Missouri baseball traveled into enemy territory over the weekend in a crucial conference series against Ole Miss. Mizzou won the opening game of the series Friday night but dropped the middle game and Sunday finale in Oxford, Mississippi.
Conference play has been unforgiving for the Tigers, with the team’s overall conference record now at a mediocre 8-10.
The series started well enough for Missouri. After a short rain delay, junior Tanner Houck was a late scratch, leaving junior Cole Bartlett to take over as the starter. Typically a setup man out of the bullpen for the Tigers, Bartlett pitched an incredible game to get a win in his first start of the season.
On top of Bartlett’s complete game, the Tigers were able to take advantage of some timely hitting against Ole Miss’ bullpen that ended up leading to a comfortable 9-3 victory. Connor Brumfield continued his excellent sophomore season with a strong offensive performance, going 2-4 with three runs, an RBI and a walk. Junior Trey Harris seemed to be at full strength in his return from an oblique injury, playing solid defense and tallying a hit with two RBIs in the game.
Saturday’s game was a tight, defensive affair with a final score of 3-1 in Ole Miss’ favor. Houck was the starting pitcher and went eight innings with seven strikeouts while allowing just five hits and three earned runs.
But Ole Miss’ Ryan Rolison was dominant. The freshman pitcher only allowed one hit during six innings of work before letting the bullpen close out the game. The Tigers’ bats went cold as they mustered just three hits against the Rebels’ pitching staff that surrendered nine runs the previous night. Harris’ solo shot in the ninth inning was the only thing that prevented a shutout for the Tigers.
Sunday saw Missouri get outmuscled by the Rebels. Ole Miss tallied nine runs on nine hits and jumped on Mizzou junior Bryce Montes De Oca early. A three-run first inning saw the Rebels’ take the lead, and they never looked back, finishing the game with a 9-6 win over the Tigers. Montes De Oca lasted just 2 1/3 innings before being pulled for sophomore Michael Plassmeyer.
Control was the issue for Montes De Oca, who gave up five walks and had a wild pitch during the whirlwind start. The Rebels scored five runs in the fourth inning, and while Missouri was able to make things interesting late in the game with a small comeback, the deficit proved too much to overcome. One bright spot for the Tigers was freshman pitcher TJ Sikkema, who continued his excellent form and went the last 3 1/3 innings without surrendering a hit while also striking out four.
The freshman phenom now has nine appearances with four or more strikeouts and hasn’t allowed a run in 11 of his 15 total appearances this season.
While Mizzou has been good away from home in the Southeastern Conference this season, the Tigers’ overall conference record isn’t reflective of a team that at one point had a 20-game win streak. They will have to improve their conference play in order to get a shot at a postseason run. The Tigers next visit Missouri State on Tuesday, with first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
_Edited by Eli Lederman | elederman@themaneater.com_
