Missouri’s Southeastern Conference Tournament hopes hinge on its late-season success.
Entering this weekend’s series against Tennessee, the Tigers (24–21, 7–14 SEC) sat in last place in the conference. The bottom two teams in the SEC fail to qualify for the conference tournament. One of the teams Mizzou needed to hop was the Volunteers (24–21, 6–15 SEC), and with an 8–3 win on Sunday, Missouri did just that. The Tigers finished off a sweep to move one game ahead of the Tennessee in the standings.
“This was the best week of baseball we’ve played in quite a while,” coach Tim Jamieson said. “It’s huge for us because there’s a lot more to play for.”
Dating back to its Big 12 Conference days, Mizzou has missed just one conference tournament since 2002. A sweep of the visiting Volunteers was critical for the Tigers, who hope to see that pattern continue.
After Tennessee opened up scoring in the third, Mizzou tallied three runs in the fourth. Freshman third baseman Ian Nelson drilled a two-RBI single to right to give Mizzou the lead. It was his first hit with the bases loaded this season (previously 0-for-5). A sacrifice fly from junior right fielder Kirby McGuire extended the lead to two.
Two more Tigers crossed the plate in the fifth on senior first baseman Zach Lavy’s sixth home run of the season. His 46 RBIs this year match the most by a Mizzou player since current big leaguer Brett Nicholas drove in 64 runs in 2010.
“I’m just having some fun out there, and luckily, the ball is falling where it should,” Lavy said. “It says a lot about the guys ahead of me getting on base consistently.”
The runs made the day easier for freshman starter Michael Plassmeyer.
Plassmeyer delivered a quality start for the Tigers and kept Tennessee batters off balance with a nice mix of speeds. He lasted 5.1 innings, his second-longest SEC outing, to earn his fourth win of the season. After Plassmeyer struggled in his previous two outings against LSU and South Carolina, Jamieson said it was a much-needed back performance for the southpaw.
“(Plassmeyer has) done a real good job,” Jamieson said. “He just needs to keep going out there and giving us four, five, six innings with our bullpen in good shape.”
The Tigers tacked on three more runs in the sixth to open up a five-run advantage, which was plenty for the bullpen. Redshirt sophomore Cole Bartlett and senior Austin Tribby tossed 3.2 scoreless frames to cap off the sweep.
Mizzou will face rival Illinois at 6 p.m. Tuesday at GCS Ballpark before traveling to Starkville, Mississippi, for a critical three-game set against No. 4 Mississippi State (30–14–1, 12–9 SEC). The three games against the Bulldogs will be broadcast across the ESPN networks.
