Missouri baseball opened up the 2024 season on the road this past weekend. The Tigers took two of three games from the series against Cal Poly. 

The series opened with a doubleheader on Friday, Feb. 16. In game one, head coach Kerrick Jackson sent junior Bryce Mayer out to take the opening day pitching start. He allowed the Mustangs to get on the board first in the bottom of the second, as Cal Poly sophomore Tate Shimao hit a one-out triple followed by an RBI double from junior Dylan Kordic to take a 1-0 lead. 

Missouri responded an inning later. Freshman Drew Culbertson opened the top of the third inning with a leadoff single and scored a few batters later on a groundout to short from senior Trevor Austin to tie the game at one. 

Cal Poly would take the lead back an inning later when Missouri would give them a run. Shimao walked to give his team a baserunner with one out in the bottom of the fourth. While on first base, Mayer would attempt to pick him off and throw the ball away. The error allowed Shimao to advance to second, and he advanced to third later in the same at-bat on a wild pitch. Shimao would then score on a sac-fly from Kordic, his second RBI of the game. 

Jackson went to his bullpen for the fifth inning, putting in sophomore Nic Smith to get his first pitches of the season. 

This switch didn’t work for the Tigers initially, as leadoff hitter Jake Steels drove Zach Daudet in with an RBI single, giving Cal Poly a 3-1 lead after five innings. 

The last Tiger pitching change came with senior Ian Lohse ahead of the sixth inning. It proved to be the right choice as he threw three scoreless innings, allowing just two hits. 

The Tigers would add one last run in the top of the 8th inning but  Missouri still lost their opener 3-2. 

Game two of the doubleheader was a pitching duel, with Missouri fifth-year Carter Rustad taking on Cal Poly junior Steven Brooks. Both pitchers were dominant, with Rustad going five innings while allowing just one hit and Brooks striking out 12 Tigers through his six and two-thirds innings pitched. 

Neither team picked up a hit until the top of the third inning when Missouri freshman Thomas Curry ripped a lead-off double, which Missouri would be unable to capitalize on. 

Curry came up again in the fifth, and this time he made it count. With Lovich on first after a one-out walk, Curry hit his first collegiate home run to put the Tigers up 2-0. 

Graduate Ryan Magdic pitched the next two innings for Missouri. He didn’t give up any hits but allowed a run after two walks set-up a sacrifice fly from freshman Alejandro Garza in the seventh inning to make the game 2-1. 

Graduate Jacob Peaden came to the mound in the eighth inning to finish the game for the Tigers. Hedidn’t give up any hits or runs over his two innings of work. 

Lovich added an insurance run with an RBI double, as Missouri earned their first win of the season, 3-1.

After two low-scoring games, the offenses seemingly came to life in the third game of the series. 

Cal Poly’s offense struck first. After Missouri’s starter sophomore Logan Lunceford struck out the first two Mustang batters in the bottom of the first, he allowed back-to-back singles which put the home team up 1-0. The Tigers had a chance to get out of the inning down by just one, but junior Justin Colon committed a throwing error that allowed a second Cal Poly run to score. 

Missouri answered with three runs over the next two innings on RBI doubles from Curry and freshman Mateo Serna. Junior Danny Corona also picked up an RBI on a groundout which put the Tigers ahead 3-2. 

Cal Poly took the lead back in the bottom of the third, scoring two runs on five hits to go up 4-3. 

With two outs in the top of the fourth, Missouri’s offense exploded. Colon led off the inning with a solo home run. After sophomore Jeric Curtis was caught stealing and Culberson struck out, it seemed that the Mustangs were poised to get out of the inning with a tie. 

But with two outs, Missouri picked up three hits, was hit by the pitch twice and walked once. Curry, Lovich and Colon each drove in runs, putting Missouri up 9-4. 

Despite the Mustangs adding three runs, the Tigers still added to their lead in the top of the sixth after Curtis hit an RBI triple and then scored on a balk by junior Cam Hoilund. 

Lovich added the final nail in the coffin in the top of the eighth with a solo home run to make it 12-8 and a Tiger win. 

The two teams were scheduled to play a fourth game on Sunday, but it was canceled due to weather. 

Missouri will return to action on Thursday when they take on CSU Bakersfield in the Tony Gwynn Legacy Tournament. First pitch is set for 8 p.m.

Edited by Grace Ainger | gainger@themaneater.com 

Copy edited by Sterling Sewell | ssewell@themaneater.com 

Edited by Scout Hudson | shudson@themaneater.com