Tigers’ hitting, pitching mesh against Penguins

The Missouri offense looked as solid Sunday as its pitching has all season.

The Tigers’ 12 hits led to a 8-1 victory against Youngstown State at Taylor Stadium and helped them claim their first home series 2-1.

Although Cosme Caballero led Missouri (8-2) with four RBIs, the entire team contributed to the offensive effort, with 10 Tigers getting hits.

“We had more guys have good at bats,” coach Tim Jamieson said. “I felt good about really everything that happened today.”

Two of Caballero’s RBIs came in the sixth inning when Missouri scored four runs on four hits.

After doubling, Tyler Williams scored the first run of the inning when Jeremy Hernandez hit a single to center.

Two batters later, Caballero singled to drive in Hernandez and Zane Taylor. Ryan Rallo scored the last run of the sixth when Cody Ehlers hit a sacrifice fly for his 14th RBI.

“A lot of guys are starting to get better swings at the ball,” Caballero said. “I think everybody is starting to feel better about it.”

Lee Laskowski continued to improve by hitting a home run in his second consecutive game. Laskowski led off the second inning with a line drive that barely cleared the left field fence near the foul pole.

“I got two good pitches to hit and I didn’t miss them,” Laskowski said.

Hernandez also had success at the plate, entering the game in the sixth and going 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run.

The Missouri pitching staff complemented the offense with another strong showing.

Garrett Broshius had to pitch out of a few jams early but allowed one run in six innings to improve his record to 3-0.

“I thought (Broshius) was not as sharp as he had been in his first two, but I thought he battled,” Jamieson said. “They had a chance to do some damage and he made good pitches.”

Taylor Parker added two strong innings of relief, striking out five of the six batters he faced and allowing no hits.

After winning the first game of the series 3-2 Friday night, Youngstown (1-2) struggled for the second straight day.

The Penguins stranded 11 runners and struck out 11 times. Youngstown pitching continued to look wild, hitting two Missouri batters for a total of seven during the weekend.

“I think we played well, played solid baseball, didn’t make a lot mistakes, and the pitchers were dominant,” Jamieson said. “To do well in our league that’s what we need to do.”