University of Missouri
13-3
Youngstown State
2-9
Zach Lavy’s Five RBI Carry @MizzouBaseball Over Youngstown State
3/11/2016 9:47:00 PM | Baseball
COLUMBIA, Mo- Mizzou senior RHP Reggie McClain (Duluth, Ga.) and senior 1B Zach Lavy (Auxvasse, Mo.) led the way in an 8-3 win over Youngstown State in game one of a three-game series at Taylor Stadium. McClain pitched a solid seven innings, allowing five hits, one unearned run with no walks and five strikeouts. McClain has walked just one batter in 31.2 innings pitched this season. Lavy led the way on offense, hitting 2-for-3 with a walk, a double, a homerun and five RBI's. His five RBIs are the most for a Tiger since Josh Lester drove in five against Truman State last March.
Youngstown State began the first inning with a leadoff double to left. The threat was short lived however, when a stellar diving play from freshman INF Ian Nelson (Lake St. Louis, Mo.) put one away, and an out at the plate by freshman INF/RHP Brian Sharp (Liberty, Mo.) moved runners out of scoring position, and a fly to center ended the inning.
Mizzou's bats started off hot in the first inning with a single to left from freshman OF Connor Brumfield (Columbia, Mo.). Another single by junior OF Jake Ring (Ingleside, Ill.) and a double ripped to right by Lavy put the Tigers on board first, 2-0. An error by Youngstown State allowed Lavy to score, improving Mizzou's lead to 3-0.
After a quiet three innings, Mizzou tacked on three more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Ring and sophomore OF Trey Harris (Powder Springs, Ga.) started off the rally with back-to-back singles. Lavy followed, crushing a three-run homerun, giving him his fifth RBI of the game and increasing the Tiger's lead to 6-0.
In the bottom of the sixth, freshman OF Marquise Doherty (Kansas City, Mo.) singled for his first career hit, but was left on second.
Youngstown State answered in the seventh with two base hits and an error, scoring its first run of the game, bringing the score to 6-1. Mizzou rallied yet again in the seventh adding another two runs, making the score 8-1.
Redshirt freshman RHP Liam Carter (Highland Park, Ill.) relieved McClain in the eighth, allowing no hits and picking up two strikeouts. Freshman RHP Graham Ruopp (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) came in to finish the game in the ninth, finishing off the game with a final score of 8-3.
Mizzou has altered the schedule for the weekend as the two teams will play a doubleheader at 1 p.m. tomorrow. Should both games be played, there will be no game Sunday. For all the latest on Mizzou Baseball, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Twitter @MizzouBaseball and like the team on Facebook and Instagram [Mizzou Baseball].
Hear From Mizzou
Head Coach Tim Jamieson
On Zach Lavy's hot streak…
"I think more than anything, he's seeing the ball better. He's more relaxed, less tension. Whether that's because we've come home, I don't know. But I think it's more about the cycle about the way hitting goes sometimes.""
On if Lavy is hitting lefties better this year…
"He is hitting better than he has in the past, I don't think there is any question about that. What he struggled with in the past was the ball running away from him whether it being a right-handed change-up or a left-handed breaking ball. When he doesn't get himself out, when he gets pitches that he can handle, he's a really good hitter. Now he's doing that."
On getting an early lead…
"It's definitely a great feeling. You know your guys are competing behind you so when they get off to a hot start like that, you are trying to back them up. It's the feeling of returning the favor."
On his breaking ball tonight…
"It was working pretty good. I definitely used it a good bit today. Really, it was pretty inconsistent as far as where I was trying to throw it and which ones were strikes and which ones weren't. Overall, it wasn't a bad pitched today."
On walking just one batter in 31.2 innings this year…
"I don't want to say my control is better. We definitely are pitching in better environments. Last year it was like 30-degree weather. My control has always been there, it's just more of the environment. But I definitely just try to fill up the zone and try not to walk people. My intention is to pitch deep into every game and you can't do that if you are walking peoples."
1B Zach Lavy
On his homerun in fifth inning…
"It felt good. I got my pitch and it was definitely the pitch I was looking for and I honestly didn't think it was going to go out because of the wind today, but luckily I muscled it over. It felt pretty good."
On his hot hitting as of late…
"Since we got back home after the first two weekends in Florida, I really change my approach a bit; I'm seeing more pitches. Swinging at better pitches is the main thing. It's kind of worked out for me a lot."
Game Notes
- Mizzou leads the all-time series with Youngstown 11-1
- Mizzou is now 11-1 with Connor Brumfield batting in the leadoff spot.
- Brian Sharp made his first career start at third base, throwing a runner out at the plate in the first inning for the second out of the game.
- Marquise Doherty made the second start of his career as the designated hitter.
- Zach Lavy drove in five with a double in the first and a three run homerun in the fifth inning. He now has 10 RBI in his last four games.
- Lavy's two out double was his fifth two out RBI this season and his fourth such this week.
- Lavy's double was his team leading fifth of the season.
- Lavy's fifth inning homerun was his second of the season and sixth of his career. Both homeruns have come in the past three games.
- Lavy is batting .429, .810 slugging .520 OBP seven runs two doubles two homeruns and10 RBI in his past six games. He has reached base safely in each of his last six.
- Lavy had five RBI tonight, the most by any Mizzou player since Josh Lester drove in five against Truman State March 10, 2015.
- With three runs in the first inning coming with two outs, seven of the last eight runs for Mizzou have been scored with two outs.
- This marks the sixth time in this seven game home stand that Mizzou has scored at least one run in the first inning, they scored three tonight.
- Mizzou is outscoring opponents 18-4 in the first inning this season.
- Jake Ring got his second single in the fifth inning. His sixth multi hit game of the season, second most on the team.
- Reggie McClain retired 14 of 15 Youngstown batters from the second to the seventh inning.
- Doherty recorded his first career hit on a line drive to right field in the sixth inning.
- McClain finished the night with five strikeouts, giving him a team leading 26 this season.
- In 31.2 innings this year, McClain has walked just one batter.
- Jake Ring stole two bases tonight for his team leading 11th and 12th stolen base this season.
- Tyler Hunt made his Mizzou Baseball debut tonight, pitching 0.1 of the ninth inning.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: McClain, Reggie (3-0)
L: KING, Joe (0-2)
Batting:
2B: ARCURI, Lorenzo 1 ; SALEM, Billy 1
RBI: ARCURI, Lorenzo 1 ; SALEM, Billy 1 ; CORDOVA, Ryan 1
SF: ARCURI, Lorenzo 1
Base Running:
RUNS: WILLOUGHBY, Shane 1 ; CORDOVA, Ryan 1 ; PADOVAN, Nico 1
CS: CORDOVA, Ryan 1
HBP: CORDOVA, Ryan 1
Batting:
2B: Lavy, Zach 1
HR: Lavy, Zach 1
RBI: Lavy, Zach 5 ; Sharp, Brian 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Brumfield, Connor 1 ; Ring, Jake 3 ; Harris, Trey 2 ; Lavy, Zach 2
SB: Ring, Jake 2 ; Harris, Trey 1 ; Doherty, Marquise 1
CS: Brumfield, Connor 1
HBP: Brumfield, Connor 1 ; Bond, Brett 1
