Offensive Struggles Doom Mizzou Baseball in Season-Opening Shutout by Penn State

The Missouri Tigers saw their first action of the 2025 campaign in the rich baseball culture of Puerto Rico, where many MLB greats got their start. But, this certainly wasn't how the Tigers wanted to kick off their season.

Mizzou seemed a little lost in Puerto Rico against Penn State. They weren't able to get much going on the offensive front and were shutout 10-0 by the Nittany Lions. Their pitching was a mixed bag and the defense had few highlights, but it was the offense that sealed the game for the Tigers.

Even in a new place and a new season, the Tigers fell upon old habits. They struggles offensively once more, striking out 13 times. The high number of punch-outs was a common theme of the 2024 season and seems to be carrying over to the new season. The were only able to get five runners on base, three with walks and one hit.

The Tigers' new faces got the chance to prove what they could do for their team. Four transfers got a starting spot for the Tigers, each finding a way to make their own impact on the game. Missouri didn't have any of their freshman make an appearance. Last year at this time, they had multiple freshman making a start for them.

Junior second baseman Blake Simpson showed off his speed by throwing off a simple toss to first and forcing his way to the bag. Even though he isn't able to show off his defensive ability, junior designated hitter Gehrig Goldbeck was able to display how he can help in the offense with one of Missouri's hits. Even though he wasn't able to record a hit, senior outfielder Cayden Nicoletto showed that he has the power to go long through a couple of his foul balls. Senior Pierre Seals even got a hit in his one at-bat in the ninth inning.

Of all the transfers, junior shortstop Peyton Basler likely wishes he could have made a better first impression. He fumbled the ball in the field a couple times and was only able to put up a walk on the offensive front. The Tigers have a couple different middle infielders vying for a starting spot at Mizzou, so it was a bit more crucial for him to start on the right note.

But it was a familiar face that did the best work for the Tigers. Graduate left-hander Ian Lohse made the start for Mizzou, holding Penn State to just two runs in his outing. He tied his career long in innings with four and put up a career high eight strikeouts in the game. He showed off his development from the offseason off the mound with a strong season-opening appearance.

The game began to unravel when junior Brock Lucas entered the game for the fifth inning. He didn't seem confident on the mound and quickly gave up four runs with two two-run home runs. His pitches didn't seem to land where he wanted and he wasn't able to settle in on the mound. This led to 8 runs being added on during his 2 2/3 innings on the mound. Once the game was too far gone, Lucas was left in to figure out what was going wrong for him.

Puerto Rico is not a foreign place for one of the Tigers. Senior catcher Jedier Hernandez originally lived in Manatí before moving to New Jersey. He has a famous family lineage of the Molina brothers with roots to the land. But this familiarity wasn't enough for even him to seem comfortable in the game. He went 0-4 and failed an attempt to catch a runner stealing.

Mizzou will continue in their tough non-conference slate with UConn on Saturday, Feb. 15 at 3 p.m. CDT.

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