After a narrow 6-5 win yesterday, the Mizzou Tigers baseball team (2-4) was shut down on Saturday afternoon, falling 10-2 to Alabama State. This marks the second time this season that their pitching staff has allowed 10 or more runs.
The Hornets (3-4) came out swinging early, with just the third batter of the game hitting a two-out solo shot down the left-field line to give them a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. The Tigers didn't respond until the third inning, when freshman Trey Lawrence laced a ball down the right-field line with two runners on, driving in one and tying the game.
That was about the only offense Mizzou was able to generate against Alabama State starter Jafet Martinez, who shut down the Tigers for the rest of the game. Martinez pitched six innings, allowing just one run on four hits. Three of those four hits came in the third inning.
The Tigers received a similar level of dominance from starter Ian Lohse, who, after allowing the solo shot in the first, shut down the Hornets for the next three innings. However, in the fifth, after leading off the inning with back-to-back strikeouts, Lohse gave up three consecutive hits—two of them doubles—and the Hornets regained the lead, going up 3-1.
After a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom half, the Tigers pulled Lohse and turned to freshman Victor Christal for his season debut. Christal gave up another run in the sixth, extending the Hornets' lead to three at 4-1. The Hornets then broke the game open in the seventh, scoring four more runs to take an 8-1 lead over the Tigers.
That was the end of Christal's outing, as he was pulled with two outs in the seventh for Seth McCartney. Unfortunately, McCartney didn't have any more success. In just over one inning of work, he allowed two runs on three hits, giving the Hornets a 10-1 lead heading into the bottom of the eighth.
The Tigers managed to get one of those runs back in the bottom of the eighth, but that was all they could muster, ultimately losing 10-2.
The only arm from the bullpen to have any success was their closer, freshman Brady Kehlenbrink, who finished the game with a clean inning, despite the bases being loaded.
The Tigers' offense managed just five hits compared to the Hornets' 17, the most their pitching has allowed all season. None of the Tigers had more than one hit, with each of the five hits coming from a different player.
Mizzou will have one more chance to redeem itself on the final day of the Andre Dawson Classic, playing their earliest game of the year. The Tigers will face Southern University, where head coach Kerrick Jackson got his first head coaching job, at 8 a.m. in Vero Beach, Florida, on Sunday.