After sweeping their doubleheader on Saturday, the Mizzou Tigers fell to the Evansville Purple Aces 9-5 in the series finale on Sunday at Taylor Stadium.
"Not good," is all head coach Kerrick Jackson had to say after the game about his team's overall performance.
Tigers starting pitcher Brock Lucas began the game strong, retiring the first six batters he faced. However, he gave up two runs in the third and two more in the fourth to the Purple Aces, allowing Evansville to take the lead for the first time since their game on Friday.
Lucas was pulled after 3.1 innings, having given up three runs, and was replaced by Kaden Jacobi, who entered with the bases loaded and one out. After hitting the first batter he faced, allowing a fourth run for the Aces and adding another to Lucas' final line, Jacobi settled down nicely and got out of the inning.
After allowing the one run, Jacobi got the last two outs of the inning and pitched two more clean innings, holding the Aces scoreless over his 3.1 innings of work. He wasn't pulled until the seventh with two outs and the bases loaded, at which point Brady Kehlenbrink entered. Kehlenbrink got the first hitter he faced to ground out, ending the inning.
In between all this, the Tigers got one run of their own off the bat of Jackson Lovich, who hit a solo shot to left-center, his second of the year. However, the Tigers still trailed 4-1 after the fourth inning.
The Tigers added one run in the sixth on an RBI-single from redshirt freshman Tyler Macon, scoring Brock Daniels after he reached third on a wild pitch. They tacked on another run in the eighth on an RBI-groundout from Jedir Hernandez, bringing in Cayden Nicoletto and pulling the Tigers back to within one, now down 4-3.
Attempting to shut out the Aces for one more inning and bring the Tigers up to bat, Kehlenbrink took the mound for the top of the ninth and his third inning of work. That’s when things started to go wrong.
“I think we just had some guys with a hero complex,” Jackson said. “Yes, there is a heightened sense of urgency because there's an underscoring position, but mentally, you’ve got to go about it the same way. If you amp yourself up too much, you start doing things like we saw today. We had multiple opportunities to push runs across—just one here, one there. Who knows where that goes?”
Starting the inning off with a pop-out, Kehlenbrink lost control of his pitches, walking three of the next four hitters. A two-out hit-by-pitch scored the first run of the inning and still left the bases loaded. That was followed by a double that cleared the bases, putting the game out of reach for the Tigers.
The Tigers decided to make a pitching change at that point, turning to Ben Smith to try and finish off the inning. He did, but not before giving up an RBI-single, which gave the Aces a 9-3 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth.
The Tigers made a small dent in the Aces' lead in the bottom of the ninth, plating two runs, but it wasn't enough for a comeback. They lost the game 9-5, splitting the series 2-2.
The biggest problem for the Tigers in this game was their walks and hit-by-pitches. Their pitchers walked eight Aces and hit five, which led to multiple runs for Evansville.
Another major issue for the Tigers was their inability to deliver in clutch situations. Despite out-hitting the Purple Aces nine hits to 15, they still struggled to score runs with runners on base, leaving eight runners stranded and five in scoring position.
“We hit too many people with break balls,” Jackson said. “We gave up some runs earlier that we shouldn't have given up.”
One bat that hasn’t been a problem lately is that of catcher/infielder Mateo Serna. Since their game against Alabama State, Serna has been on a tear, currently riding a seven-game hit streak with 12 hits over those seven games.
Lucas (0-1) was handed the loss, while Evansville’s Kevin Reed (2-1) was awarded the win.
Mizzou will have a chance to redeem themselves on Tuesday when they welcome in-state rival Southeast Missouri State to Columbia, with first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m. at Taylor Stadium.