University of Missouri
12-3
Alabama A&M
2-12
@MizzouBaseball Defeats Alabama A&M, 5-3
3/9/2016 6:27:00 PM | Baseball
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Mizzou Baseball [12-3] topped Alabama A&M [2-12], 5-3, thanks to a strong performance from RHP Ryan Lee [Grandview, Mo.], who earned his second win of the season. The Tigers took advantage of four two-out RBIs and got a pair of two-out RBI singles from freshman Connor Brumfield (Columbia, Mo.) to take an early 4-0 lead before holding on late. At 12-3, Mizzou is off to its best start since 2008.
Lee allowed three earned runs in a career-high 6.2 innings pitched. He also struck out a career-high four batters while allowing only one walk. The only Alabama A&M hitters to reach base in the first five innings reached on a walk, a bunt, and a hit batter.
Brumfield drove in two runners on a 2-4 performance from the plate. 1B Zach Lavy [Auxvasse, Mo.] also managed to drive in two, going 1-3 with a walk, and had a big two-out RBI single to plate a pair in the first inning.
Lee opened the game with an easy first inning, retiring the side on only nine pitches. The Tigers then got on the board with a two-RBI single from Lavy with two outs.
LF Johnny Balsamo [Kansas City, Mo.] got on base with a two-out walk in the second inning in his first D1 start. After stealing second, he was driven in on a single from Brumfield.
Following a hitless third inning for both teams, Lee surrendered his first hit of the game in the fourth on a well-placed bunt by Alabama A&M shortstop J.T. O'Reel. O'Reel was subsequently caught stealing second base. Brumfield then slapped a single up the middle to drive in Trey Harris (Powder Springs, Ga.) for his second RBI of the game in the bottom half of the inning.
Lee continued to dominate with a hitless fifth inning. After the Tigers failed to get on base against relief pitcher Allen Belue, Alabama A&M began to get to Lee in the sixth inning. With two outs, the Bulldogs tallied two singles, a double, and then another single to drive in two runs. To open the bottom of the sixth, Lavy and Harris were both hit by pitches from Bulldogs reliever Caleb Roberts, and then each moved up a base on a wild pitch. DH Brian Sharp [Liberty, Mo.] drove in Lavy on a groundout to second to extend the lead to 5-2.
After striking out the opening two batters of the seventh, Lee allowed two singles. RHP Cole Bartlett [Williamsburg, Ind.] entered the game in relief. O'Reel's third single of the day drove in a run before Bartlett was able to get Ramsey to ground out to first.
Despite allowing no hits in the eighth, Alabama A&M managed to load the bases because of fielding errors. Sharp came in to relieve Bartlett with two outs and managed to finish the inning without allowing any runs to cross the plate. Bulldogs pitcher Josh Burchell cruised through the bottom of the eighth with a 1-2-3 inning.
Sharp closed the game out without allowing a baserunner to earn his third save of the season for the Tigers.
Mizzou will continue its home stand this weekend when they host Youngstown State for a three-game series. The first game will begin on Friday, March 11 at 6 p.m. 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 getting off to a quick start…
"I think it's always important to do that. You just hope that they do that every inning and take great focus and great pride in all of their at bats. They didn't today and that's frustrating for me because that's an opportunity to really build confidence. We had too many guys who didn't have good enough at-bats and that's why the game stayed close. It wasn't really the defense at the end. That helped make it close because we hadn't scored a lot of runs."
On Connor Brumfield's contributions this season…
"What he did today – he struggled last weekend - but that's what he was doing in Florida. Big two-out hits. Even his last at-bat he smoked one down the line and I still don't know why the third-baseman was playing that close to the base, but he had a good day."
On Brumfield coming back from a 0-for-4 game Sunday…
"That the temperament of all of those freshmen. That's a big factor of why they are able to be successful. They don't get to high, they don't get too low."
On his message to the team postgame…
"I just told them I thought they were arrogant. It's not about the opponent. It's about the game. The game's not easy and it doesn't matter who you are playing, you go out there with the same approach. If you're a better team than they are and if we put up some runs then the game changes a bit. But there was never any point that the game was out of hand. A four-run lead wasn't enough. You just had that feeling that we weren't dialed into where we needed to be. Now the pitchers were. The pitchers did great but the position players just gave away too many at-bats.
On Ryan Lee…
"I thought he pitched better this week than he did last week. I thought he made more pitches. He just had that one inning where he made a couple mistakes up in the zone and they got three or four hits in a row together. Outside of that he was lights out."
On the game…
"Obviously, we wanted to do better on both sides of the ball, but a win is a win and that's what we did."
On the importance of scoring two-out runs…
"I think it shifts the game – you know the momentum of that game. When you get to two outs, the other team is thinking they've got you and then you score some runs, that kind of puts them down a little bit and carries the momentum for you guys."
Game Notes
- Mizzou defeated Alabama A&M in the first meeting between the two teams.
- Mizzou is now 10-1 with Connor Brumfield batting in the leadoff spot.
- Wednesday was the first career start at second base for Brumfield.
- Sophomore Johnny Balsamo recorded the first stolen base of his career in the second inning.
- Mizzou scored all four runs in the first four innings with two outs.
- Brumfield recorded two RBI on singles in the second and fourth innings. He is now tied for the team lead with four multi-RBI games.
- Ryan Lee pitched for a career high 6.2 innings in his second win of the season. He is now 2-1.
- Lee struck out a career-high four in the victory.
- Jake Ring stole second base in the seventh inning for his team high 10th stolen base of the year. He has been successful in 10-for-11 steal attempts this season.
- Mizzou has won 10 of its last 11 games. The last time the team accomplished that was in 2012, the last year Mizzou reached the NCAA regional round.
- This is the fifth time in this six game home stand and seventh game this season that Mizzou scored at least one run in the first inning.
- Brian Sharp recorded his third save of the season and it was the second game that he has recorded both a save and an RBI.
- Mizzou is now 12-3 on the year, the best start for a Mizzou team since 2008.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Lee, Ryan (2-1)
L: Parker Hill (0-1)
S: Sharp, Brian (3)
Batting:
2B: Ryan Thrasher 1
RBI: J.T. O'Reel 1 ; Ryan Thrasher 1 ; Tanner Ivey 1
Base Running:
RUNS: J.T. O'Reel 1 ; Nolan Ramsey 1 ; Eric Yarbrough 1
CS: J.T. O'Reel 1
HBP: Dylan Payne 1
Batting:
RBI: Brumfield, Connor 2 ; Lavy, Zach 2 ; Sharp, Brian 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Ring, Jake 1 ; Shane Benes 1 ; Lavy, Zach 1 ; Harris, Trey 1 ; Balsamo, Johnny 1
SB: Ring, Jake 1 ; Shane Benes 1 ; Balsamo, Johnny 1
HBP: Shane Benes 1 ; Lavy, Zach 1 ; Harris, Trey 1
