Dessau sparks Tigers

Erik Dessau has been perfect for the Missouri baseball team.

Dessau, a junior pitcher, won his third game in as many starts Saturday when the Tigers defeated Youngstown State 7-0 at Taylor Stadium. The win evens the series at 1 after a 3-2 Tigers loss Friday night.

Dessau pitched seven innings and struck out eight Penguins while allowing three hits.

“The first couple innings I was a little nervous because it was my first home start,” Dessau said. “I kind of relaxed after we scored a few runs and put some hits up on the board.”

This is Dessau’s first year at Missouri after transferring from Forest Park Community College.

Missouri coach Tim Jamieson said it is hard to assess the impact a transfer player will having coming into a new environment.

“(Dessau) has been very consistent through fall and early intrasquad games to the games he has pitched,” Jamieson said. “He’s been the same guy every time.”

The Missouri offense helped Dessau, rebounding from a dismal performance Friday with eight hits, including two home runs.

The Tigers pounded Youngstown starter Brain Boone for three runs in the third inning.

Lee Laskowski led off with a solo home run to left field that Tyler Williams followed with a double. Three batters later, Ryan Rallo hit a home run over the left field wall that scored Williams and made it 3-0.

“It’s just a matter of time before we start swinging on all cylinders,” Rallo said. “It’s going to be fun when that happens.”

Cosme Caballero added three RBIs for the Tigers, including a single up the middle in the seventh that scored Cody Ehlers and Josiah Holst.

Although Missouri’s hitting improved from Friday when Youngstown’s Justin Thomas held them to two hits in seven innings, Jamieson said he would like to see better performances at the plate.

“We didn’t see the same pitching today that we saw last night,” he said. “We have to continue to get better.”

The Penguins’ pitching staff struggled Saturday, hitting three batters and balking twice.

Youngstown also failed to move a player past first base and had a hard time penetrating the strong play of Missouri’s infield.

Mark Alexander shut out the Penguins in his two innings of relief.