Missouri

Rustad’s Relief Helps Missouri Baseball Beat South Carolina, 8-3

Published

7 months ago

May 5, 2024

Rustad’s Relief Helps Missouri Baseball Beat South Carolina, 8-3

Carter Rustad knew he was supposed to pitch on Saturday; he just didn’t expect it to be so early. Nineteen pitches into Saturday’s game, Missouri’s starter, Javyn Pimental, walked off the mound with an elbow issue, and Rustad (6-6, 5.32 ERA) knew he was the next man up. Even worse for Rustad, Pimental had left the bases loaded, leaving a difficult situation for him to handle.

Javyn Pimental lasted just nineteen pitches before removing himself with an elbow issue.

Cal Tobias/Rock M Nation

He was given just a few minutes to warm up before being sent in to clean up the mess. The result? He got out of the jam quickly on a strikeout and a double play. Then, he retired twelve of the next thirteen batters he faced, putting four innings’ worth of zeroes on the scoreboard.

Coach Kerrick Jackson said his gameplan was always to use Rustad after Pimental’s day was over, though neither he nor anyone thought his day would end in the first inning.

“[Rustad] was going to be the first guy that we were going to go to today,” he said. “So when [the early exit] happened, his mind was already there. Unfortunately, just earlier than we anticipated.”

By the seventh, the Gamecock offense had begun to wake up, tagging Rustad for three runs. However, Missouri’s offense had left South Carolina in the dust by then, scoring eight runs to put MU up by five. Brock Lucas took over in the eighth and threw two scoreless innings to seal the victory for the Tigers.

Brock Lucas finished the game out for Missouri.

Coach Jackson said that Missouri (21-17, 7-16 SEC) appeared Saturday as an entirely different team than the one which lost Friday’s game 10-2.

“What they did last night, I don’t know what worked for them to put them in the mindset that they were in today, but you saw two completely different teams [on Friday and Saturday,]” said Jackson.

Missouri’s offense showed up early and often, starting the first inning with a four-run base-hit brouhaha. Brock Daniels led off with a double which just barely eluded the glove of Carolina third baseman Gavin Casas, and then three of the next four Tigers singled.

South Carolina third baseman Gavin Casas barely misses a ground ball by Missouri first baseman Brock Daniels, who turned the hit into a double.

Another single, by Drew Culbertson, scored Jackson Lovich from second for the fourth of four runs.

Missouri center fielder Jackson Lovich (18) scores in the first inning off of Drew Culbertson’s single on Saturday. Lovich went 2-for-5 and also had a two-RBI triple.

They tacked on three runs in the next three innings through— you guessed it! Four more singles. Eight of MU’s 12 hits were singles. Small-ball lovers everywhere rejoiced.

Culbertson, in particular, had an impressive game. Twice in the game, the Gamecock coaches ordered their pitcher to intentionally walk Matt Garcia in favor of Drew Culbertson with men on base. On both of those occasions, Culbertson smacked RBI singles instead of going out easily.

In the type of complete performance that Coach Jackson has been reaching towards all year, Missouri showed out on defense with some web gems across the diamond. Matt Garcia and Justin Colon both turned hard-hit grounders into impressive jump-throw putouts, and Jackson Lovich, as if he hadn’t impressed enough with his two-RBI triple, dove for an impressive catch in center field.

Missouri second baseman Matt Garcia (4) throws out South Carolina center fielder Austin Brinling in the sixth inning on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the Gamecocks failed to impress on defense, committing two costly errors. A misplay of a fly ball off the wall by left fielder Kennedy Jones let Brock Daniels score to start off the four-run first. Later in the third, third baseman Gavin Casas made a throw that was way off of first, allowing Mateo Serna to advance to third and load the bases.

That inning then took a turn for the worse, and thus discounted the game from being a “complete” performance. Drew Culbertson singled to score Serna from third, but the other two runners were derailed by baserunning miscues. Jeric Curtis, who was on second, rounded third, bound for home plate, but then changed his mind and instead retreated to third. Matt Garcia had also decided to head to third, and by the time he realized it was occupied, he had already been tagged out.

Indeed, Missouri pitched well, hit well, and defended well, but their only mistakes came on the basepaths.

Matt Garcia finds himself trapped in between two South Carolina fielders, as he assumed Jeric Curtis would round third to score. When Curtis retreated to the bag, Garcia was left the odd man out.

Jackson said the mistake was indicative of faults he has seen all year.

“It worries me as much as us being inconsistent all year worries me. And that falls under the category of playing good baseball,” he said. “It’s just baseball IQ and understanding the situations.”

Norm Makes Appearance

Many Missouri baseball alumni showed out for Alumni Day, including legendary MU basketball coach Norm Stewart, who was a member of the 1954 College World Series championship team.

Legendary MU basketball coach Norm Stewart, left, is presented by MU baseball coach Kerrick Jackson with a replica jersey similar to those worn by the 1954 College World Series champion Missouri team.

Coach Kerrick Jackson said that his ultimate goal at Missouri is to achieve success at the level that Stewart did. The Missouri native, 89, won the Big Eight tournament six times and made the Elite Eight three times. Stewart has been in the news lately, as he was inducted into the Hall of Famous Missourians in Jefferson City on Wednesday.

“Being able to attempt to emulate what he did over that time is always the ultimate goal,” said Jackson. “And he did it for a long period of time and kind of set a standard in the precedent of what Mizzou athletics is supposed to be about.”

Kerrick Jackson gives advice to his batters in the dugout.

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Missouri

Missouri football bowl projections: Where national media predicts Mizzou to play

Published

6 hours ago

November 26, 2024

Press Room

Missouri football bowl projections: Where national media predicts Mizzou to play

Missouri football has been bowl eligible for more than a month, securing the eligibility-sealing sixth win back on Oct. 19 against Auburn.

With two wins and two losses since then, an 8-3 overall record, and with Arkansas on Saturday at home left on the schedule, the Tigers’ potential bowl destinations have narrowed. The College Football Playoff dream is shot; the Citrus Bowl is likely just out of reach; the lower-tier bowls are in the rearview.

Mizzou, as the Tribune noted Saturday after the Tigers’ win over Mississippi State, is likely to fall into one of the six aptly named, SEC-affiliated Pool of Six bowls.

Those, ordered by date, are as follows:

The Las Vegas Bowl (Dec. 27, Las Vegas); the Liberty Bowl (Dec. 27, Memphis, Tenn.); the Music City Bowl (Dec. 30, Nashville, Tenn.); the Texas Bowl (Dec. 31, Houston); the ReliaQuest Bowl (Dec. 31, Tampa, Fla.); and the Gator Bowl (Jan. 2, Jacksonville, Fla.).

So, where will it be? Mizzou won’t have an answer until Dec. 8, when ESPN will hold a live selection show. Here is where the national media has Missouri projected to play its bowl game.

Hint: Jacksonville and Vegas are popular landing spots.

Action Network: Missouri football vs. Louisville in Gator Bowl

Brett McMurphy of Action Network has Missouri projected to play Louisville in the Gator Bowl on Jan. 2 at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida.

Louisville is 7-4 this season with a 5-3 mark in ACC play, which will fall short of making the conference title game. The Cardinals have a nonconference game against Kentucky to close the season.

Mizzou has not played in the Gator Bowl since 1968, when coach Dan Devine’s Tigers knocked off the legendary Bear Bryant’s Alabama, 35-10.

ESPN: Las Vegas Bowl vs. USC, Gator Bowl vs. Louisville

Mark Schlabach of ESPN also has the Tigers facing Louisville in the Gator Bowl in his updated bowl projections.

His colleague Kyle Bonagura, however, has Missouri heading west to face USC in the Las Vegas Bowl, which is played on Dec. 27 at Allegiant Stadium in Sin City.

USC became bowl-eligible Saturday night by beating UCLA on the road and getting its sixth win of the season. The Trojans close their season against Notre Dame on Saturday in Los Angeles.

USA Today: Las Vegas Bowl vs. USC

Erick Smith of USA Today also is sending Mizzou to the desert to play Southern California.

Missouri has never played a bowl game in Las Vegas. The last time Mizzou played USC was in 1977, when the Tigers lost 27-10 in Columbia.

CBS Sports: Music City Bowl vs. Michigan

Jerry Palm of CBS Sports hasn’t wavered on his projection for Mizzou in multiple weeks: It’s the Music City Bowl vs. reigning national champion Michigan on Dec. 30 at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee.

The Wolverines became bowl eligible on Saturday by hammering Northwestern 50-6 at home. Coached by Sherrone Moore, Michigan has just ‘The Game’ to play in the regular season, as it heads to Columbus, Ohio, to face Ohio State this upcoming Saturday.

Mizzou has never made it all the way to the Music City Bowl. The Tigers were scheduled to play Iowa in the 2020 edition of the bowl game, but the game was canceled due to the pandemic.

If this projection plays out, it would be the second straight year Missouri has played a Big Ten bigwig in its bowl game, as the Tigers defeated Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl last season.

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Missouri

GasBudy survey notes price rise in Missouri

Published

14 hours ago

November 25, 2024

Press Room

GasBudy survey notes price rise in Missouri

Average gasoline prices in Missouri have risen 7.2 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $2.74 per gallon Monday, according to GasBuddy’s survey of 3,940 stations in Missouri.

However, prices in Missouri are 6.7 cents per gallon lower than they were a month ago and stand 11.7 cents per gallon lower than a year ago, according to a news release from GasBuddy. The national average price of diesel has declined 1.3 cents in the last week and stands at $3.503 per gallon.

According to GasBuddy price reports, the cheapest station in Missouri was priced at $2.34 per gallon on Sunday, while the most expensive was $3.69 per gallon.

The cheapest gas in Columbia was priced at $2.69 per gallon on Monday, according to GasBuddy’s website. Jefferson City’s cheapest gas was priced at $2.64 per gallon.

St. Louis gas prices have risen 13.4 cents per gallon from last week with gas prices currently at $2.91 per gallon, according to GasBuddy. Kansas City gas prices have risen 10 cents per gallon, and gas prices are approximately $2.75 per gallon.

The national average price of gasoline has fallen 1.4 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.01 per gallon Monday. The national average is down 11.2 cents per gallon from a month ago and stands 23.7 cents per gallon lower than a year ago, according to GasBuddy data compiled from more than 11 million weekly price reports covering over 150,000 gas stations across the country.

“Ahead of Thanksgiving, motorists continue to be teased by the prospect of a $2.99 per gallon national average, a level now seen in 32 states. But for the last few weeks, the stars just haven’t quite aligned,” Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said in the news release.

De Haan said in the release that Russia’s threats after Ukraine used long-range U.S. missiles have contributed to a hike in oil prices.

“Now, some promotions ahead of Thanksgiving are pushing gas prices back down, even as oil remains elevated,” De Haan said in the release. “For now, we’re just pennies away from the national average falling to $2.99, but for a third year, we may again fall short. As Americans prepare to hit the road for Thanksgiving, we’re seeing the lowest national average price of gasoline since 2021, with a far better economic picture than when gas prices were last this low.”

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