Missouri baseball suffered its third sweep of the season this past weekend at the hands of LSU, but once again put up a good fight in the first two games of the series.
Missouri (20–18, 4–11 SEC) can certainly build off solid offensive displays against some of the top arms in the Southeastern Conference, but it cannot afford to go another conference series without coming away with at least one win. Here are some takeaways from the weekend:
**Lavy continues to carry the offensive workload**
Somewhat unexpectedly, senior first baseman Zach Lavy has been the catalyst for Mizzou’s offensive attack this season. He continued to hit the ball well against LSU’s Jared Poche and Alex Lange, widely considered two of the top pitchers in the conference. Lavy kicked off the series with a three-hit display on Friday with two extra-base hits and two RBI. He followed that up with two more base hits Saturday, including a double and RBI. In the finale, he hit another double to left center, his SEC-leading 25th extra-base hit of the season.
After a respectable junior campaign, Lavy has taken a large leap forward this year. His average (.338) is a full 100 points higher than last season and he has already notched career highs in numerous offensive categories, including runs (31), doubles (15), triples (7) and RBI (34).
**Bullpen struggles resurface**
Mizzou’s inexperienced bullpen has, for the most part, flown under the radar this season, which is good for the Tigers. However, its struggles resurfaced in the final two games of the LSU series.
Redshirt freshman Liam Carter allowed a grand slam on his second pitch in relief of sophomore right-hander Tanner Houck, breaking open a 5–4 game in the seventh inning Saturday. Things didn’t get much better in the finale. Five Tigers relievers combined to surrender eight runs (six earned) on 12 hits in just 4.1 innings of work.
**LSU fans travel in bunches**
Large pockets of LSU purple could be spotted throughout Taylor Stadium. Tailgates were rocking hours before each game. Baseball excellence is a longstanding tradition for LSU, and its fans make their presence known on the road. Attendance surpassed 1,400 in all three games of the series, including a season-high crowd of 2,559 on Saturday afternoon to see Mizzou’s Houck go head-to-head with LSU’s sophomore right-hander Lange.
**Mizzou needs its top players to step up**
Following a 15–2 drubbing on Sunday, coach Tim Jamieson called out his top players for needing to step up and assert themselves. Jamieson specifically named junior shortstop Ryan Howard, sophomore outfielder Trey Harris, sophomore catcher Brett Bond and sophomore third baseman Shane Benes. Howard’s average dipped to .264 over the weekend in what was expected to be a breakout season, while Harris, Bond and Benes all sit with averages below .240. Jamieson also said Houck and redshirt senior Reggie McClain, who each were on the wrong end of their outings against LSU, need to perform better on the mound.
**Next up**
The road won’t get any easier for Mizzou as the Tigers will hit the road to take on No. 8 South Carolina (29–8, 11–4 SEC) this weekend. The Gamecocks have lost just once at home this season, a 13-inning defeat against the College of Charleston on March 29.
Last season, Mizzou took three of four from South Carolina, including a 5–1 win in the SEC Tournament. All three games in the series will be broadcast on SEC Network and KTGR, with the series opener set for 6 p.m. Friday.
_Edited by Alec Lewis | alewis@themaneater.com_
