Baseball Falls In Doubleheader At Missouri

COLUMBIA, Mo. – CJ Castillo and Jeffry Mercado both produced multi-RBI performances in Game 2 of a doubleheader as the Texas Southern University baseball team dropped a pair of games 8-0 and 8-7 to the University of Missouri on Saturday afternoon.

Game 1 of the series was originally slated for Friday night, but the storms that pushed though Columbia and the rest of the Midwest ravaged the area causing multiple weather delays of all sorts.

Game 1 – Missouri 8 Texas Southern 0
Unfortunately for the TSU Tigers, the Mizzou Tigers came out of the gate with on fire getting two runs in the first and another in the third to stake a 3-0 lead.

Mizzou did allow TSU to have a runner on third base in each of the third and fourth innings, but outstanding defensive plays would thwart any chance of TSU pushing a run across the plate.

The homestanding Tigers would add two runs in the fifth and another three in the sixth for the 8-0 victory.

Daalen Adderly and Alexander Olivo were the only TSU players to collect a hit in the first game while Abraham Deleon (1-1) took his first loss of the season going five innings giving up five runs with four being earned on eight hits with three walks and four strikeouts.
 
Game 2 – Missouri 8 Texas Southern 7
The bats were not in a slumber for Game 2 as TSU came out ready to pounce on whatever Mizzou threw its way.

Jordan Vidato’s two-out double drove in Benjamyn Hovda for the game’s first run. Castillo’s double to left field was deep enough to allow Vidato to score from first.
Olivo later singled up the middle with two outs to bring in Castillo.

Mizzou (8-2) chased TSU starting pitcher Josh Fluet after only three innings pitched including five runs on four hits, four strikeouts and four walks.

The crowd over 1,130 at historic Taylor Stadium in Columbia would see Adderley lead off the top of the fourth with a HBP before Olivo walked to set up Mercado’s big three-run blast to left center tying the game at 5-5. The score stayed knotted at 5-5 until the bottom of the sixth when Mizzou’s Juju Stevens cranked out a three-run home run of his own to put his team up 8-5.

Castillo stepped up next and fell behind in the pitch count to one ball and two strikes before getting a pitch he really liked and blasted it back up the middle to drive in Vidato making the score 8-7. Unfortunately, nothing else could be pushed in as Mizzou collected the last out on a strike out.
 
Castillo would go 2-for-4 with a double, a run scored and two runs batter in while Vidato was 1-for-3 with two runs scored, an RBI and a walk. Mercado may have only collected on one hit, but it was a home run that drove in two others.

Carlos Marquez took the loss for his first decision going just one inning giving up three runs on the previously mentioned home run with one strikeout and two walks. 

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The third and final game of the series will also be at Taylor Stadium and will see a first pitch of 3 p.m. CT.