Tigers take second straight over Xavier
The Missouri baseball team continued its winning streak at home with a victory over Xavier on Saturday, and moved to 7-5 overall. The Tigers will look to make it three-straight over the Musketeers in Sunday’s game.
The Tigers dueled the Musketeers in a prolific eighth inning to gain the advantage. Missouri held a 2-1 lead heading into the inning before both teams caught fire.
Xavier ended their seven-inning scoring drought when a single through the hole on the right side scored the tying run. The stalemate was short-lived, as the Tigers regained the lead in the bottom the inning.
Freshman outfielder Dane Opel came up to the plate after the Tigers had hit and walked their way to loaded bases. Opel had been subbed in for junior right fielder Jonah Schmidt an inning earlier and commented on coming off the bench.
“I’ve been trying to stay loose, but it’s always a challenge,” Opel said. “You have to be ready in all situations. But that’s baseball. It’s what you love.”
The freshman seized the opportunity, lining a single to short center that scored two. The 4-2 score would hold through the ninth as junior right-hander Tyler Clark stepped in and struck out two for the save.
Junior southpaw Kelly Fick pitched five scoreless innings and fellow junior Phil McCormick recorded the win. Fick carried the load as five Missouri pitchers were employed in the win.
“He was fantastic,” junior catcher Brett Nicholas said. “A guy like Kelly is always ready to get into the game. I don’t think it matters what situation he gets in. He’s going to get in there and compete.”
Nicholas had a productive day himself, hitting in the first two Tiger runs off a sacrifice fly in the fourth and a single in the sixth. The junior is 4-for-6 in the series.
Xavier took the first lead of the game when it scored off junior starting pitcher Nick Tepesch in the first. Tepesch did not return in the second after being beamed with a line drive to the hip to end the first inning. The Tigers would later tie it in the fourth and take the lead in the sixth on Nicholas’ RBIs.
The teams will meet for game three of the series on Sunday at noon.