Missouri Baseball Avoids a Shutout to Close Series Against No. 1 Arkansas
Missouri narrowly avoiding being shutout in three straight games.
The Tiger dropped their third-straight game to No. 1 Arkansas to conclude SEC opening weekend. A home run in the top of the seventh helped them not be shutout in each game of the series.
The first few pitches from Missouri was quite telling for the game. Peyton Stovall took the first pitch of the game to left field and Kendal Diggs took the fourth pitch to left center to score him. A sacrifice fly brought in Diggs. Ben McLaughlin struck the eighth homer of the series for Arkansas in the bottom of the third.
The scoring stopped until the bottom of the fifth. Justin Colon bobbled a ball that let former Tiger Ty Wilmsmeyer on and a double down the line from Stovall brought him home. A sacrifice fly then extended their lead.
Missouri struggled to get out of the sixth inning. After Ian Lohse came in and gave up a single and a hit-by-pitch, another Colon mistake in the bottom of the sixth allowed a run to score. Lohse loaded the bases after that with another walk. A single brought in two more runs.
Missouri wasn't able to get their first hit until the sixth inning. Jeric Curtis singled to left and then a Tucker Moore walk inspired an Arkansas pitching change. But it didn't work out in Missouri's favor, as the next two batters were struck out.
The Tigers were finally able to get their first run on the board in the three-game series in the top of the seventh. Thomas Curry saved Missouri from their third-straight shutout in conference play. They still may have been down by a lot of runs, but it was the small victories in this series.
They might have been facing some of the best pitching in all of college baseball, but Missouri showed just how much they might struggle in the SEC this year. In this game, 13 Tigers struck out and they were not able to get a run in. In the entire series, they were only able to put up eight hits.
Next stop for the Tigers: Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City to take on their arch-rival Kansas University. Missouri will take the field at 6 p.m. CT.
