program history that an opposing team had been brought to Taylor Stadium to play the Tigers during the fall. The Blue Jays were on a tour of the Midwest and contacted MU to see if they could scrimmage the team while in the area.
“This is all about being ready to play and then responding to something that happens during the course of the game,” Jamieson said. “We’re in a real good position right now, (the team is) competing hard and ready to practice everyday.”
The Tigers scored 22 runs on 20 hits with seven runs coming in an offensive onslaught during the 11th inning. The Blue Jays scored two runs on seven hits that were scattered throughout the 12-inning game.
The game was rough defensively for both teams, with five passed balls, three hit batters and eight errors by the Blue Jays. The Tigers had two passed balls, one hit batter and three errors.
“One of those errors was by a freshman pitcher and it was good for him to make that mistake now,” Jamieson said. “Hopefully it’ll help him when games really matter. Thing is about this time of year, it’s OK to make mistakes.”
Sophomore second baseman Sal Belfonte led off the game with a single and scored the first run while junior designated hitter Dane Opel went 3-4 with two stolen bases. Freshman starting pitcher Brett Thomas went three innings, struck out two and gave up two hits and one walk. Thomas’ only blemish came in the third inning when a throwing error led to an unearned run for the Blue Jays.
“It’s good for (the Blue Jays) to come out here and play a college team like us,” junior infielder Eric Garcia said. “It’s a way for our guys to get going.”
In the Big 12 championship game last May, the Tigers were one pitch away from a remarkable comeback year. Despite finishing the regular season 24-30 overall, 11-15 in conference games and eighth-seeded, the MU baseball team went on a tear during the Big 12 tournament, beating top seeded Texas and Oklahoma State to advance to the championship game. If not for a come-from-behind victory by Texas A&M, the Tigers would have captured their first-ever Big 12 title as well as a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
“I feel like our team has gotten a little bit better (since then),” Garcia said. “We’ve got some guys that can hit and some fresh arms.”
Missouri lost four starters to the MLB Draft this offseason, but the team returns five major offensive contributors and two starting pitchers from the previous season. Before their fall schedule ends, the Tigers will play a home game against the Iowa Hawkeyes on Oct. 8 in hopes of raising funds for Joplin’s little league organization. The regular season is still six months away, but left fielder Brannon Champagne said time wouldn’t forget how close they came to making program history.
“Whenever you lose a game like that you don’t forget it,” Champagne said. “It’s going to be there until we can get back to that game.”
