After a blowout loss on Friday against the No. 7 Texas Longhorns, the Mizzou Tigers (9-17, 0-9) remain winless in SEC play, getting swept in a doubleheader on Saturday. They dropped game one 7-4 and game two 7-1.
“Just two long days, missed out on opportunities in game one, and feeling sorry for ourselves in game two,” head coach Kerrick Jackson said after the game.
Despite their loss the day before, the Tigers were able to get something going off Texas starter Luke Harrison, who went only four innings after allowing six hits and four runs (none earned).
Both offenses got going early off the starters in game one, combining for six runs in the first two innings. After scoreless first innings for both teams, Texas started the scoring with back-to-back RBI hits to take a 2-0 lead.
The Tigers answered right back with a run of their own after an error from the Texas infield allowed Keegan Knutson to score from third. They followed that up by taking their first lead of the weekend when freshman Chris Patterson sent his first hit as a Tiger over the center field fence for a three-run bomb, giving Mizzou a 4-2 lead.
This turned out to be all the offense the Tigers were able to manage for a while, matching their run and hit totals from their loss on Friday in just two innings. Meanwhile, the Longhorns took the lead back in the third before adding another in the fifth, going up 6-4.
Mizzou starter Kaden Jacobi was finished after 4.1 innings, leaving with one on and handing it over to relief pitcher Brock Lucas. After issuing two initial walks, Lucas shut the Longhorns down, going 3.2 innings and allowing one run on three hits. However, his offense couldn't back him up, and the Tigers eventually lost 7-4.
Following the Tigers' four-run second inning, they were unable to generate much offense, managing eight hits over the next seven innings. They put just six runners into scoring position and left nine runners on base.
The Tigers were careless on the base paths throughout the game, especially while Harrison was on the mound, getting picked off twice while attempting to steal second. Those two pickoffs accounted for two of the team’s three in the game.
In just his eighth start of the year, outfielder Tyler Macon led the offense in the first game, reaching base four times with two hits and two walks.
“You know, he's a redshirt freshman. And again, he's athletic and has the ability to play multiple positions, with the game moving a little fast for him,” said coach Jackson after the game when asked about Macon. “He has some really good at-bats, struggles right on right, so you see him more in there against left-handed pitching because he's going to give you a good at-bat. He plays the game hard and fast.”
Jacobi (3-2) was charged with the loss, while Texas’ Max Grubbs (3-0) earned the win and Dylan Volantis (6) recorded the save.
Texas hitter Will Gasparino, who went 3-5 with two homers and eight RBIs on Friday, continued to be a force the Tigers couldn’t stop at the plate. He finished the first game going 2-4 with two more homers and three more RBIs.
Game two was a bit different for the Tigers on the pitching side, as they went with a bullpen game. However, the Longhorns still managed to crush their pitching.
After a clean first inning from Mizzou starting pitcher Brady Kehlenbrink, the Longhorns got their scoring started with a one-out solo shot in the second to take a 1-0 lead. By the time the Tigers came up to bat in the bottom of the fourth, they had already used three different pitchers and were down 7-0.
After pitcher Kaden Drew came in with two outs in the third, he was pulled after facing just three batters and getting one out. He was replaced by sophomore Ben Smith, who allowed another four runs to cross before the fourth inning.
The Tigers were only able to get two hits off Texas starter Ruger Riojas, who went seven innings and struck out 10 Tigers. The first hit came in the first inning from Kaden Peer, with a two-out single to right, and the next didn't come until the sixth on a one-out single from Chris Patterson.
The only run for the Tigers in the second game came on a bases-loaded groundout to first by Patterson, putting Mizzou on the board and avoiding the shutout. However, they still lost game two 7-1.
The only redeeming parts of the second game were P.J. Green and Xavier Lovett out of the bullpen. In Green’s three innings of work, he allowed no runs on just two hits while striking out two (tying a season high) and walking just one. Lovett followed Green and continued to dominate, going two innings without allowing a hit, walking two, and striking out three.
“PJ is out there, 92-94, touching 95, and he can beat people with three pitches for strikes. We got some zeros from X (Xavier Lovett) when he's in the zone. He's got really good stuff. He can get people out with his stuff. On the position player side, like I said, we’re a talented group, but we’re just not playing the game the right way right now.”
One thing that continues to be a huge struggle for the Tigers is defense. With two errors in the first game and another in the second, the Tigers now have the second-most errors in the SEC, with 33 as a team. Their pitching staff has also hit the most batters in the entire SEC, plunking 49 batters in the first 26 games.
Of the team’s 26 games this season, they have had just one full nine-inning game without an error, which was game three against LSU. The only other time the Tigers went without an error this season was in their seven-inning blowout 17-7 win against Evansville earlier this year.
“We are a physically talented club,” Jackson said about his team after the game. “Like I said on the pitching side, obviously, we're a little bit deficient with some injuries and that kind of stuff, and guys have to throw strikes. We don’t have stuff guys. We’re not running dudes out there that are 94 to 96 and blowing people's doors off.”
The Tigers stay home for their next two games, returning to non-conference play with a two-game midweek series against the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff. The first game of the series starts at 6 p.m. on April 1 at Taylor Stadium.