No. 23 Missouri men’s baseball (21-7, 4-5 SEC) fell victim to a series sweep at the hands of No. 9 Florida over the weekend.
The Tigers have now lost five straight games and six of seven since March 24, when their 20-game winning streak ended. Even more concerning is the fact that each of these losses have taken place at home.
**Friday**
Friday’s contest at Taylor Stadium featured an elite pitching matchup. For the Gators, MLB.com’s No. 1 ranked prospect, Alex Faedo, got the start. He was opposed by Missouri ace and No. 8 MLB.com draft prospect junior Tanner Houck.
To no one’s surprise, the matchup turned into a pitchers’ duel. Florida jumped on Houck early and held a 4-0 advantage as late as the sixth inning, but the Tigers slowly chipped away at the Gators, eventually trimming Florida’s lead to 4-3.
The game came down to the final batter as junior right fielder Trey Harris narrowly missed a potential game-tying home run in the bottom of the ninth inning. Houck would finish with seven innings pitched with eight strikeouts.
**Saturday**
The trend of pitching domination continued in Saturday’s game, as Florida’s Brady Singer started against Missouri sophomore left-handed pitcher Michael Plassmeyer.
After an early RBI double from Tigers catcher Nelson Mompierre, Singer hummed right through the Tigers’ batting order. He did not allow a single baserunner to reach scoring position after the fifth inning.
Though star freshman reliever TJ Sikkema kept the Gators offense quiet late in the game, the Missouri offense could not offer any run support, and the Tigers dropped their fourth straight contest.
**Sunday**
Bryce Montes De Oca, previously Missouri’s go-to for midweek matchups, got his first weekend start of the season. “Ox,” as he has become affectionately known, recorded a solid start, and the Tigers again found themselves locked into a pitchers’ duel.
The Tigers had plenty of opportunities to score but simply could not deliver with men on base. The Tigers stranded a whopping 11 baserunners in the game and finished with just one run to show for it in the 2-1 loss.
**MVP of the Series**
Freshman left-handed pitcher TJ Sikkema: Sikkema appeared in two contests and stuck to what has worked for him — commanding his fastball while throwing batters off with a hard-biting slider. He recorded his longest career on Saturday, tossing 5.2 innings of scoreless relief.
**Moving Forward**
Pitching was not the problem for Missouri in this series. Houck, Plassmeyer and De Oca all excelled on the mound, but poor hitting with runners in scoring position sunk the Tigers. The timely hitting needs to return if the Tigers expect to compete in SEC play.
“It’s been the same thing all weekend, and we are just not hitting in key situations and being able to put a big offensive inning together,” coach Steve Bieser said. “This is tough to rebound from.”
The Tigers are back in action on the road Tuesday when they face the Illinois Fighting Illini in Sauget, Illinois. They will then travel to face the Georgia Bulldogs for a weekend series in Athens, with Saturday’s game to be played SunTrust Park, the new home of the Atlanta Braves.
_Edited by Eli Lederman | elederman@themaneater.com_
