Jordan celebrates in style, Gonzalez shines as Tigers stay hot in 5-2 victory
The Tigers built off their road series victory against Kentucky, defeating local rivals Missouri State
No matter what’s happened for the Missouri State Bears in the past four games of the NCAA regular season, Mizzou baseball came out like a team that just won a road series in Southeastern Conference play. Jordan and the reigning Co-Freshman SEC player of the week, Blaize Ward, have a couple of things in common. They’re both freshman and are currently red hot at the plate.
Ward’s 8-f0r-13 weekend wasn’t just a blip; it’s been a consistent theme outside of the friendly confines of Taylor Stadium. He opened the score sheet from the jump, driving in the Tigers’ first run of the game on an RBI single, and one batter later, Jase Woita did the same, scoring Ward from third to give the Tigers the lead. Blaize is a hitter,“ Mizzou head coach Kerrick Jackson said.
”He will tell you he’s a hitter by definition, and so he’s comfortable in that box. But then you see some moments where he’s a freshman and where it speeds up on him, but he’s always seemed to find a way where he could settle himself back in. ” The hot streak for Ward at the plate has now extended to seven games, marking the consecutive number of times he’s been in the hit column.
On a day of celebration for Donovan Jordan, he made it count even more. Deadlocked at two in the bottom half of the third, Jordan’s birthday didn’t just see the candles light up; the scoreboard did as well. The former Tiger, who was on the mound, Brock Lucas, presented a second pitch to Jordan that was too nice to pass up.