Welcome to the Morning Commute
Today we’re talking about Mizzou Baseball and the fact that… hang on, are they figuring things out?
In addition to being the first SEC series win of the season for the Tigers, the series win over the No. 24 [Kentucky] Wildcats marks the first road series win over a ranked opponent for Mizzou since taking down No. 3 Mississippi State on the road in 2021.
That’s right. Kerrick Jackson has these guys taking down Top 25 teams on the road. Hell, Kentucky has lost three games at home all season, and two
of them came this weekend to the Tigers! Not only is it a statement from the Tigers, who are now 19-14 on the season, but it stops a recent five-game skid that saw the Tigers drop games to Lindenwood (gasp!), three in a row at home to Texas A&M (gasp!!) and their final game of the season against kansas (gasp!!!) Picking off the Wildcats in Lexington should prove to be a monumental confidence booster for the team, which will face in-state rival Missouri State next. From there, a winnable series against South Carolina at home awaits. If Jackson’s team can use this series as a boost, they could be looking at close to 10 games over .500 by the next time they go on the road.
It has to be a huge moment for Jackson, who has seen his fair share of struggles in Columbia. Not only is it a confirmation that some of his work is sinking in, it continues the Tigers on a good path toward the postseason, something this program desperately needs.
Yesterday at Rock M and Rock M+
“Clearly we left some tenths out there on the table,” Shannon said Friday post-meet, “and I think that in some ways, it’s going to motivate us for Sunday, right? We just need to walk in the door and get into that mode right away. We don’t have time to wait, you know, one or two events and then turn it on…”
“We’ve set a certain expectation where falling a little short feels like disappointment, but it’s really just a new standard,” head coach Shannon Welker said after Sunday’s meet. “This is a young team, and I thought they left their best out there today, but we needed a few more sticks from the start. For losing so much from last year and still being this close to our goal, I’m really proud of them.”
As coach Welker said, it’s a sign of the rising standards in the program that a finish this deep into the year is considered disappointing.
- Over at Rock M+, we’re deep into offseason movement mode with Mizzou Hoops. The Matts are tracking some big names Mizzou is reportedly in on, and dominos are falling on the coaching circuit.
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