Baseball closes season with win over Texas Tech
Missouri finished 2-1 at the Big 12 Championship.
Published June 2, 2010
The Missouri baseball team wrapped up the 2010 season on a high note, downing Texas Tech 7-3 Saturday morning. The Tigers, ranked No. 8 in their conference, went 2-1 in the Big 12 Championship, including an upset of top-seeded Texas on May 26.
Unfortunately, a 7-2 loss to Texas A&M on Thursday stripped them of their chance at the Big 12 title. Despite the game two loss, senior first baseman Aaron Senne took pride in the third game with Texas Tech.
“We still want to go out and win,” Senne said before the game. “We are going to go out there and play just as hard as we would any other game.”
Missouri got on the scoreboard first in the early morning matchup, plating two in the bottom of the second without recording a hit. The Texas Tech pitching walked the bases loaded and the Tigers scored on a groundout and wild pitch.
The Red Raiders answered right away in the top of the third with an RBI single to make it 2-1. Missouri’s junior third baseman Brett Nicholas later brought the lead back to two with a solo shot in the fifth. The homer was his 12th of the season, making him second on the team behind Senne.
But Texas Tech refused to go quietly, responding in its very next at bat once again. Junior third baseman Nick Popescu singled up the middle to bring in a runner and later scored himself to tie the game at three. Popescu was the only Red Raider to post a multi-hit game with two singles in the loss.
The defining moment of the game then came in the bottom of the seventh when the Tigers scored four runs with two outs against them. Missouri scored the go-ahead run off an errant throw to first that would’ve made the third out. Sophomore left fielder Ryan Gebhart then blew the game wide open with a three-run blast and the first home run of his career.
Texas Tech coach Dan Spencer knew that the two-out error in the seventh allowed all four Missouri runs and the difference in the game.
“If you don’t take care of the outs when they’re presented to you, the game has a way of hurting you,” Spencer said. “We don’t make a throw, we make a walk, and then a fly ball gets out of the park.”
The 7-3 score would hold through nine as junior lefthanders Zack Hardoin and Phil McCormick closed it out for Missouri. Hardoin earned the win on four innings of work with seven strikeouts.
Texas Tech sophomore designated hitter Scott LeJeune knew that the game came down to one or two plays for both teams.
“You have to capitalize on every opportunity you have,” he said. “They took advantage of them and we didn’t.”
The win put the Tigers at 29-26 on the year, just shy of the 30-win mark they had reached the past seven seasons. The 29 wins is six less than in 2009 and can be attributed to poor play in away games this year. The Tigers went 4-10 on the road this season compared to a .500 mark last year.
One bright spot within the mediocre season was the work of Senne. After turning down a bid to the pros to play another year at Missouri, the senior slugger really made his senior season count. He was the only Tiger to start in all 55 games of 2010 and batted .400, becoming the first player to do so since 1986.
With a solid core of returning players, the Tigers will look to bounce back strong next season.