Late Inning Damage Leads Mizzou Baseball to 10-2 Loss Against Alabama State

Game two of the Andre Dawson Classic was quite different for the Missouri Tigers than Game one. Their match with Alabama State was more a pitcher's duel, rather than like the back-and-forth battle of the day before. But there always has to be a victor in a duel.

The Tigers ended up on the short end of the duel, losing to the Hornets by a score of 10-2. The Tigers never lead in the game and weren't able to comeback after the large deficit created in the seventh inning.

Missouri's starter Ian Lohse seemed to get stronger as the game went on. He began the game by giving up a first inning home run, but then went for three scoreless and racked up six strikeouts in that time. His fifth inning was where the damage came.

Lohse earned back-to-back strikeouts to start the fifth, but he wasn't able to close the inning on the same note. A single and two doubles gave the Hornets the lead with an insurance run.

Head coach Kerrick Jackson decided to give a new pitcher the nod for the sixth inning. Freshman reliever Victor Christal did not get the outing he would have hoped for, however. The one run scored in the first inning from Christal didn't seem to be the end of the world, but he followed that up by allowing four runs in the next inning, essentially putting the game out of reach for the Tigers.

Alabama State had a very strong arm on the mound to combat any chances for the Missouri offense. Right hander Jafet Martinez, the reigning co-pitcher of the week for the Southwestern Athletic Conference, came off a start in which he threw five innings and gave up no runs. He had a similar line against the Tigers with six innings of four hit, one run ball.

It was thought that right fielder Pierre Seals may have returned the favor with a third inning home run, but the call made by the first base umpire was overturned by the home plate umpire. It was ruled a double and Seals was sent back to second base. But it ultimately didn't matter, as Seals made it home anyways for the Tigers only run during Martinez's stint on the mound..

But the Mizzou offense fell flat after that, they were sat down in order in two of the following innings and scattered just a few base runners in the middle innings. They attempted a late rally, scoring one run in the eights

Missouri moves to 2-4 on the season and Alabama State moves to 3-4. The Tigers will take on Southern at 8 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 23.

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