University of Missouri
Central Arkansas
Mizzou Falls in Series Finale, 9-3
3/23/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 23, 2011
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Mizzou baseball team fell to Central Arkansas, 9-3, on Wednesday night (March 23) at Taylor Stadium. The Tigers fall to 11-11 on the season, splitting the series with Central Arkansas after an 11-4 victory Tuesday evening. Despite the loss, the Tigers have still won nine of their last 14 games as they will now shift their focus to Big 12 play, which begins this weekend against Oklahoma.
Freshman Dillon Everett and Scott Sommerfled led the Tiger offense as each tallied two hits in the game. Everett went 2-4 with a pair of runs batted in, while Sommerfeld went 2-3 at the plate and scored a pair of runs. But those two compiled four of the five hits for the Tigers in the game as they struggled to score runs.
Central Arkansas took advantage of gusty winds and two Missouri errors to grab an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Starter Zack Hardoin got some shaky defense behind him in the first, which allowed three unearned runs to score for Central Arkansas. In fact, the Tigers committed two errors in the first five batters, allowing the runs to come in. Hardoin should have been out of the inning by the fifth batter, but errors extended the frame, allowing the runs to score.
Central Arkansas scored one more unearned run in the top of the fourth inning on a groundout to first by UCA's Bryan Willson. The groundout scored Kyle Prevett from third base, who had advanced to third on an error by freshman pitcher Myles Smith. That made the score 4-0 in favor of the Bears.
Mizzou got on the board in the fifth after Sommerfeld got his second hit of the game in the bottom of the fifth, singling to center field with one out. A walk by Blake Brown put two on base, prompting a Central Arkansas pitching change. After Clint Green took the mound, Everett lined up the middle for a single and an RBI as Sommerfeld scored, putting the Tigers on the board. A double by Brannon Champaign pulled the Tigers within two, as Brown came in for the score.
But the Bears broke through with five runs on five hits in the seventh inning, stretching their lead to seven at 9-2, putting the game out of reach for the Tigers. Everett added his second RBI in the bottom of the ninth for the Tigers as Sommerfeld scored on a single, but the deficit was too much to overcome.
Facing difficult winds, Hardoin was still able to strike out two batters in the first two innings. He was replaced by Smith in the third after giving up three runs (none earned) on four hits. Smith pitched three innings, striking out two, walking one, and giving up two hits and just one earned run in another strong outing.
The Tigers next face the Oklahoma Sooners, as they open Big 12 Conference play at home Friday, March 25, at 6:00 pm.
