Tiger baseball upsets Longhorns
The Missouri Tigers took down top-seeded Texas to start the Big 12 Tournament in Oklahoma City on Wednesday.
After going 27-25 in the regular season, the Tigers were given the No. 8 seed. The bottom seeding pinned them against a 46-8 Texas team with a seven-game winning streak and just one loss since March.
That’s why junior right-hander Nick Tepesch and company became the story of opening day when they toppled the heavily favored Longhorns, 7-3. The upset served as revenge for the Tigers after being swept by the Big 12 leaders to end their regular season.
Tepesch has really come alive as of late, with his only two complete games of the season coming in the last two weeks. The Tiger’s ace allowed only two earned runs on ten hits with five strikeouts. The win puts Tepesch at 6-6 on the year.
Texas struck first in the round one matchup, taking a 1-0 lead after two innings. But Missouri then took control, scoring the next five runs of the contest.
The 'Big Three' led the offensive onslaught, as senior first baseman Aaron Senne and junior third baseman Brett Nicholas batted in three in the third to spark the rally. Senior shortstop Michael Liberto then extended the lead with an RBI single an inning later.
The Tiger offense managed to piece together seven runs against a defense that led the conference in just about every category this season. Texas led the Big 12 with a 2.43 team ERA in 2010, over one whole run higher than the next best team.