After suffering a loss in their first meeting on Friday, the Missouri Tigers baseball team bounced back on Saturday, sweeping a doubleheader against the Binghamton Bearcats. They won the first game 16-6 in seven innings and took the second 4-2.
"My job is to be that key master," head coach Kerrick Jackson said after the game. "And my job is to find that key that's going to unlock that level of consistency."
Heading into the fourth inning, the Tigers led 2-0 over the Bearcats, thanks to RBIs from Cayden Nicoletto in the first and Jackson Lovich in the third. In the top half of the fourth, the Bearcats tied the game and knocked out the Tigers' starting pitcher, Wil Libbert, who was replaced by Josh Kirchhoff.
After Kirchhoff got the final out, the Tigers came up to bat and redeemed their pitcher, putting up 13 runs in just the bottom of the fourth. With the NCAA run-rule set at 10 after seven innings, all the Tigers needed to do was hold the Bearcats—and they did just that.
After a leadoff walk to Keegan Knutson and a single from Kaden Peer, catcher Mateo Serna extended his hit streak to nine games with a 400-foot, three-run blast to center, putting the Tigers back on top.
A walk to Nicoletto followed, before Brock Daniels stepped up for his second at-bat of the game and launched a ball over the right-field fence, putting the Tigers up 7-2 with no outs still in the fourth. This homer knocked Binghamton’s starter out of the game after allowing seven runs.
Despite the pitching change, the Tigers kept the momentum going. After recording their first out of the inning, two more Tigers reached base, and then three consecutive hitters drove in three more runs, leaving runners on second and third with one out.
A walk to Serna in his second at-bat of the inning loaded the bases for Nicoletto, who delivered his first home run as a Tiger—a grand slam down the right-field line. The blast put the Tigers up 14-2 and officially gave them more than 10 runs in the inning.
They added one last run before the third out on a Lovich RBI single, bringing their total to 13 runs in the inning on 10 hits, both season highs.
The Bearcats slowly crawled back, scoring two runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth, bringing the score to 15-6 and keeping the game alive. However, that was all they could muster before the Tigers finished them off in the seventh.
After loading the bases with no outs, Serna came up for his fourth at-bat of the game and hit a single up the middle, scoring Pierre Seals from third and walking off the Bearcats for the game one win. The Tigers took it 16-6, splitting the series 1-1.
Despite leaving eight men on base, the Tigers racked up an impressive 15 hits to go along with their 16 runs. Nicoletto led the team with four hits, while Lovich followed closely with three. The Tigers also benefitted from Bearcats pitchers, who hit six and walked six Tigers throughout the game.
Kirchhoff (1-0) was credited with the win for the Tigers, while Bearcats starter Brady Milburn (1-2) took the loss.
Game two started out similarly, with the Tigers gaining the advantage right from the start.
"You know, some haven't played in a while, but I've been staying at it, getting reps there," Lovich said after the game about playing shortstop in the past few games. "It's really nothing new, and at the end of the day, infield is infield."
After the Tigers went 1-2-3 in the first inning, they came out in the second and scored their first run. With hits from Lovich and Seals, along with a hit-by-pitch to catcher Jedier Hernandez, the bases were loaded with two outs. Binghamton's starter then threw a wild pitch, allowing Lovich to score from third and advancing the other two runners, putting the Tigers up 1-0.
The Tigers added another run in the fourth after a leadoff double from Seals set up Knutson, who brought him in with a sac-bunt, giving Mizzou a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning.
The Bearcats didn’t back down without a fight, though. A leadoff walk, followed by a double, set up the top of the sixth, putting runners on second and third with no outs. A single brought in their first run, and a wild pitch scored the second, tying the game 2-2.
After the two runs from Binghamton, the Tigers made a change on the mound, replacing starter Kadden Drew with righty Brock Lucas. Lucas retired three straight batters to end the inning. Drew finished with a solid line, going five innings and allowing just two runs on seven hits while walking and striking out three each.
Once Lucas entered the game, the Bearcats were shut down. He finished the game, pitching four innings, allowing just one hit, and striking out six.
Meanwhile, the Tigers supported their pitcher and helped secure the win. With the game tied 2-2, Nicoletto led off the bottom of the seventh with a walk. After advancing to second on a groundout, he was brought in on an RBI single from transfer Peyton Basler, giving the Tigers back the lead.
They added one more run when the next batter, Seals, singled in another run, giving the Tigers a 4-2 lead, which they held onto until the end.
"The brightest point for me was Brock Lucas," Jackson said after the games. "He's had such a rough year as a starter, and getting him back in that relief role, which is who I think he is, was key. You saw who he was for us last year. He hasn’t been that dominant all year long for us, but for him to come out and have his best stuff in his last inning, and then to feel that win—that's what we hope our team can embody."
Lucas (1-1) was credited with the win in game two, while Binghamton’s Caden Rothbaum (0-1) took the loss.
Two areas where the Tigers showed great improvement in game two were hitting with runners on, where they batted .286 (4-14), and their leadoff hitters, who batted .375 (3-8).
The Tigers (8-7) will have the chance to clinch the series on Sunday, starting at 1 p.m. at Taylor.