Following a tough weekend that saw them suffer their third three-game sweep to open conference play, Mizzou baseball (10-17, 0-9) bounced back in the first of a two-game midweek series against the University of Arkansas Pine-Bluff, winning 25-10 on Tuesday.
“I think where we are in our season, any success we can have is good success,” head coach Kerrick Jackson said after the game. He continued, “If it’s rooted in the idea of doing the things we’re asking them to do—playing the game right, having good approaches at the plate—because if you can do that consistently, regardless of who's in the other dugout, that should be the standard.”
Heading into the fourth inning, the Tigers led 5-3 after a four-run third. Mizzou starter Will Libbert recorded the first out of the inning, but a single and back-to-back walks loaded the bases with one out. An RBI groundout brought the Golden Lions within one, making it 5-4, before the Tigers pulled their starter.
Junior Josh Kirchhoff came in to finish the inning and bring the Tigers to the plate. In the bottom of the fourth, the Tigers turned the game on its head.
After a leadoff groundout from Jackson Lovich to start the inning, three straight singles from Kaden Peer, Cayden Nicoletto, and Brock Daniels loaded the bases for Pierre Seals, who walked in the first run of the inning for the Tigers.
This was followed by two-RBI singles from Chris Patterson and Payton Basler, giving the Tigers a 10-4 lead. A walk by Gehrig Goldbeck completed the order and brought Lovich back up with the bases loaded and one out. After recording the only out of the inning so far, Lovich redeemed himself with a grand slam—his first of the year—putting the Tigers up by 10 runs.
A walk and stolen base following the grand slam put a runner back in scoring position for Daniels' second at-bat of the inning. His two-out single scored the final run of the inning for the Tigers, capping a 10-run inning with eight hits and bringing 16 hitters to the plate. The Tigers ended the inning up 15-4.
“We're chasing .500, so any successes that you can have to build confidence are always a good thing,” coach Jackson said after the game.
Kirchhoff returned to the mound and, after a 1-2-3 fifth inning, the Tigers came back up to the plate and scored another nine runs in the bottom of the fifth. To help the Tigers score, Golden Lions pitching gave up 11 free passes—five via hit by pitch and six through walks. When all was said and done, the Tigers entered the sixth inning with a 24-4 lead.
“The game was really, really fast for him earlier, during practices and the early part of our season,” coach Jackson said, speaking about Chris Patterson. “He got a pinch-hit opportunity, and that turned into two quality at-bats and good defense. And it's like, all right, hey, let's roll with it again. And that's basically what happened.”
This game marks just the third start for Patterson and the seventh game he has played in all season. In the previous six games, he had collected just two hits, including one home run—a mark he matched today with two hits, four RBIs, and a walk.
This marks the second time in the last two years that the Tigers have scored 20 or more runs in a game, having done so last season on March 2 against Northern Kentucky in a 28-10 win. Prior to Jackson becoming head coach, the most runs they had scored in a game was 19, in a 19-8 win against Southern in 2022.
The next inning didn’t go as smoothly for Kirchhoff, who lost his command and was eventually pulled after giving up a single, four walks, and three hit-by-pitches. Kadden Drew came in to finish the inning for Kirchhoff and, after surrendering two more runs on an RBI single, he closed out the frame with six runs allowed. The Golden Lions still trailed 24-10.
The Tigers added one more run off the bat of Patterson, who hit a sac fly to close out the game, with Mizzou winning 25-10.
Lovich was the anchor of the offense, going 3-for-4 with all three of his hits being extra-base hits, while collecting eight RBIs and two walks. As a team, the Tigers were awarded 21 free bags, with 12 coming from walks and another seven from hit-by-pitches.
“I think he put himself in a situation where he became coachable,” coach Jackson said about Lovich after the game. “He was listening to the things we’re asking him to do, made the adjustments, and trusted the approach that we said, ‘Hey, this is who you are.’”
Kirchhoff (2-0) earned his second win of the season, while UAPB's starter Chris Bedgood (0-2) took the loss.
The Tigers have one more game against the Golden Lions on Wednesday before hitting the road for Fayetteville. The final game of the homestand will start at 7 p.m. at Taylor Stadium.