Texas demolishes Missouri in Big 12 title game
OKLAHOMA CITY — Sunday afternoon proved to be a horrible time for the Missouri baseball team.
The Tigers gave up 11 runs in the bottom of the fourth inning and the NCAA Baseball selection committee announced the 16 regional sites and Columbia wasn't selected.
Missouri lost 12-7 to the Longhorns in the Big 12 tournament championship game at the Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City.
Starting pitcher Scooter Hicks retired nine of the first 10 batters he faced before hitting the first batter and allowing a single in the top of the fourth inning. He was then removed from the game.
"I was sick all week," Hicks said. "I’m still getting over that sickness right now. I was a winded and pretty exhausted. The main thing I was trying to battle was that."
Missouri pitchers either walked or hit six Longhorns in the fourth inning and all six would score. In all, Texas scored 11 runs in the fourth. Designated hitter Cameron Rupp hit a grand slam with two outs to cap off the inning .
"You do that to any team let alone the University of Texas and you're not going to win baseball games," Missouri coach Tim Jamieson said.
Outfielder Aaron Senne misplayed a fly ball in the outfield that cost the Tigers an out and allowed the Longhorns to pile on the runs. Senne was tracking the ball but it appeared he slipped on the outfield warning track and failed to make the catch.
"Good teams are going to seize momentum," Jamieson said. "We were very defensive in that inning. It spreads to the rest of the team. We gave them opportunities to score runs."
It was the second appearance in the Big 12 championship game for the Tigers (34-25). The first was in 2004. Missouri lost that game to Oklahoma St. in Arlington, Texas. The Longhorns (41-13-1) are the fourth Big 12 team to win the regular season and tournament championship in the same season.
Missouri now shifts its focus to the NCAA Tournament selection show at 11:30 a.m. Monday to learn where they will be traveling to play the first round of games.
"We're not going to go through the motions," Jamieson said. "We're going to get ready to go win a regional."
Coming into Sunday, Jamieson still believed that the Tigers had an outside shot of hosting the regional.
"I’m disappointed," Jamieson said. "I knew it’d be a stretch for us due to our RPI. I was hoping our geography would help us as well."
Senior outfielder Ryan Lollis was the only player Missouri player named to the All-Tournament team.
Missouri batters drew 10 walks but left eight base runners stranded. All season, Missouri has made the most of the offensive opportunities that the opponents gave it but today struggled.
"We didn't get hits when we wanted to," Lollis said. "We didn't get timely hitting."