Missouri baseball hasn’t exactly come out of the gates running.

The Tigers, picked to finish fifth in the league by the Big 12 Conference preseason poll, dropped four of their first six games on the road.

In each loss, the story was essentially the same: solid pitching lacked the offensive firepower to back it up. Heading into this past weekend’s home series against Ball State, the Tigers had only scored two runs in their previous three games.

The offensive struggles weren’t limited to the away games as it turned out. Missouri dropped its home opener to the Cardinals 5-2 on Friday. It was a virtual replay of the team’s not-so-stellar road stretch. The Tigers failed to contribute much offensively to pair with a solid pitching performance from starting junior Eric Anderson.

After the game, coach Tim Jamieson said the team was beginning to play inside its head rather than on the field. He needed his players to take a more relaxed approach at the plate.

“I think that instead of worrying about the next pitch they’re worrying about the last one,” Jamieson said after the loss. “Instead of playing defense, they’re worrying about the at-bat that they just had. That’s selfish, and we need guys to start doing what they’re supposed to do and not worry about results.”

Something clicked. Missouri scored a total of 24 combined runs, notching victories of 15-5 on Saturday and 9-2 on Sunday to take the series from Ball State.

Junior outfielder Blake Brown led the offensive charge, tallying five RBIs through the two games, including a long three-run home run Saturday that seemed to spur the team’s confidence.

“We knew we had to have confidence in ourselves, allow ourselves to play our game because we’re all here for a reason,” Brown said. “We’re all great players.”

The Tigers remained confident into Sunday’s game, claiming an early 1-0 lead against the Cardinals. After Ball State tried to climb back, sophomore Dillon Everett led the Tiger response with three hits and two RBIs on the day. The team recorded two four-run innings to draw the game out of reach.

“We kind of feed off each other,” Everett said. “When one guy gets some knocks it kind of keeps rolling.”

Jamieson said his team needs to remain focused to keep producing runs.

“I really believe that if the guys focus on the right things we can be a good offensive team,” Jamieson said. “I think we’ve seen when we don’t do the right things then we’re not a good offensive team, but I like our lineup and I think we’re going to score some runs.”

The team’s sudden offensive moxie will pair nicely with the excellent pitching the Tigers have brought to the table this season. Glimmers of the talent that had the Tigers expecting a strong season were on display throughout the weekend.

“Yeah, it’s good to get a win at the end of the day,” Everett said. “But the pieces are falling together for our team.”