Fortune smiled upon Missouri baseball this season as it played its first series at Taylor Stadium in late February, opposed to the usual long away stretch to start the year.

Warmer temperatures helped the Tigers’ offense find their groove this weekend, to the tune of 36 runs and 37 hits. Unfortunately for Missouri, Omaha’s offense also benefited from the weather, making the series a back-and-forth shootout all weekend long.

While pleased with the improvement shown by his squad this past weekend, Missouri coach Steve Bieser realizes there is work to be done.

“There were a lot of highs and lows,” Bieser said. “It’s just about us getting consistent and trying to put together a better brand of baseball.”

The Tigers play four games this weekend in Frisco, Texas, at the Frisco College Baseball Classic.

###The Tigers have their leadoff hitter###

Before the season, Bieser talked about how players need to find their roles and how each player is going to help the team.

Joshua Day has his role filled.

Day batted leadoff in all four games this weekend and thrived. He reached base on 11 of his 19 plate appearances over the weekend.

The transfer from Copiah-Lincoln Community College saw a ton of pitches this weekend and frustrated the entire Omaha pitching staff.

One Maverick arm in the bullpen just sighed and said, “This guy will just not get out, there is nothing we can do.”

While Day has his swing cooking at the right time, Bieser said he still needs to improve in the field.

“He has the range to get to most balls and I know he has the arm strength,” Bieser said. “He just needs to improve his glove and accuracy.”

###Spencer Miles and Seth Halvorsen bounced back###

Sophomore right-handed pitcher Spencer Miles and redshirt sophomore right-handed pitcher Seth Halvorsen struggled in their first two outings of the 2021 season. Both lacked consistency with their fastball and the inability to properly locate their offspeed.

However, both pitchers looked comfortable on the mound against Omaha.

Miles struck out seven batters in over six innings of work, allowing three hits and zero runs. Halvorsen also struck out seven batters over only five innings and gave up two hits and zero runs.

None of Halvorsen’s pitches left the infield as he turned away 19 batters. Backing up Halvorsen was an amazing relief performance by freshman Ian Loshe. The Marquette High School grad slammed the door on any potential rally by the Mavericks.

Miles still achieved the win, despite the Tigers’ bullpen allowing ten runs after he was pulled.

Both Miles and Halvorsen got back on the right foot in a big way. The duo will more than likely each get a start this weekend in Frisco.

###Tiger pitching still struggled###

Despite solid outings from Miles, Halvorsen and Loshe, Missouri’s pitching performance still leaves questions.

Omaha outscored the Tigers this weekend with 37 runs. Bieser gave credit to the tough Maverick hitters.

“You got to give the other team their credit,” Bieser said. “They really are a momentum offense. They did a good job. They handled our pitchers very well, and that’s kind of been a trend of this season so far, and we’ve got to figure it out on the mound.”

Once again, Missouri couldn’t locate pitches throughout the series. They gave up 28 walks, an average of seven per game.

The offense bailed the pitching staff out with an abundance of run support. When conference play arrives, Missouri needs to walk less and give up fewer runs if it wants to find success during competitive SEC play.

###Tiger bats bring the boom###

Missouri’s offense looked completely different than a week ago. Seeing live arms for the first time took a huge effect on the Tigers’ ability to manufacture runs.

The rust seemed to shake itself off against Omaha.

As previously mentioned, Missouri scored 36 runs this weekend, with 11 of those coming off home runs. Six different Tigers sent the ball over the fence, the highlight of which was a 400-plus-foot bomb by sophomore Torin Montgomery.

Outside the home run ball, Missouri manufactured runs in many ways. In the series finale on Sunday, the Tigers found themselves down 3-1 in the sixth, but hit back-to-back sacrifice flies and scored two runs to tie the game.

###The transfers made an impact###

In the fourth and final game against Omaha this weekend, five of Missouri’s ten starters were transfers. Day, Montgomery, junior catcher Mike Coletta, fifth-year right fielder Andrew Keefer and starting pitcher Jared Simpson all joined the Tigers this season via the transfer portal.

Coletta is making himself the everyday catcher as Chad McDaniel is still not 100% able to get behind the dish. The Flushing, New York native constantly looks to throw behind runners at first and is more than capable of gunning down someone trying to steal second.

Keefer is at his fourth and final stop around the country. The fifth-year transferred four times in his college baseball career. Keefer started every game this weekend and drove in six runs.

Simpson was the Sunday starter for Missouri, lasting only three innings and giving up three runs. Whether it’s in the starting rotation or bullpen, the southpaw will look to make an impact wherever he gets his chances.

_Edited by Kyle Pinnell | kpinnell@themaneater.com_