Missouri baseball, in a slump, will host Illinois

Aug 7, 2015; Kansas City, MO, USA; A general view of a baseball and glove prior to a game between the Kansas City Royals and the Chicago White Sox at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 7, 2015; Kansas City, MO, USA; A general view of a baseball and glove prior to a game between the Kansas City Royals and the Chicago White Sox at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports

The Missouri Tigers baseball team has found many ways to lose. Mizzou, which started the season winning 20-straight, after losing its opener to Eastern Michigan, has dropped its last five by a run.

I’ve sounded like a broken record on Twitter, but I can’t place a finger on where the Tigers are running afoul in games where they overcome a large deficit, and then lose by a run.

Even more frustrating, is in a game such as today, in which Florida kept the game close, and led Missouri to an eventual 2-1 loss. Florida would have still won the series, but a Tigers win would have improved morale and put Missouri in a better position going into their Tuesday evening game against Illinois.

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Florida clearly dominated the Tigers on defense, while the offense put itself in enough positions to maintain its lead and helped the Gators to a three-game sweep of Mizzou.

Florida’s pitching was solid throughout the series against Missouri, but the Tigers were struggling offensively in games before Florida came to town.

Since the final game which saw the Tigers lose the series to Arkansas, Missouri hasn’t been able to find the right combination of batting to successfully push themselves past their opponent.

Missouri will host Illinois in a single game on Tuesday evening, which will give the Tigers a chance to rest up and prepare for what should be an easier turn-around game before their road series in Athens, against the Georgia Bulldogs.

The Illini are an overall 9-16 ball club, right now. Illinois just swept its three-game series over Indiana State, following a three-game skid to Michigan State (15-9), and a loss to Bradley.