The ball squirted by Missouri baseball’s Jake Ring in center and Alabama’s leadoff man Chandler Avant found himself standing on second base right off the bat. Tiger starter Reggie McClain got back on the mound and delivered a pitch to the next batter Georgie Salem. The Crimson Tide center fielder laid down a sacrifice bunt, which was fielded by Tiger third baseman Josh Lester, who proceeded to airmail the throw.
Just like that, Mizzou found itself in an early 1-0 hole.
McClain toed the rubber again and cruised from that point, leading the Tigers (25-13, 11-5 Southeastern Conference) to a 4-3 victory over the Crimson Tide (19-17, 6-10 SEC).
“We made it hard on ourselves in the first inning,” Missouri coach Tim Jamieson said. “We’ve got to play a cleaner game than that.”
McClain (W, 5-4) tossed 8.2 innings on the mound, surrendering three runs on eight hits. He also fanned five batters to just one walk. After suffering losses in each of his last three starts, McClain found his way back in the win column with an excellent performance against the Crimson Tide.
“I just tried to be confident with my stuff and not try to make stuff happen,” McClain said.
The Tigers’ ace flirted with a complete game after getting the first two batters in the ninth inning, but exited the game to a standing ovation after back-to-back doubles by Alabama’s J.C. Wilhite and Will Haynie cut the lead to one. McClain had thrown 113 pitches but had lobbied to stay in the game.
“I thought he made good pitches in the eighth and ninth, but I just left him out there one hitter too long,” Jamieson said.
Jamieson turned the game over to closer Breckin Williams (SV, 9) to get the final out. The junior allowed a walk before inducing a 4-3 groundout to secure a Tigers victory in the series opener in front of a Friday night season-high crowd of 1,763 fans at Taylor Stadium.
After the early deficit, Mizzou knotted things up in the second inning after Lester (2-for-3, 2B) came around to score on an RBI-groundout from Zach Lavy (1-for-3, RBI) after stroking a leadoff double to right. It was Lester’s third consecutive game with a double, as the junior third baseman extended his hitting streak to five games.
The Tigers then pulled ahead in the middle innings after tallying one run in the fourth and two more in the fifth. Trey Harris (0-for-3) grounded into a double-play, scoring Ryan Howard (1-for-4) to give Mizzou the lead. Jake Ivory (2-for-3) and Jack Klages (1-for-2) smacked back-to-back singles to lead off the fifth and later came around to score on a sac fly from Brett Peel (1-for-3, RBI) and single from Ring (1-for-3, RBI).
“We go into each game with the mindset that we’re down 1-0,” Lester said. “I know it sounds cocky, but it’s almost like we can score when we want to.”
The 4-3 win ended a streak of three straight SEC series in which Mizzou lost the series opener. The Tigers’ last win in a conference series opener was back on March 20, a 3-2 victory over South Carolina.
“You always want to win the opener,” Jamieson said. “It takes a lot of pressure off of you on day two.”
Mizzou and Alabama will continue their series Saturday afternoon with a doubleheader beginning at noon. Freshman sensation Tanner Houck (6-1, 2.92 ERA) and junior Peter Fairbanks (4-3, 2.17 ERA) will be on the mound for the Tigers.