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Official Sports Report for March 9, 2008

Baseball Opens Home Slate With 5-1 Win Over Indiana State
by OSR Staff
Columbia, MO - Playing in chilly weather that only peaked at 36 degrees for its 2008 home opener, the 6th-ranked Missouri Tiger baseball team ignored the conditions and claimed a dominating 5-1 win over visiting Indiana State in game one of a three-game series.

Starting pitcher Aaron Crow had his best outing of the young season, as he pitched seven shutout innings, allowing only two hits and striking out nine Sycamore batters to improve to 3-0 with a 1.50 ERA.  Crow allowed only one base runner in the first two innings, and then stranded three Indiana State base runners in the top of the third, as ISU could not score after loading the bases thanks to two hit batters and a wild pitch on a third strike.  With just one out and the bases loaded, Crow dug in and forced a short fly ball to right field followed by an inning-ending ground ball to keep the game scoreless.

Crow's teammates responded in bottom half of the third when Ryan Lollis singled with two outs to drive in Lee Fischer and a 1-0 lead.  That's the way it would stand until the bottom of the fifth, when the Tigers put four runs on the board for a commanding 5-0 lead.  Fischer led things off with a walk and was driven home again by Lollis, this time on a one-out double for a 2-0 Tiger lead.  Following an intentional walk to MU's Trevor Coleman, C Dan Pietroburgo made the ISU strategy backfire as he singled to right field, scoring Lollis.

Aaron Senne followed by lacing a double to left center that plated both Coleman and Pietroburgo for a 5-0 lead.

Crow was dominant in innings four through seven, as he allowed only one single, and didn't permit a Sycamore base runner past first base.  He turned the game over to the Tiger bullpen, and Ryan Gargano allowed a single run in the eighth before freshman Nick Tepesch shut the door and pitched a scoreless ninth.

Mizzou outhit Indiana State only 7-5 on the day, but the timely hits by Lollis (2-for-4 with 2 RBI) and Senne (1-for-3 with 2 RBI) made the difference as the Tigers improved to 7-2 on the season.  Lollis continued his torrid start to the season, as he's now hitting .412, while Senne is hitting .314 with a team-best 14 RBIs.

Temperatures aren't expected to be much warmer Sunday, but the Tigers and Sycamores will try to play a double header, with the first game scheduled for 1 p.m., and the night cap slated for a 4 p.m. first pitch.