For years now, the Southeastern Conference has been the pinnacle of collegiate baseball. The conference has always produced some of Major League Baseball’s prize talents, including Frank Thomas, Rafael Palmeiro, Todd Helton, Tim Hudson and David Price. SEC teams have made an appearance in the College World Series in eight of the last 10 years. Currently, five of the top 10 teams in the nation represent the SEC.
If this year’s Missouri baseball team hopes to compete in this storied conference, they’re going to need to start putting runs on the board. Mizzou’s offense has been held to three runs or less in seven of the last ten games. That doesn’t bode well for the team as they head to Athens, Georgia, this Friday to play a weekend series against the Bulldogs, currently running a team ERA of 2.45.
Despite the daunting task ahead of them, players are optimistic.
“We all work really hard with (hitting coach Hunter Mense) on what we do well and try to stick with what we do well,” freshman catcher Brett Bond said. “I think we’re all figuring it out. There have been times when we’ve struggled, but I think throughout the season we’re going to get better and better and we still have a lot to show.”
It’s no secret that the Tigers have relied on their pitching thus far. Coach Tim Jamieson took over as pitching coach for the Tigers this season, and he’s achieved spectacular results. The team’s ERA of 1.98 is third in the SEC, behind Texas A&M with 1.62 and Tennessee with 1.69.
Jamieson said he’s cherished his new role and the success his staff is having.
“It’s been really positive for me,” Jamieson said. “It’s got me more day-to-day work with the players. I don’t like being CEO, and that’s sometimes what the head coach becomes. We’ve got some really gifted guys; it’s a good year to become the pitching coach because they’re making me look pretty smart right now.”
Missouri’s hitters have been grateful for what the pitching staff has been able to do this year. Junior shortstop Ryan Howard is confident that the team’s offense will begin to produce similarly stellar results.
“If (the pitchers) can do half of what they’ve been doing, we’re going to be in every single game with a chance to win,” Howard said. “The bats are going to come around. I firmly believe that we’re going to start putting on more runs.”
Because their offense has been so stagnant thus far, the Tigers have had to rely on clutch hitting to pull out close games. Five of Mizzou’s ten wins this year have been by one run. The Tigers only won five one-run games all of last year.
A large part of being able to win close games is having the confidence to believe you can do so, Bond said.
“We have guys on the team saying somehow we would’ve lost the close games last year,” Bond said. “This year, I think we have a different mentality. This year, we’re going to compete and not give up. Never give up at-bats, never give up on the mound, be bulldogs out there and have fun.”
Jamieson said that the intent of having a weaker slate of opponents early in the year was to get off to a good start. In past years, the team has come out of the first couple weeks of the season with a losing record, and has felt like they were playing from behind the whole year. With the team’s record sitting at 10-4 after their first 14 games, Jamieson said he hopes the team can run with the success they’ve had and be a contender in the SEC this year.
“There’s no question that this is a confident group of kids right now,” Jamieson said. “The wins are a big part of that.”
