Missouri baseball team fails to live up to pre-season hype

A month into the season, the Missouri Tigers looked like a national championship contender. However, due to a struggling bullpen, an inconsistent offense and shaky defense, the rest of the season was a sharp contrast from the early season success Missouri enjoyed.

After starting 19-3, the Tigers limped into the NCAA tournament with a 38-19 record, but still salvaged a second seed in the Coral Gables regional. After a win in the opener against Mississippi, the Tigers comeback bid barely fell short against Miami, the nation’s top overall seed. In a microcosm of the entire season, Missouri then blew a late lead in an elimination game against Mississippi, ending the Tigers’ up-and-down season.

Ranked sixth in the country to begin the season, the Tigers several flaws prevented them from living up to their pre-season expectations. Despite having one of college baseball’s best starting rotations, headed by superstar Aaron Crow, Missouri’s horrid bullpen and bi-polar offense led to its downfall. Coach Tim Jamieson searched for reliable bullpen production all year, but only Kyle Gibson, moved from the starting rotation to the closer’s role, and Ryan Allen had any success as relievers. Gibson even struggled down the stretch and blew his team’s one run lead against Mississippi in the final game of season. Besides the bullpen woes, Missouri’s offense performed average at best, and after Jamieson shook up the starting lineup to jolt a slumping offense, the Tigers’ defense suffered because of the changes.

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In the end, even with all of the struggles in so many different areas, the Tigers’ season was fairly successful. They made the post-season for the sixth season in a row, rose to the second spot in the polls in late March and finished fourth in the Big 12 conference. Individually, Crow finished 13-0 with an ERA under 3.00, and Jacob Priday and Aaron Senne had monster seasons in the middle of the lineup. Ranked inside of the top 20 for the entire season, most college baseball programs would have loved to duplicate Missouri’s 2008 success.

But for fans that expected the team to live up to the lofty pre-season hype, the Tigers’ performance this season was disappointing. It’s tough to say a team that received a second seed in the NCAA tournament underachieved, but early on, this team looked like it could win the Big 12 and have a shot for a national title. After that 19-3 start, Missouri’s record over the rest of the season was just 20-18.

Now, the Tigers must focus on the future. Jamieson has revitalized the Missouri baseball program, but next season, he loses both Crow and Priday. Without those two stars, the 2009 team will not enter the season with high expectations. Still, the Tigers will return a solid starting staff, including Gibson, who pitched well as a starter before moving to closer. Senne will also be back in left field to provide Missouri with a big bat in the middle of the lineup, and the infield from this season should return intact next year.

Even though Jamieson has built a steady program at Mizzou, he may have missed a golden opportunity this season. When the Missouri players, coaches, fans and supporters look back at the 2008 season, it will be remembered as the season that could have been so much more.

By Daniel Spewak
Big 12 Fans Missouri Correspondent