‘Play clean baseball’: How Missouri baseball evened its series with South Carolina

They’re anything but predictable.

After Kerrick Jackson lamented his Missouri baseball team’s inconsistency following a Friday night, series-opening loss, Mizzou came out firing, taking down South Carolina 8-3 to even the set Saturday at Taylor Stadium.

Jackson, the night before, said, “We are who we are,” which is to say that the coach never quite knows which Missouri team is about to take the field.

On Saturday, he was proven right.

“You saw two completely different teams,” Jackson said. “So that's what we're, as a coaching staff, trying to figure out. How do we get that (Saturday’s) one?”

The Tigers (21-27, 7-16 SEC) were at their best, and at their best from the jump.

The plate discipline and missed chances that aggrieved Jackson to no end in the opener? Gone.

Missouri jumped on Gamecocks (31-15, 12-11) starter Eli Jones, tagging him for five hits in the opening inning. Each of the four run-scoring hits came with two strikes on the count.

Leadoff hitter Brock Daniels stretched a 2-2 hit into a double, and Trevor Austin drove him home. Mateo Serna cracked a single up the right-field line to get Austin across, and Drew Culbertson matched that to give the Tigers a four-run, first-inning lead.

Eight Mizzou players ended the game with a hit. Four players recorded multi-hits, including Culbertson, who entered the game with a .204 average but drove in a game-high three runs. The Tigers finished with 12 hits and 11 strikeouts at the plate.

“You saw both sides of it today. You saw some guys that were in there and got some two-strike hits and then you saw some guys chase with two strikes,” Jackson said. “So, we're just trying to get them to understand, ‘hey, understand what the approach is, buy into the approach, be consistent with the approach, and good things can happen.’”

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The pitching woes and late-inning defensive miscues that doomed MU to an eight-run loss in the opener? Far removed in Game 2.

Even under unconventional circumstances.

Missouri right-hander Carter Rustad replaced lefty Javyn Pimental just 13 pitches into his start, after Pimental “felt something in his elbow,” Jackson said. Rustad went 6⅔ innings, by which time he’d allowed five hits for three runs, all earned. He struck out six and gave up no walks. Missouri finished the game with no errors.

Rustad inherited two runners in the first and watched the bases load five pitches into his relief appearance, but struck the next batter out swinging and then drew a groundout to end the inning. After that, he essentially froze the Gamecocks while MU’s offense provided all the necessary run support.

“I don't want to take any credit for the offensive production, but I think that kind of kept the confidence in the team,” Rustad said. “I think if that kind of gets out of hand, it's the SEC. It's tough to come back from stuff like that. So yeah, I think that played a big role in how well I settled throughout the game.”

It was a timely win for the Tigers.

For the time being, Missouri pulled within 1.5 games of each its two closest challengers for a guaranteed postseason berth.

Friday’s loss saw Missouri fall two games behind in the race to make the SEC Baseball Tournament, as Ole Miss and LSU — MU’s main challengers for the 12th and final qualifying spot in the league — both picked up series-opening wins. Mizzou must leapfrog one of those teams to ensure a postseason.

LSU hosts No. 1-ranked Texas A&M and Ole Miss faces Game 2 at Auburn on Saturday evening.

Sunday’s rubber match could be an important one for Missouri, which welcomes last-placed Auburn to Columbia next weekend before a road series at Mississippi State to close the regular season.

It hasn’t happened for Mizzou yet, but there’s a pretty clear, three-word phrase for the remaining seven games, starting with the Gamecocks at 1 p.m. Saturday at Taylor Stadium.

“I don't think we did anything outstanding today,” Jackson said. … “It was just the same thing we've been saying all year: Play clean baseball.”

“Just stay consistent. I think we've struggled with that this year,” Rustad said. “And if we can just play baseball like we did today — clean baseball — we’ll be in a great spot the next few weeks.”

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This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: ‘Play clean baseball’: Missouri baseball evens series with South Carolina