Freshman Brett Graves’ starting pitching debut for Missouri was not off to a favorable start Tuesday at Taylor Stadium.
He had allowed singles to the first two Nebraska-Omaha batters, and a walk loaded the bases with two outs. Disaster loomed when Mavericks left fielder Connor McCrite scalded a line drive to center field.
But the ball fluttered into the glove of junior center fielder Brannon Champagne, ending the inning and breaking Graves out of the jam. Graves eventually cooled down while Missouri’s bats heated up, giving the Tigers a 14-4 win, their third in a row, to put them at an even 5-5 record.
Missouri grabbed the reins of the game by putting up three runs in the first inning. After senior third baseman Conner Mach singled to score junior right fielder Blake Brown, junior left fielder Dane Opel lofted a high fly ball that the wind carried beyond the left field bullpen for a solo home run.
“I just barreled it, and luckily it had enough backspin to carry and the wind was definitely blowing out,” Opel said.
The Tigers augmented their tally with a three-run fourth inning and a seven-run sixth. They had 10 hits or more for their third game straight.
Mach was 3-of-4, including a bases-clearing, three-RBI double off the left field wall in the fourth inning.
Opel had a 2-of-4 outing, adding a two-RBI triple in the bottom of the sixth. Junior designated hitter Scott Sommerfeld extended his hitting streak to seven games, the longest current streak the Tigers have.
Missouri has scored almost twice the runs (30) in its last three games than it has in the other seven (16).
“More than anything else, it’s just confidence,” coach Tim Jamieson said. “(The team) had a week to get over (the series at San Francisco) and we had some breaks and things happen on Saturday’s game, and we just built from there.”
Graves ended up with the win for the Tigers. He threw four scoreless innings, allowing four hits and striking out four hitters. The outing brings his ERA down to 1.35 on the season.
“I was pretty comfortable going out there,” he said. “I just had to settle in that first inning, and once I did, I think I started rolling. I was just sticking to the game plan and trying to get strike one.”
Missouri has utilized a large amount of arms in its starting rotation. Graves was the Tigers’ fifth different starter of the season, and Jamieson said he would hand freshman right-hander Brandon Platts the ball in the upcoming series against UNC-Charlotte.
“I think the key right now is to make sure we’ve got the three for conference figured out, and right now we feel like it’s going to be (junior Eric) Anderson, (sophomore Rob) Zastryzny and (junior Blake) Holovach,” he said. “Those three guys have separated from the pack.”
Missouri will continue its home stand Friday night when the Tigers begin a four-game series with the UNC-Charlotte 49ers.
