Jackson Lovich had just reached base on his turf-burning single through the left side of the infield when a ground ball to the shortstop forced his return to the dugout on a forceout at second base. He trotted back to the dugout, just like nine Tigers before him that had been sat down by Texas Southern’s dominant start on the mound.
He didn’t know that later that same inning he would enjoy a triumphant trot around the bases after his first career home-run in his first career start, a two-run shot extending Missouri’s lead en route to a 15-7 victory over Texas Southern. Missouri completed its sweep of TSU with a table-flipping, nine-run fourth inning that secured its lead and kick-started the Tigers’ offense for the remainder of the game.
Lovich led the way for the Tigers on Sunday afternoon, going 3-5 with a home run and a double while driving in four runs. Supporting the freshman’s breakout performance was Luke Mann, who also finished 3-5 while driving in three runs on a lead-changing home run in the fourth inning rally. Cam Careswell capped off the Tigers’ scoring with a pinch-hit home run over the left field bullpen in the bottom of the eighth, the first of his career.
“The tough thing is Jackson plays behind Luke Mann, they both play the same position right now” head coach Steve Bieser said. “We’re always exploring how we get our best lineup on the field at all times. He got his opportunity, and he responded very well, and we’ll continue to look for those opportunities.”
Bieser also stressed that despite Lovich’s impression in his first career start, he hasn’t yet earned an everyday spot in the lineup.
The pivotal fourth inning started off rather nonchalantly with the Tigers down 6-0. After Trevor Austin’s fielder's choice, nothing from the Texas Southern reliever Jurgen Zwitzer made it seem as though a haymaker was imminent. Zwitzer had filled up the zone up to that point, inducing weak contact and striking out three batters in his first two innings.
However, Zwitzer followed up a quality ground ball out with a five pitch walk to Hank Zeisler, then hit the next batter to load the bases. After a single from Ty Wilmsmeyer and a walk to Cam Chick that brought in two runs, Texas Southern manager Michael Robertson pulled Zwitzer and brought in Kobe Head from the bullpen. A Justin Colon single up the middle brought in two more runs for the Tigers, setting up home runs from Mann and Lovich to seize the lead and secure their first sweep since their series against Tarleton State a year ago.
“The confidence that they have, it’s really the guys like Luke Mann, Hank Zeisler, they don’t panic in those situations and they lead the way for us,” Bieser said.
Zwitzer was arguably the best Texas Southern could put out as he struck out three batters and no runs in his first two innings before getting knocked around in the bottom of the fourth inning. His 2.1 innings led Texas Southern’s staff, and he finished with five earned runs on three hits and two walks. The visiting Tigers used six pitchers through eight innings, with only Zwitzer tossing two innings.
Rorik Maltrud toiled through a bumpy four inning start on the mound for Mizzou, allowing five runs on five hits. Maltrud gave up loud contact all day, but was fortunate that many of his defenders were in position to field most for outs. Maltrud ended with five earned runs and five strikeouts on 66 pitches.
“One of the things we’re emphasizing is that we’ve got to make the other team earn it,” Bieser said. “They came up with some big hits and were all over him. He didn’t have his best stuff.”
Though the Tiger defense committed three errors, the defense provided much needed support for the pitching staff and made a couple rally-killing plays. In the first inning, Cam Chick made a tough over the shoulder catch to rob Daalen Adderley of extra bases, then made a diving catch along the right-field line to take away a leadoff hit in the fifth. Catcher Dylan Leach threw out Adderley at second base on an attempted steal to end the fifth inning, and was a wall behind the plate throughout.
The defense’s ability to position and take away hits was also key, as the hard-hit balls coming off of Texas Southern bats often found the leather of the Missouri fielders.
“The key to these types of days is that you can’t give up free passes, you can’t walk guys, you can’t hit guys, you can’t commit errors, because that’s how teams score a lot of runs on you,” Bieser explained.
Following Maltrud’s rocky opening, the Tigers’ pitching staff remained dominant for the remainder of the game. The combination of Austin Troesser and Daniel Wissler combined for five innings while giving up four hits and one earned run on a home run from Roderick Coffee in the sixth inning. Troesser finished with the win for Missouri (9-2), marking its seventh straight win in the midst of a 12-game homestand.
Mizzou will host Western Illinois on Tuesday and NJIT for three games over the weekend.
