Three straight singles from No. 9 LSU baseball (25–11, 9–6 SEC) to lead off the game led to a quick 1–0 lead in favor of the team in purple. Then came an error on a routine grounder to third, which allowed another run to scurry home. Soon, the visiting Tigers saw their lead grow to 5–0, and LSU was on its way to a road sweep of Missouri (20–18, 4–11 SEC).
It was a rough Sunday afternoon start for Missouri’s Michael Plassmeyer, who surrendered seven runs (five earned) on eight hits over 4.2 innings of work. Mizzou could not recover from a disastrous first inning and fell 15–2 for its fourth consecutive defeat.
“There’s no excuse,” coach Tim Jamieson said. “We can’t get swept. Our record is bad because we can’t find a way to win a game on three (of five SEC) weekends.”
Plassmeyer, a freshman southpaw, needed 32 pitches to get out of the opening frame and certainly didn’t get much help from the guys behind him. Missouri committed four errors in the game, two of which came in that first inning. LSU had taken a 3–0 advantage before Plassmeyer could record an out. It only got worse from there for Mizzou.
“We’ve got to play better,” Jamieson said. “All the little things add up in a positive way if you’re doing them and a negative way if you’re not. Our best players need to step forward.”
The poor outing ended a stretch of three straight starts without a loss for Plassmeyer. He entered the game having not allowed a run in 9.1 innings, but LSU took care of that streak quickly.
Mizzou got as close as 5–1 after scoring a run on a double-play groundout, but the team could not manage to mount a serious comeback. LSU extended its lead to 7–1 with a pair of fifth inning runs and blew it open with three home runs and five tallies in the seventh to make it 12–2. After a competitive first two games in the series, the Tigers fell flat in the finale and dropped to 0–11 all-time against LSU.
“Winning is the best way to create momentum,” Jamieson said. “We’ve just got to hand in there. We’ve got a lot of games left.”
In brighter news for Mizzou, sophomore catcher Brett Bond launched his team-leading sixth home run of the season, a solo shot that landed just in front of the scoreboard in left. It was one of three hits for Bond on the day, marking his first three-hit effort of the year. Senior first baseman Zach Lavy’s hit streak climbed to double-digits with his conference-leading 25th extra-base hit of the season in the eighth inning.
In the midst of a four-game losing streak, Mizzou won’t have it much easier next week. The Tigers will hit the road for a three-game set against No. 8 South Carolina, beginning 6 p.m. Friday. Last season, the Tigers took two of three from the Gamecocks. All three games will be broadcast on SEC Network+ and KTGR.
_Edited by Alec Lewis | alewis@themaneater.com_
