Baseball Recap: Tigers win 7th in a row, sweep Tarleton State

Friday was a nail biter, but on Saturday and Sunday the Tigers did what they were supposed to do. Good starts from Spencer Miles and Austin Troesser continued an early season theme, and Torin Montgomery is still raking, but a new face to watch out for, Cam Careswell, made his presence known as well. The Tigers now sit at 9-1 after this weekend’s sweep.

Game Recaps

Friday

Spencer Miles got his first chance to pitch in front of the home fans at Taylor Stadium this year, and he did not disappoint. He went 5 shutout innings with 5 strikeouts while surrendering just 3 hits and a walk. In his first inning of work, he touched 96 with his fastball, and he looked like he’s ready to lead this rotation as the competition picks up.

Offensively, the Tigers were led by freshman Cam Careswell, who got his first start of the season. A 3-4 performance with 3 RBI ensured that Careswell will get some more looks at the DH spot as he powered the Tigers’ offense in this one. Torin Montgomery, Tre Morris, and Carlos Peña all added an RBI as well.

Despite the strong start from Miles, Mizzou did run into some issues in the later innings. Three solo HRs for Tarleton State made things interesting, before they plated two more in the 9th. Luckily for the Tigers, Austin Cheeley came in to shut the door for his third save of the season.

Saturday

Saturday was a much more one-sided affair, as the Tigers immediately jumped on top with a Torin Montgomery 2-RBI double and a Tre Morris RBI groundout, and never let that lead go.

A big reason why they never relinquished the lead was thanks to stellar pitching. Austin Troesser continued his superb start to the season as the Tigers’ No. 2 starter with 5 innings and 1 ER. He also walked two hitters and allowed three hits. Chris Wall came in behind Troesser to provide 2 innings of shutout ball, and Drew Garrett and Trae Robertson each added another to finish off a 9-1 victory.

Here’s what Coach Bieser had to say after the game:

Sunday

Going for back-to-back sweeps, the Tigers jumped all over Tarleton State early. Three runs in the 1st, 5 runs in the 2nd, and 3 runs in the 3rd were all the Tigers would need in this one as they coasted to a victory.

Torin Montgomery continued his great year with 3 RBI in this one, while veterans Luke Mann and Mike Coletta each added a pair, and newcomer Juju Stevens got in on the action with a couple himself. Nander De Sedas also had 2 hits and 2 walks while he filled in for Trevor Austin at 2B.

With pitching, the Tigers struggled early as Austin Marozas surrendered a run and two walks in his only inning of work before Carter Rustad got the ball for 4.1 innings. In his outing Rustad surrendered 5 hits, 4 ER, and 2 BBs; it’s fair to say he didn’t have his best stuff. However, the back half of the bullpen finished the game off strong surrendering just 1 run in the final 3.2 innings.

The pitching highlight of this series was finale was probably the return of super reliever Ian Lohse from Tommy John surgery. The sophomore came in and provided a scoreless inning with 2 strikeouts in his first appearance since last season.

Here’s a look at a few of the swings that led to the Tigers offensive explosion:

Standout Performer of the Weekend

Cam Careswell - The freshman got the start in Games 1 and 2, and he took advantage. This weekend Careswell was 4-8 with 3 doubles and 3 RBI and came up clutch in Game 1 when the Tigers needed him most. There are plenty of good performances in a weekend where you sweep your opponent, but Careswell made his best performance in the closest game, so that’s why I think he deserves this title. Get familiar with this young Lee’s Summit native because after this weekend, you can be sure to expect him in the lineup more often.