Mizzou Baseball Swept by No. 25 Texas A&M
Recap of the Mizzou Baseball Series Against Texas A&M
The weekend series between the Missouri Tigers and Texas A&M did not go as planned for the Mizzou baseball team. The Aggies swept all three games, leaving the Tigers with a tough loss. Here is a detailed look at each game and the performance of the players involved.
Game 1: Texas A&M Wins 11-9
With Mizzou’s Friday starter, Jayven Pimental, injured, the Tigers turned to Saturday starter Josh McDevitt on short rest. Unfortunately, McDevitt struggled, allowing four runs on four hits, three walks, and a hit batter in just 3.1 innings. He struck out five batters.
“I think just going on that short rest, they weren’t able to do it right,” said Mizzou coach Kerrick Jackson regarding McDevitt and Saturday starter Brady Kehlenbrink. “They weren’t able to bounce back.”
Isaiah Salas came on in relief but allowed three runs on two hits and a walk while recording just one out on a strikeout. Mizzou then brought in Luke Fricker, who allowed three runs on one hit, four walks, and a hit batter while striking out one in 0.2 innings.
By the time the Tigers came to bat in the fifth, they trailed 10-1. “Tough to battle back after starting in such a big hole,” Jackson said. “We’ve shown that we have some of that. But we’ve come up short.”
Jackson Sobel came on to finish the fifth and had more success, throwing 2.2 innings and allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out three. Eli Skidmore then pitched the final 2.0 innings, allowing one run on two walks and two hit batters while striking out three.
After scoring just one run in the first four innings, the Tigers began to chip away in the fifth. Donovan Jordan hit a sacrifice fly to score Cameron Benson in the second, and the Tigers continued their efforts in the fifth. Pierre Seals singled to score Keegan Knutson and Kam Durnin, then Jase Woita singled to score Kaden Peer. Cameron Benson followed with a home run to score Seals and Woita, bringing the Tigers within 10-7.
In the seventh, Woita homered and Mateo Serna singled to score Benson, bringing the Tigers within 10-9. However, the comeback fell just short. “I think our guys just get sped up and they want so bad to get it done that they get out of themselves,” Jackson said.
Mizzou had 13 hits, led by Durnin with three, including a double, while Seals, Woita, and Benson each had two. Benson had a home run and a double.
Game 2: Texas A&M Wins 14-6
Once again, the Tigers turned to a starter on short rest as Sunday starter Brady Kehlenbrink started on Saturday. He struggled, lasting just 3.0+ innings, allowing nine runs on six hits, four walks, and a hit batter. He struck out two.
“Neither one of them have done anything close to what they’ve done the last two games,” Jackson said. “And I think the fact that both of them did the same thing, I think it just goes on that short rest.”
Keyler Gonzalez pitched the next 2.1 innings, allowing four runs on four hits and two walks while striking out three. Then Juan Villarreal pitched the next 2.0 innings, allowing one run on two hits and two walks. Dane Bjorn pitched the final 1.2 innings, giving up two walks while striking out one.
Texas A&M pulled ahead 11-1 this time going to the bottom of the fourth, but the Mizzou offense didn’t have the same attempted comeback. In the second, the Tigers played small ball to score their first run as two attempted sacrifice bunts led to Knutson hitting a flair just out of reach of the Aggies’ diving pitcher to score Blaize Ward.
Then trailing 11-1, Knutson hit a sacrifice fly to score Ward in the fourth before Durnin doubled to score Jordan and Serna. In the sixth, Durnin singled to score Jordan, then in the eighth, Jordan homered to left.
“He was given an opportunity and he took advantage of it,” Jackson said of Jordan getting to start this series. “We were struggling to be offensive and so it was an opportunity for us to say, ‘Hey, here’s a guy that’s been getting after it in practice. … Let’s run him out there and see if we can shake things up a little bit.’”
Mizzou had 11 hits, led by Jordan with three to go with three runs scored. Durnin, Ward, Serna, and Knutson each had two hits.
Game 3: Texas A&M Wins 14-3 in 7 Innings
Once again, the Aggies jumped out due to a poor Mizzou pitching performance. Texas A&M scored four in the second and seven in the third to take the lead for good Sunday.
Mizzou scored a run in the third when Durnin homered to left, then Woita sent a home run over the right-field wall to score Peer in the fifth. But that was it.
Mizzou had nine hits, led by Peer with three and Ward with two. JD Dohrmann got the start for Mizzou even though he was a game-day decision. He threw one inning as the Tigers went with a bullpen game. Dohrmann allowed one walk and struck out one batter.
Luke Sullivan came on in the second and threw 1.1 innings, allowing six runs on four hits and three walks while striking out two. Ian Lohse completed the third, but gave up five runs on three hits, a walk, and a hit batter. He got two strikeouts for his only two outs.
Trey Lawrence came on to start the sixth and threw 2.0 shutout innings, giving up three hits and striking out three batters. Then Sam Rosand completed the game, throwing 2.0 innings and giving up three runs on five hits while striking out one.
Up Next
Mizzou (17-12, 1-8 SEC) will look for redemption when the Tigers host Kansas at 7 p.m. Tuesday. Kansas won the matchup in Lawrence 10-0 in seven innings about two weeks ago.
