On Wednesday night, the Tigers needed a hero.
Down 4-2 in the bottom of the ninth, junior second baseman Kendall Keeton stepped to the plate as the go-ahead run with two men on and two outs.
Keeton grounded out to the shortstop to end the game.
Silence ensued as Missouri State left the field as victors and boarded the bus back to Springfield, handing Missouri (13-23, 5-13 Southeastern Conference) its sixth loss in seven games after beating the Bears on April 9.
“I was a little disappointed in the way we played,” power right fielder Dane Opel said of the team’s lack of hitting.
Missouri State’s game has embodied a trend for the Tigers this season, where pitching has showed up strong but bats have fallen silent. In other instances, hitting has caught fire in games where pitching has been weak.
“I’m sure we’ll find a middle somewhere,” junior starter Rob Zastryzny said after watching the game from the bench.
The inconsistency is nothing new for the Tigers. Last year’s squad stumbled down the stretch with a five-game losing streak and finished with a series loss to Kansas, one of the worst teams in the Big 12 Conference that year.
However, the Tigers snapped into shape at the end of year, winning the Big 12 tournament, which sent the team into the NCAA Regionals in Tucson, Ariz.
“Honestly, I think if we get enough momentum going, we’ll be a lethal team in the (SEC) tournament like we were in the Big 12,” Zastryzny said, noting the similarities between this year’s team and last year’s.
To enter the tournament, the SEC picks the top 12 out of 14 teams in the conference. Currently, the Tigers are tied for 12th place with Tennessee, who holds the tiebreaker after winning the series in Knoxville.
Missouri this weekend could try to reclaim a grip in the tournament as it squares off against Auburn (24-16, 6-12 SEC), which is one game ahead of Missouri in the conference standings, at home.
“It’s another opportunity for us to win,” Auburn’s coach John Pawlowski said in a teleconference Thursday. “It’s an important series for us.”
Missouri’s coach Tim Jamieson concurred.
“Auburn, like us, is fighting for one of those last spots in the tournament,” he said. “I anticipate them coming out to play.”
The Auburn Tigers are no strangers to the Missouri program. Last season, the two squads matched up in Missouri’s opening series at Auburn, where Missouri took the series from the hosts.
Zastryzny warned not to judge Auburn in light of last year’s series; the games were played in the beginning of the season versus toward the end of the year, when a team is more battled tested. Zastryzny, though, noted that he still has hope for his team.
“I think we are getting more confidence as a team, and we’re started to hit better,” he said, using Sunday’s 8-2 win over Florida as an example where pitching and hitting coincided for the victory.
Missouri will face 12 conference opponents in its last 13 games of the season, who have averaged a
.402 winning percentage in the SEC. These conference games pale in comparison to the opening 18 SEC games where opponents — including South Carolina, Vanderbilt and Louisiana State — have combined for a .564 winning percentage.
“We need some key wins,” Zastryzny said. “Here on out, every game is a must-win.”