Instant offense was the name of the game Tuesday night at Taylor Stadium as Missouri (18–13, 2–7 SEC) earned a 9–6 win over Southern Illinois-Edwardsville (4–21, 2–10 OVC). The Tigers saw all nine runs cross the plate in the first four innings and extended their win streak to three games.
Freshman right-hander Grant Macciocchi (W, 1–0) took the ball in his first career start and tossed two scoreless frames amid the early offensive burst. He did not allow a hit and showed solid command, but Jamieson opted to turn to redshirt sophomore Ryan Lee in the third.
“(Macciocchi) wasn’t on a pitch count, but I felt the best way to get him in the game was to start him and then go to Lee after his inning or two,” coach Tim Jamieson said.
Lee turned in a mixed performance, allowing four runs (two earned) over four innings. He fanned four batters and walked two. A four-run fifth inning for Edwardsville was his undoing, but the Tigers were well ahead by that point, leading 9–0.
Senior first baseman Zach Lavy delivered a one-out, two-RBI triple to the right-center gap to get the Tigers on the board in the opening inning. It was an inning dictated by aggressiveness on the basepaths as the Tigers swiped six bags in the frame. They finished with seven in the game, three of which came from junior center fielder Jake Ring. Ring has been successful in 18 of 21 stolen base attempts in 2016.
“We’re confident at the plate and confident on the bases right now,” Lavy said. “We’re looking to score runs however we can.”
However, the offensive attack went cold from the fourth inning on, allowing Edwardsville to slowly creep back into the game. A run in the eighth brought the Cougars within striking distance and the tying run reached first in the ninth. The win was far from cruise control for the Tigers.
“We lost focus a little bit,” Jamieson said. “We’ve got to keep scoring runs, and we didn’t do that today and made it a lot more difficult than it had to be.”
Although Jamieson didn’t envision bringing senior Austin Tribby out of the ‘pen when the game got underway, he turned to him for the final out in the ninth. The southpaw collected his second save of the season by striking out Cougars sophomore center fielder Dustin Woodcock looking to end the game.
Looking ahead, the Tigers will begin a three-game set against Auburn (14–15, 2–7 SEC) at Taylor Stadium, with the opener set for 6:30 p.m. Thursday on ESPNU. Tigers on Deck, the newly formed student section for Mizzou baseball, has designated the game as a whiteout.
_Edited by Nancy Coleman | ncoleman@themaneater.com_
