Baseball wins home opener

After a poor start to the season, the team is still looking to improve.

By Evan Glantz

Published March 5, 2009

Coming into the 2009 season, the Tigers' baseball team was ranked No. 10 in the country, but soon found itself in a 2-7 hole after poor showings in both the Grand Canyon Classic and Arizona State Tournament.

The Tigers returned to Columbia on Wednesday and flashed their true potential with an 8-0 win over the Western Illinois Leathernecks.

"Out in the heat, we thought we were going to play really well," junior shortstop Michael Liberto said. "And we finally come back home and it actually feels good to play in the cold."

While the win was nice, coach Tim Jamieson said he saw plenty of room for improvement.

"Our pitching was good," Jamieson said. "We shut them down. But we had opportunities early to score runs and just had some bad at-bats in key situations. Finally we got a little more at the end, but this was a pretty lethargic performance in my opinion."

The fact that Jamieson is upset following a shutout speaks to the potential of this year's squad. On Wednesday, the Tigers were scraping for runs until a big eighth inning. Senior third baseman Kyle Mach started the inning with a walk.

After a hit by Liberto, and sophomore designated hitter Ryan Ampleman reached on an error, the bases were loaded for senior centerfielder Ryan Lollis. Lollis stroked a single down the left field line, scoring Mach and Liberto. The centerfielder finished the night 3-for-4 with three RBIs and a stolen base.

"We're hungry to win," Lollis said. "Two and seven out there is pathetic. Timely hitting is a big deal, and we were just trying too hard. We were losing and pressing and pressing, and when you do that things aren't going to go your way."

Up until the eighth inning, Missouri's struggles were evident. Twice the team had the bases loaded and failed to capitalize. In the fourth, the Tigers had the bases loaded and only one out, before an infield fly by Liberto and a fly-out to centerfield by Ampleman killed the rally. Again in the fifth, while they were able to push two runs across the plate, the Tigers missed another bases loaded opportunity.

"First and third, with nobody out and your two hole hitter up, you think you might be able to turn that into a crooked number," Jamieson said.

Even with the lack of offensive punch for most of the game, the Tiger pitchers, all nine of them, were able to easily handle the Leatherneck hitters. Missouri went with more of a "staff" game, using each pitcher for only one inning.

Senior Ian Berger got the start and allowed two hits in his one inning of work. He was in a bit of a jam when WIU junior right fielder Andrew Hagins lined a base hit into right field. A perfect throw by junior right fielder Aaron Senne nailed senior catcher Cooper Stewart at third to end the inning.

"It was great," Lollis said. "His arm is hurting too, and I was like 'What are you doing?' But he got him out. It was amazing, and got us fired up."