University of Missouri
Saint Louis
Tigers Get Ninth Straight Win, 12-6, Over Saint Louis
4/2/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 2, 2003
ST. LOUIS - A freshman reliever making his first appearance in six weeks, and a potent bottom of the order combined to lead the Missouri baseball team to a 12-6 win over Saint Louis at the Billiken Sports Center on Wednesday. Mizzou's ninth straight win (21-8) ties the team's longest since the middle of the 1999 season.
Freshman righty Matthew Stallings (Dallas, Texas), making his first appearance since injuring his ankle in late February, settled down from a shaky beginning in relief to pick up the win (2-0).
In addition, the Tigers received outstanding support from the bottom of the order, as the No. 6 through 9 batters were 10-for-15 on the night and scored all 12 runs. junior 2B Jeremy Hernandez (Aptos, Calif.) led the parade with a team-high three runs, and freshman SS Adam Garrett (Sikeston, Mo.) had a game-high four RBI from the No. 9 spot.
Stallings allowed three hits and a run, yet that all came to lead off the fourth inning and tie the score at 5. The freshman was able to induce a strikeout-throwout double play, however, then caught Corey Lawson looking to get out of the threat. He finished his three-inning stint by recording nine straight outs as the Tigers stretched a 5-4 lead when he entered the game to 10-5.
The Billikens (9-13) struck first in the bottom of the first, when Jake Friederich had a leadoff infield single off Tiger starter Danny Hill (Weimer, Texas). Ryan Murphy reached on a throwing error, and after a two-out single by Aaron Thompson sent Friedrich home, Hill balked Murphy in.
Mizzou came back with a pair in the next half-inning. Junior 1B Cody Ehlers (Stillwater, Okla.) singled to right, and Hernandez followed with a one-out ground-rule double down the left-field line. With runners on second and third, junior RF Ryan Rallo (Chesterfield, Mo.) singled to left to score Ehlers, and Garrett hit a sacrifice fly to right to score Hernandez.
SLU sent eight batters to the plate in the third, scoring a pair of runs off Hill before Stallings came in in the fourth.
After three runs in the Mizzou fourth, the Tigers broke the game open in the sixth. Junior Ian Kinsler (Tucson, Ariz.), batting in the designated hitter's spot in his first game back since an ankle injury at Texas, and Hernandez led off the inning with singles off SLU starter Zach Placzek (2-2). After Eric Rohr entered the game, Mizzou plated four runs on four hits and a pair of errors.
Saint Louis got another run in the seventh off junior RHP Andy Shipman (Bellevue, Neb.), yet the Tigers added a pair of insurance runs in the ninth.
The Tigers welcome nationally ranked Texas Tech to Taylor Stadium/Simmons Field for a three-game Big 12 Conference series this weekend in Columbia. First pitch on Friday is set for 6:30 p.m., with Saturday's and Sunday's games starting at 2 and 1 p.m., respectively.
