#15 @MizzouBaseball Opens 2016 With 7-0 Win Over Seton Hall

Friday, February 19

Fort Myers, Fla.

1 p.m. (CST)

University of Missouri

1-0

Seton Hall

0-1

Seton Hall

Mizzou

#15 @MizzouBaseball Opens 2016 With 7-0 Win Over Seton Hall

2/19/2016 4:12:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

FORT MYERS, Fla. – No. 15 Mizzou Baseball got a sensational start from senior righty Reggie McClain (Duluth, Ga.) and scored its most runs in a season-opener since 2011 as it defeated Seton Hall, 7-0, on opening day at City of PalmsPark in Fort Myers, Fla. McClain went 8.0 innings and allowed just four hits with zero walks and four strikeouts. In neutral site outings in his career, McClain is now 4-0 with a 0.00 ERA in 32.0 innings with just 17 hits and zero walks in four outings in his Mizzou career.

The offense was led by five players with multiple hits as Mizzou scored its most runs in a season-opener since 2011. Sophomore catcher Brett Bond (St. Louis, Mo.) led the way with three RBI, including a big two-out, full count, bases-loaded single to score two in the fifth inning, giving McClain some much-needed run support. Sophomore third baseman Shane Benes (Town & Country, Mo.) tallied the first Mizzou run on a solo homer in his first at-bat of the season in the second inning. He finished the day with two hits and two RBI. Juniors Ryan Howard (St. Charles, Mo.) and Jake Ring (Ingleside, Ill.) each tallied two-hit games as well.

McClain had a tremendous first inning, throwing just 10 pitches to retire the side. After Mizzou then went 1-2-3 in the first, McClain then worked around a two-out double and a wild pitch to strand a runner on third.

Mizzou got on the board in the second on the solo shot to left field by Benes, his first of the season in his first at-bat of 2016. It was the third of his career. It came off of Preseason All- Big-East pick Shane McCarthy.

McClain continued to baffle Seton Hall hitters, needing just 52 pitches to get through five innings, allowing just one Pirate hit. Mizzou finally got McClain some more offense in the fifth inning, sparked by a one-out hit from freshman Ian Nelson (Lake St. Louis, Mo.). With two outs then, the rally began as Howard and Jake Ring each tallied a pair of two-out hits to load the bases. Bond then bounced a roller up the middle on a full count to extend Mizzou's lead to 3-0.

McClain then retired the side in order in the sixth inning, needing just 63 pitches to get through six innings. He had a streak of 14 consecutive batters snapped in the seventh, but he got a double-play to send it to the bottom half of the frame. Mizzou then tacked on four runs in the seventh to break the game open, coming on RBI singles from Bond, Benes and Harris and an RBI triple from Ring.

Mizzou and Seton Hall will resume the four-game series with a doubleheader Saturday (Feb. 20) as Tanner Houck (Collinsville, Mo.) and Michael Plassmeyer (St. Louis, Mo.) will make the starts. For all the latest on Mizzou Baseball, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on twitter @MizzouBaseball and like the team on Instagram and Facebook (Mizzou Baseball).

Mizzou Musings: Hear from Mizzou

Coach Jamieson:

Opening Statement….
"You couldn't ask for much more than what we did. Every part of the game was pretty solid."
On Mizzou's timely hitting…
"A lot of our hits were to the opposite gap. They pitched away and then also we had guys give themselves up with runners at second base with nobody out and we did a great job moving runners. We executed very well offensively today."
On Reggie McClain…
"Not his best and he'll tell you that, but he competed and he finally found a groove and we played good defense behind him. His ball was moving a lot so they didn't get a chance to square much up. The really only tough inning he had was the eighth inning."

SP Reggie McClain

On his performance…
"It felt great. I have been waiting all year to get back to this spot and seize the moment. I took advantage of it and it's just back to playing baseball. 15 more starts like that hopefully."
On setting the tone for the team this weekend…
"I definitely wanted to come out here and have a strong performance and just compete. I want to compete for the next 15 starts knowing that my team will compete behind me."
On what made him effective Friday…
"I started throwing a lot of strikes and trying to stay within the strike zone. Then, as I started to expand the strike zone, they started to swing more. Everything down was good. Everything they hit I left up. If I was keeping it down, they really couldn't do too much to me."

Postgame Notes

Mizzou is now 76-38-2 all-time in season openers and 14-7-1 in season openers under head coach Tim Jamieson.
Mizzou is has now won 10 of its last 14 season-openers.
Mizzou's seven runs on Friday were its most in a season-opener since scoring 9 in the opener in 2011.
Senior starter Reggie McClain improved his Mizzou record to 8-7 and he is 3-1 all-time in nonconference starts and 4-0 when starting at a neutral site.
McClain is now 3-0 with a 0.00 ERA in 24.0 IP in his Mizzou career at neutral sites. He has allowed just 13 hits and boasts an 18-0 strikeout-walk ratio.
McClain is now 4-1 with a 1.22 ERA in 44.1 IP in his Mizzou career in non-conference outings. He has allowed just 30 hits and boasts a 37-5 strikeout-walk ratio in such contests.
Mizzou has now won 11 of its last 14 games played at a neutral site, dating back to last season when Mizzou went 10-3 in such contests.
Junior Jake Ring has now reached base in six straight games and has a four-game hitting streak dating back to last season.
Junior Ryan Howard now has a three-game hitting streak. Howard hit leadoff for the first time in his career on Friday.
After leading the team with 19 multi-hit games last season, Howard tallied his first multi-hit game of 2016 in the season-opener.
Shane Benes hit his third career HR in his first at-bat of 2016 to stake Mizzou to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second.