Mizzou Baseball Returners Help Tigers to an 11-7 Win Over UConn

The Tigers earn their first win of the season in a slug fest against the Huskies in Puerto Rico

Amber Winkler | Feb 15, 2025

Yldefonso Solá Morales Stadium in Caguas. / Mizzou Athletics

The Missouri Tigers did a 180 to turn things around in the Puerto Rico Challenge. A little more than 24 hours after they had 10 runs put up against them by Penn State, they returned the favor and did the same to UConn.

After an offensive drought in the game before, they filled the bases with runners in nearly every inning against UConn. This led to the Tigers putting up a final score of 11-7 in the battle of the bats with the Huskies for their first win of the season.

As the Tigers try to figure out what will work for them, they made drastic lineup changes from their season opener. Only one person remained the same spot in the lineup and only three players played in the same position as the previous game. This helped them flip the switch and forget their 10-0 crushing the night before.

The revamped lineup kickstarted that Mizzou offense. They had as many hits in the second inning as their entire last game, and more runs in that inning, too. That was just the beginning of what would be a shower of runs by the Tigers. Missouri only had two innings in which no one one reached base. This was a vast improvement from the five innings in which no one reached in the last game.

The players from last season who chose to stay with the Tigers ended up having the biggest impact on the game. Of the six players that returned and started in the game, only right fielder Jeric Curtis didn't have an RBI in the game, but made up for it with his defensive prowess in the field.

An offensive surge brought home the first run of the season for the Tigers. It was a pair of familiar faces in Lovich and Peer accomplished the task that evaded Missouri in game one of the Puerto Rico Challenge against Penn State. Lovich led off the inning with a quick single and Peer followed it with a double that was misread by the outfielder, giving Lovich time to score.

Missouri had a bit of deja vu with the next inning. This time, it took three singles from first baseman Brock Daniels, catcher Mateo Serna and Peer, who brought in the second run for Mizzou. But it was another returner that put the Tigers ahead of UConn in the fifth inning.

Even with a new position this season, Lovich continues to do what he did last season. When needed, he provided a two-run home run over the left fielder's head to give the Tigers the lead. The go-ahead homer was the first home run of the season for the Tigers.

After the Huskies punched back to bring the game within one run, Mizzou came back in the bottom of the sixth to put up six runs. The Tigers batted around, with five hits and two walks in the inning. Serna broke the game open with his three-run home run to make the score 10-3.

But as proven earlier in the game, UConn was never going to go down easy. They put four runs back on the board in the seventh to make it a closer game.

The Tigers pitching struggled at times, but showed that they were able to overcome the adversity and continue in the game. This wouldn't have been possible without the offensive power that showed out today, however.

The top of the third inning saw a bases loaded situation in which Missouri starter Daniel Wissler could not escape with ease. He allowed two hits and hit a batter to fill the bases, then hit a runner to allow the first run to cross. It was followed by a ball that looked like it could leave the park, but was just short and landed in the glove of right fielder Jeric Curtis. It was enough to bring in the second run, however.

Right-hand pitcher Kaden Jacobi took over at a key point in the game. When he entered, it was a much higher pressure situation than many of the opportunities in which he was used last season. Despite allowing a few runners in his first couple inning, he kept many of them from reaching home. This was until his disastrous seventh inning in which he gave up four runs on four hits.

The game was closed by quick scoreless outings from left-handed relievers Nic Smith and Wil Libbert, and right-handed reliever Xavier Lovett. They only allowed one hit in 2 2/3 innings pitched.

With the win over UConn, Mizzou has advanced to 1-1 on the season. The Tigers will close out their stint in Puerto Rico with Stetson at noon on Sunday, Feb. 16.

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