University of Missouri
Oklahoma State
Tigers Bash Way to 14-11 Win Over Oklahoma State
5/3/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 3, 2003
STILLWATER, Okla. - The 24th-ranked Missouri baseball team broke out the bats in a big way on Saturday, and solid bullpen work provided the impetus to a 14-11 win over Oklahoma State. The win breaks a pair of streaks for the Tigers (31-16, 13-9 Big 12); it snaps a nine-game streak overall, and is also Mizzou's first win in Stillwater since 1993.
Mizzou's top three hitters - Senior CF Jayce Tingler (Smithville, Mo.), junior SS Ian Kinsler (Tucson, Ariz.) and junior 1B Cody Ehlers (Stillwater, Okla.) - sliced their way through OSU's pitchers, batting a combined 12-for-15 with eight RBI and six runs scored. Individually, Tingler was 4-for-5, Kinsler 4-for-6 and Ehlers 4-for-5.
The Tigers started the scoring with the leadoff batter, leading to four runs on just a pair of hits. Tingler added to his team-leading run total (54) when he walked, stole second and was driven home with a one-out double by Ehlers. Junior LF Ryan Rallo (Chesterfield, Mo.) and junior RF Kyle Johnson (Omaha, Neb.) both drew walks to load the bases, and freshman DH James Boone (Clinton, Okla.) singled up the middle to bring Ehlers and Rallo home. Johnson plated the final run of the inning when Boone drew a tailing throw to second as he stole the base, allowing Johnson to trot home.
Oklahoma State (29-18, 11-9), which fell from fourth to sixth behind Baylor in the league standings with the loss, scored an unearned run in the second when leadoff batter Ryan Olivo reached on an error by junior C Brad Flanders (Smithville, Mo.). He scored on a two-out single through the left side by Chris Gutierrez.
Mizzou took a commanding 10-1 lead in the third by batting around against Cowboy starter Joe Weaver (3-5). Flanders and Johnson led off with a double and check-swing RBI single, respectively, and following a Boone flyout to center, freshman 3B Zane Taylor (Kirksville, Mo.) singled Johnson home off Shane Hawk. Junior 2B Jeremy Hernandez (Aptos, Calif.) reached on an error by OSU second baseman Kenny Hansley, and the hits kept coming.
The Cowboys slowly chipped away in the bottom half, getting a pair of runs on John Urick's 10th homer of the season off Tiger RHP Garrett Broshuis (Advance, Mo.). After Mizzou got a run back in the fourth on a Kinsler RBI single, the Cowboys scored two in the fourth and one in the fifth - aided by three Tiger wild pitches by Broshuis and junior RHP Andy Shipman (Bellevue, Neb.).
Mizzou added three runs in the top of the sixth. Kinsler hit a two-run triple to left-center to chase Hawk for Justin Ottman. Ehlers greeted him with an RBI single down the left-field line to score Kinsler.
Shipman (7-2), meanwhile, settled down after allowing the run in the fifth to keep the Cowboys at bay. He gave up three straight singles to load the bases to open the seventh, yet was able to induce a lineout to right, a strikeout, and a forceout to escape unscathed. He did make the game close by giving up five runs in the final two innings, yet freshman LHP Taylor Parker (Bellaire, Texas) needed just two pitches in the ninth to get his first career save. Despite making just three starts this season, Shipman now leads the team in wins after posting his sixth win as a reliever.
Urick hit his second homer of the game in the eight, right after Josh Fields hit a two-run shot. The homers, along with a two-run ninth, prevented the Tigers from posting their largest margin of victory in Stillwater in 50 years.
Junior RHP Derek Roper (Elk City, Okla.) will put his 4-1 record on the line Sunday at 2 p.m. against OSU lefty Spencer Grogan (3-4) in the rubber game of the series.
