Seated among the rows of black plastic seats of Taylor Stadium, watching as the sun arcs its path toward the left-hand bleachers and scours the field with the golden M’s of Tiger baseball helmets, one can’t help but be stricken with a nagging sense of having seen this all before.

Maybe it’s because “The Sandlot” was on TV a few nights ago, or maybe it’s
because the stadium just played the tune to “The Addams Family” for the
thousandth time, but for some reason this sense of déjà vu just can’t be shaken.

Upon further inspection, there’s no cause to worry, as this isn’t the beginning of schizophrenia; it really is the thousandth time “The Addams Family” theme song has reverberated through stadium speakers.

It’s also because this year’s MU baseball team is a mirror image of last year’s.

In both years, the Tigers struggled to pick up wins toward the midway point of the season. Heading toward the brunt of their inter-conference play, both squads have been without junior pitching ace Eric Anderson, who is instead riding the pine while nursing an injury.

The one glaring difference this time around is his return is not expected to come anytime soon. Tim Jamieson knows how much of an impact Anderson’s absence has made.

“All you have to do is look at what happened to us last year when he came back,” Jamieson said. “He’s tough, he’s smart, he’s a competitor and he’s one of our leaders. We haven’t had him on the field for four weeks and our ball club has been different because of it, and not in a good way.”

The contribution Anderson’s arm makes for the team has become painfully obvious the past few weeks, with the team losing five of its last six scheduled Big 12 Conference games.

The good news for the Tigers this season has been the performances by junior pitcher Blake Holovach and sophomore pitcher Rob Zastryzny in Anderson’s absence. Both starters have been picking up the slack, especially as of late, combining for a 7-3 record.

The problem has been finding that elusive third-day starter, Jamieson said.

“The last three weekends have been: try to win Friday, then try to win Saturday and then whoever’s left on Sunday (starts),” he said. “That may be the approach until Eric comes back or the rest of the year.”

A heavy burden falls on the offense with the pitching staff now in flux. Earlier in the season, it looked to be a load the offense could handle, and the team rode a 10-game winning streak, in which it scored nearly 10 runs per game (9.9).

Lately, production has fallen off to the tune of only 4.5 runs per game in the six games prior to Tuesday’s contest versus Arkansas-Little Rock. With a pressing need for offensive production as of late, consistently notching a hit in the clutch has proven to be the team’s Achilles heel.

“I don’t think we’ve shown who we really are yet,” senior third baseman Conner Mach said. “I think our lineup has clicked at times in certain games, but we still haven’t been as consistent as we can be at the plate.”

In Jamieson’s opinion, all setbacks aside, the team needs to do only one thing.

“We have to win, and that’s the bottom line,” he said.