Baseball sweeps Indiana State

By JJ Stankevitz

Published March 11, 2008

No. 6 Missouri finally began its home schedule with a sweep of Indiana State.

The Tigers took the first game on Saturday by a score of 5-1, followed by a Sunday doubleheader sweep, defeating the Sycamores 9-8 and 6-2.

On Saturday, junior right-handed pitcher Aaron Crow started the first game and dominated the Sycamores (1-9) over seven innings, not allowing a run on two hits and two walks while striking out nine batters. Junior right fielder Ryan Lollis and sophomore left fielder Aaron Senne tallied two RBIs apiece, and senior first baseman Dan Pietroburgo picked up an RBI to account for all the offense Missouri (9-2) would need in the 30-degree weather at Taylor Stadium.

Junior right-hander Ian Berger started and struck out five while allowing one run over six strong innings in the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader, leaving the game with a 3-1 lead. Indiana State made a comeback, picking up five runs in the top of the seventh off three Missouri relievers to take a 6-3 lead. MU came right back with five runs in the bottom half of the inning, capped by a three-run shot off Senne’s bat, his second of two homers in the game.

“It took that five-run inning to really get us going,” Senne said. “None of us wanted to lose that game.”

Junior left-hander Rick Zagone was unable to hold that lead, surrendering a two-run double to Indiana State left fielder Brady Shoemaker that tied the game. The game appeared to be headed for extra innings after Indiana State’s Josh Varno and Missouri’s Scooter Hicks threw scoreless innings to keep the game tied at eight going into the bottom of the ninth. However, sophomore catcher Trevor Coleman laced a single into centerfield with two outs to bring up Folgia. On a 2-2 pitch, Folgia ripped a double into right-centerfield and Coleman raced around from first to score the game-winning run.

“They tried stealing that first game from us, but we kept coming back and answering them, finally with Folgia hitting that double,” Senne said. “It really exemplified what our team is about. It’s how we won last year and it’s how we plan on winning again this year.”

Indiana State struck early in the second game with a run in the first on a single by Schmitt, but Gibson was able to shut down the Sycamores for the rest of his inning. Missouri tied the game in the third inning and took the lead in the sixth on a double by senior Lee Fischer. A sacrifice fly by junior third baseman Kyle Mach made it 3-1, and then a two-run triple by Folgia extended the lead to 5-1 after seven.

Indiana State knocked Gibson out of the game in the eighth after he loaded the bases, but freshman lefthander Kelly Fick was able to minimize the damage, only allowing one runner to score. Gibson’s final line was two runs (both earned), seven hits, two walks, and nine strikeouts over 7.1 innings. MU was able to get that run back when Calvert led the bottom of the eighth with a solo home run, making the score 6-2, where it would stay until the end of the game, giving the Tigers a three-game sweep.

Noticeably absent from Missouri’s lineup over the weekend was senior outfielder Jacob Priday, who was out with an abdominal strain. Priday was hitting .382 with two home runs and 13 RBI, but the MU lineup did not miss a beat.

“I think it’s a testament to how good we can be offensively if everybody is firing and you have Priday in the middle of the lineup,” coach Tim Jamieson said of MU’s offensive performance over the weekend.