Tigers lose to Jayhawks in exhibition match

The teams played at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

By Evan Glantz

Published April 23, 2009

Earlier this month, the Missouri Tigers baseball team played an exhibition game at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Across the state, the team played a more meaningful game against rival Kansas Jayhawks Wednesday at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

"The atmosphere and the crowd were great," coach Tim Jamieson said. "This is a neat thing for both programs and I'm sure it's something we're going to continue to do. Hopefully it will continue to grow. But if you can't get excited to play here, or Busch Stadium, you need to get your head examined."

Wednesday's match-up between the two rivals was the "Border War," and considered a non-conference game. But with the way Missouri and Kansas competed, it was clear the teams were trying to make a statement.

As hard as Missouri and Kansas battled, the fans were just as pumped. More than 4,100 people turned out for the game to show support for their teams.

"There were a lot of people here," junior centerfielder Greg Folgia said. "There were people behind me in center yelling at me."

Unfortunately the Tigers could not come away from "The K" with a win. After Missouri took a 3-1 lead, a four-run sixth inning put KU up for good. The game ended with a 7-3 Jayhawk victory.

"Some things didn't go our way today," Folgia said. "We didn't play badly, it just wasn't a good game all around. There's a little more emphasis on this game because it's KU and there's the rivalry there."

While the results were disappointing, the Tigers had plenty of enthusiasm going into the game.

"This was a big game," senior pitcher Ian Berger said. "We came out, and I'm pretty sure we were ready to play. We played them tough, and one big inning for them and the momentum shifted a little bit."

Although this game was important, the real test comes in early May, when the Tigers host the Jayhawks at Taylor Stadium for the conference series. Since Wednesday's game was non-conference, it had no effect on the Big 12 standings. When the two teams square off in Columbia, the dynamics will be much different.

"The games that matter more are the games we play on the weekend in Columbia," Jamieson said. "We weren't too excited to show them a whole lot of things that they're going to see when they come to Columbia." Even without the win, the Tigers and their coach had a positive experience in Kansas City.

"We wished we played better, but it was great just to be able to come to Kansas City," Jamieson said. "A lot of people don't get the chance to see us play, and they get the chance to do that here."