Mizzou Baseball Drops SEC Opener to No. 2 LSU

Despite putting the first few runs on the board, the Missouri Tigers were shutout for five innings before they could get another run across

Right-hand reliever Brock Lucas throws from the mound. | Mizzou Athletics

The Missouri Tigers got their first taste of conference play against the LSU Tigers. They met a harsh realization.

After tagging on two runs in the second from a home run by shortstop Jackson Lovich, Mizzou struggled to bring any more runs home until late in the game. . This led to the 12-5 loss for the Tigers from the north.

The Mizzou lead was very short lived, as LSU quickly returned the favor with a two-run homer of their own off of Missouri starter Ian Lohse. This was just the beginning of the opponents scoring.

Lohse wasn't able to make it very far in the game and was pulled afte 3 1/3 innings. He was plagued by the two-run homer and a three-run triple. Lohse wasn't helping his team keep runners off the base, allowing six free bases between the hit-by-pitches and walks that he gave up.

For Mizzou's first look at SEC pitching, they had to face one of the best arms in the conference. Left-hand pitcher Kade Anderson came into the game with a 2.08 ERA and had only given up three home runs. The starter for the opponents was dominant after the Lovich homer, only allowing four hits and two walks over 6 1/3 innings pitched. Mizzou tagged one more run onto Anderson after he left the game.

Mizzou was finally able to get their offense going again off of LSU reliever Connor Benge in the top of the eighth inning. Centerfielder Kaden Peer and catcher Mateo Serna went back-to-back off to kick off the inning, after which Benge was pulled.

After Lohse, the Mizzou bullpen wasn't able to provide much help. Right-hand reliever Brock Lucas shut down LSU for 1 2/3 innings, but fellow righty Ben Smith ran up the score by five more.

Mizzou drops to 8-9 on the season and 0-1 in conference play, while LSU moves to 18-1 and 1-0 in the SEC. The Tigers will face off again for game two of the series at 6 p.m. on Saturday, March 15.