Baseball finishes off sweep to continue hot start
Mizzou came into Sunday’s game looking for a sweep of the Tarleton State Texans to open its home schedule. After a 6-5 win on Friday and a 9-1 win on Saturday, the Tigers kept it rolling with an 11-6 win to conclude the series and move to 9-1 on the season.
The bats got hot early as Mizzou scored 11 runs in the first three innings and never looked back. The Texans pitching struggled throughout the day, walking 10 batters and only striking out seven. Junior Torin Montgomery finished with one hit, one run, and three RBI for the Tigers. Senior catcher Mike Coletta had two hits, two RBI, and walked twice.
"Really good job by the group here of being able to come out and secure this weekend," head coach Steve Bieser said. "It's never easy to do that. Very proud of the way we attacked, especially early, and the way offensively we were really locked in.”
Austin Marozas made his Mizzou on the mound as the starter. The Charlotte transfer only saw one inning of action but he showed flashes, striking out one batter. Two walks and a single, however, knocked in an early run for Tarleton State.
Mizzou answered promptly in the bottom of the first inning. Josh Day led off and took four balls to earn a base. Nander De Sedas belted a shot into left field that ended up stuck in the fence, putting runners on second and third. A sacrifice fly from Luke Mann scored the first run for Missouri, and three of the next four batters all singled to drive in runs. Missouri led 3-1 after one inning.
Carter Rustad took the mound for the Tigers in the second inning. He allowed two hits in the inning, one of which was an RBI double to cut Mizzou’s lead to one.
The bottom of the second inning was a huge one for the Tigers. Tarleton State saw three different pitchers take the mound as they struggled to find an accurate thrower. After a lead off single from Ross Lovich, five of the next seven batters were walked. The walks contributed three runs, and a sacrifice fly from Montgomery scored Day. The final run of the inning was scored on a single from Ty Wilmsmeyer that sent Garrett Rice across the plate, making the score 8-2.
After a lead off flyout to begin the third inning, Kemuel Thomas-Rivera tripled to left field to return some momentum to the Texans. The triple was swiftly followed up by a two-run home run off of the bat of Carter Dobrinski. The next two batters both flew out, and the inning was ended by a diving catch from Lovich.
The Tigers tacked on their final three runs of the afternoon in the third inning. Four more Tigers were walked in the frame, and Mizzou punished the Texan pitchers for it. With the bases loaded, Montgomery hit a sacrifice fly that scored Day and advanced Mann and De Sedas. During the next at bat, Mann advanced to third and De Sedas scored on a wild pitch. Juju Stevens continued the offensive assault with a single to center field that scored Mann, increasing the lead to 11-4.
Going into the fourth inning, Tarleton State had already employed four pitchers. Thankfully for the Texans, Beau Ross helped cool off the Missouri bats during the middle frames. Neither team scored until the sixth inning, when catcher Cody Vannoy doubled down the left field line and raked in a run.
That was the last of the runs scored, as the pitching on both sides found a rhythm and started to retire batters. The game ended with an 11-6 scoreline as the Tigers won their seventh consecutive game. Rustad earned the win with five hits allowed in 4.1 innings pitched. He allowed four earned runs but struck out five batters. Aidan Adams was credited with the loss for Tarleton State, allowing six runs in one inning pitched.
Mizzou now looks forward to a four-game series with Gonzaga. The Tigers will host the Bulldogs from Thursday through Sunday at Taylor Stadium. Gonzaga has started this season 8-2 and will come to Columbia off of a series win over Oklahoma State.
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