Fueled by a Drew Quality Start, Mizzou Baseball Sweeps Doubleheader Against Evansville

Where runs were hard to come by in the first two games of the series against the Evansville Purple Aces, it seemed much easier in game two of the doubleheader. But this wasn't the only thing that brought the win home for the Missouri Tigers.

Missouri was firing on all cylinders against the Evansville and breezed their way into the win in the second game, earning a 17-7 win. With this win, they swept the double header and have a chance to take the series in the final game on Sunday.

The Purple Aces couldn't seem to get much going against Missouri starter Kadden Drew. The left-hander was able to strike out five through six innings and hold Evansville hitless through five innings. In the sixth inning, the Purple Aces were only able to string together a couple hits in order to snag two runs to avoid being shutout.

It was looking like the Tigers may earn a run-rule when they put up eight quick runs, but then the run-rule was going to be a little harder to earn after Evansville tacked on some runs of their own.

But a bases-clearing triple from second baseman Peyton Basler put them to 11 runs and brought them within one run of a run-rule in the bottom of the sixth. The Tigers followed that with five more hits and six runs that pushes Mizzou over the edge for the run-rule.

The Tigers went with the small ball tactic to gather their 17 runs, with only one run coming from a home run. The solo homer from Kaden Peer started the scoring in the second inning. The Tigers also collected two double and a triple. Small ball has appeared in multiple games for the Tigers and has become a relied on tactic.

Evansville tacked on five more runs in the seventh inning off of right-hand reliever Seth McCartney, who came in to close the game. The five runs risked making the game extend past the seventh inning, but ultimately had little effect on the game. The Tigers maintained their 10-run lead.

Missouri Head Coach Kerrick Jackson seems to have settled on his usual lineup. He used the same lineup in both of the games against Evansville and has remained fairly consistent with his starters in the last few games. Jackson switches catchers between Mateo Serna and Jedier Hernandez, and rotates the first baseman through a couple of guys.

Missouri moves to 6-5 on the season and Evansville moved to 2-8. The Tigers will look for the series win against the Purple Aces at 1 p.m. on Sunday, March 2.

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