Missouri came into this weekend’s three-game set against Kentucky desperate for a series win. After a 15-6 loss on Thursday, things didn’t look great for the Tigers. But they responded with back-to-back wins on Friday and Saturday to take the series.
“The group knew when we went into today's game that we needed to win the series,” head coach Steve Bieser said. “There was no other thing on our mind than trying to win the series.”
Like in the series as a whole, Missouri had to dig out of an early hole in Saturday’s rubber match. The Tigers quickly fell behind 6-0 hole after two innings. But a big third inning swung the momentum for Mizzou as it tacked on eight runs before eventually winning 10-6. While the bats got hot, Carter Rustad took the mound in the fourth inning and allowed zero runs through 4 ⅔ innings.
“Dropping down six to nothing was really challenging for our team,” Bieser said. “But you could feel that there wasn’t any quit in the dugout.”
Austin Marozas started for Missouri and the Wildcats were on him from the first pitch. Kentucky racked up a couple of hits and scored one run in the first inning before an offensive explosion of five runs in the second inning. Marozas was more composed in the third inning, when he allowed zero runs.
In the bottom of the inning, the Tigers flipped the script and forced the Wildcats to endure a grueling inning. The Tigers 8-run inning was fueled by 2-RBI singles from Luke Mann, Torin Montgomery, and Ross Lovich. Missouri went through its entire lineup while racking up runs with ease.
After big frames from each team in the first three innings, the bats cooled off and no runs were scored until the bottom of the seventh. An error at third base and another RBI single from Lovich pushed the score to 10-6, and that score would hold for the rest of the game.
“The bottom half of our lineup can do a lot,” Lovich said. “We’re putting in good [at-bats] and doing everything we can and getting on base so the top of the order can drive us in.”
Rustad played a pivotal role in the win for Missouri. Kentucky appeared to be primed for a big offensive day before he shut them down and allowed the Tigers to gain the lead. The Wildcats threatened in the top of the seventh when they loaded the bases with two outs, but Rustad calmly struck out the final batter to protect the lead.
“I was just trying to stay the course, stay through the zone,” Rustad said. “I kept doing what I wanted to do and it worked out.”
Missouri moves to 5-10 in SEC play and now holds a potential tiebreaker over Kentucky and South Carolina in the crowded race for an SEC Tournament berth. The Tigers will look to carry this momentum into their mid-week matchup with Missouri State on Tuesday before heading to Baton Rouge for a weekend series against LSU.
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