PHOTO COURTESY: Omaha Athletics
By Jack McGonigal, Reporter
(Columbia, MO)—Last weekend, Omaha beat its first ranked opponent in school history after taking down No. 22 Oklahoma and looked to ride that momentum into another weekend road series against a power five program—this time facing off against Missouri. Despite a swift rally from the Mavs in the 7th inning, Omaha would come up short in game one to the Tigers this afternoon.
It was a typical February baseball game in the Midwest for Friday’s contest in Columbia—cold and breezy, with fans looking for any spot to sit that blocks the wind. The conditions translated to the Mavericks opening few innings, as they were slow out of the gate. Mizzou jumped out to a two-run lead in the first inning off of a couple walks and an error from Omaha. The lead would continue to extend for the Tigers, as Mark Vierling hit a solo home run into left field in the third inning.
Mizzou stamped an exclamation point in the fifth inning and hoped to put the Mavs away with it. Luke Mann ripped a bases-clearing triple, followed by a fielder’s choice for Omaha that tacked on four runs in the fifth for the Tigers. They jumped out to a 7-0 lead.
Omaha had no sign of life with the bats in the first six innings. No runs, only three hits, and a lot of batters being put away by Mizzou’s pitching staff. The Mavs answer came when redshirt junior Jack Lombardi came in to pinch hit. He gave Omaha the spark they desperately needed, and put the Mavericks on the board with an RBI double. That was followed by a Mason Prososki double to score Lombardi, and then the problems began to arrive for the Tigers pitching staff.
Omaha drew three walks in the seventh inning and tallied a total of five runs from it, to bring it back to a 7-5 Mizzou lead. The Mavericks found themselves right back in it.
Just before Omaha could settle in, Mizzou countered with a response in the bottom half of the inning. Mizzou infielder, Cameron Swanger, blasted a long ball over the deepest part of the ballpark and gained two of the runs back in one swing, giving themselves a 9-5 lead.
Control at the mound began to become a problem for Omaha. After a couple of walks that put baserunners on, Tiger pinch hitter Jackson Lancaster ripped a double into the right-center field gap and added an additional two runs to their lead. Mizzou just had to hold their ground as they headed to the eighth leading 12-5, but Omaha wasn’t quite done yet.
The top of the eighth started out with a Prososki double, which led to a few mental mistakes for Mizzou. After a two-RBI single from Chris Esposito, along with four walks and an error from the Tigers, Omaha was back in business to attempt one last comeback effort. After it was all said and done, Omaha tallied another five runs in the eighth—but it just wasn’t enough to overcome the deficit. Despite the Mavs scoring 10 runs in two innings, the Tigers held on for a 12-10 win in game one.
Esposito went 2-for-3 at the plate with 3 RBI’s, while Prososki finished 3-for-4 and added two RBI’s for Omaha. Mann and Swanger each had three RBI’s for Mizzou. Omaha is back in action at noon tomorrow for a doubleheader with the Tigers, followed by a game on Sunday to complete the series.
