Offense struggles in baseball win
The Tigers used all but two pitchers against SIU-Edwardsville.
Published March 19, 2009
Managing four hits on the night, the Missouri Tigers baseball team had to rely on the strength of its pitchers — all 11 of them — to secure a 4-1 victory over the Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville Cougars.
Coach Tim Jamieson has continuously expressed concern over the lack of offensive punch.
“We just didn’t have many good at bats,” he said. “I don’t look at the hits, I look at the quality of our at bats and that was a low percentage, lower than what we like and too many strikeouts. We’ve obviously got to be a lot tougher on Friday, Saturday and Sunday then we were tonight.”
The Tigers could not manage a hit in the first two innings against Cougars sophomore starting pitcher Mitchell Fairley. But Missouri junior shortstop Michael Liberto opened the bottom of the third with a single off SIUE senior reliever Aren Cummings. Liberto came around to tie the score at one when junior first baseman Greg Folgia grounded into a fielder’s choice. Missouri’s shortstop was a catalyst for the sluggish Tigers, with a base hit, two walks, two stolen bases and a run scored.
“I was just trying to put us in motion,” Liberto said. “I think everybody is trying (to be a sparkplug) right now. Everybody just needs to settle down and start to play their role a little bit.”
But the big hit came from senior center fielder Ryan Lollis. With two runners on in the bottom of the fourth, Lollis scorched a triple into center, driving in junior right fielder Aaron Senne and junior designated hitter Trevor Coleman.
“It was a hit and run. (The coaches) were just trying to get me on base again, I think,” Lollis said. “I just tried to get the ball on the ground, but I guess I put it over the (center fielder’s) head, which is pretty cool. I was about at second when he started picking up the ball, and I figured I’m just going to test his arm out a little bit, why not?”
The triple came at a big time for Lollis, who had been mired in a 3-for-23 slump dating back to the start of the Ball State series. The center fielder finished the game 1-for-2 with a triple, two walks and two RBIs.
On the other side of the ball, Missouri employed its game-by-committee for the fourth time this season. And for the third time, it was enough to get the team a win. Senior starting pitcher Ian Berger began the game, but gave way to a parade of Tiger pitchers who stifled the Cougars offense. Jamieson and his staff have even thought about using this strategy during Big 12 play.
“We haven’t pulled the trigger yet on it," he said. "We’re probably closer to doing it than we have been, but I’m not sure we’re ready to do it the second series of the year. It’s certainly been effective.”
But there is a downside to using so many pitchers.
“We only had two guys that didn’t pitch,” Jamieson said. “So the only danger of this is extra innings. We’ll just kind of treat it like the All-Star Game. Maybe Bud Selig will step in and call the game if we’re out of arms.”