University of Missouri
Cal State Fullerton
Mizzou Drops Opener of Super Regional Series
6/10/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
June 10, 2006
FULLERTON, Calif.-- - Missouri trails Cal State Fullerton 1-0 in its three-game Super Regional Series after dropping the opener by a score of 7-1 on Friday in Fullerton, Calif. The Tigers, playing in their first-ever NCAA Super Regional, scored the game's first run, but the Titans answered with seven unanswered runs to take the lead in the best-of-three series.
Despite taking the loss, junior Max Scherzer was impressive on the mound through the first six innings, as he retired the first 12 Titan batters to the plate and faced the minimum through 5.1 innings. He struck out six and did not walk a batter in the game, as he gave up four runs on six hits in 6.1 innings pitched.
Mizzou (35-27) got on the board first with a run in the top of the second inning. After junior Hunter Mense opened the inning with a single, junior John McKee doubled down the left field line to drive in Mense.
The Tigers had chances to put up additional runs early in the game. They loaded the bases with no outs in the third inning, but came away without plating a run. Then in the fourth, MU had two on with one out and again came away without scoring.
Danny Dorn ended Scherzer's no-hit bid with a single up the middle to lead off the fifth inning. However, Dorn was erased on a double play on the very next pitch.
In the sixth inning, the Titans got a pair of doubles off Scherzer, tying the game when Justin Turner doubled just inside the right field line to drive in Evan McArthur.
Cal State Fullerton (47-13) took the lead with a five-run bottom of the seventh inning. The Titans had five-straight hits with one out and got a two-out, two-run double by Turner to cap off the inning and take a 6-1 lead.
The Titans added a run in the eighth to make it a 7-1 final.
Senior Taylor Parker relieved Scherzer in the seventh inning, making his 108th career appearance at Missouri, which ties the school record. Scott Black made 108 appearances as a Tiger from 1987-1990. It was Parker's 34th trip to the mound this season, which is one short of the MU season record set by Mark Alexander in 2004.
Game two of the three-game series in the Super Regional is 7 p.m. pacific time (9 p.m. central) on Saturday. The game will air live of ESPN2 and can be heard on KTGR 1580-AM in Columbia and on mutigers.com. Live stats are available through Gametracker on mutigers.com and ncaasports.com
