Mizzou pitching staff struggles, team remains winless in SEC action

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Mizzou Baseball's struggles on the mound have haunted the team again.

The Tigers (8-14) suffered a sweep against Ole Miss (18-5), losing the series finale 14-6 at Taylor Stadium. MU's pitching staff gave up 37 combined earned runs to the Rebels during the three-game series.

With Sunday's loss, head coach Kerrick Jackson's group is still searching for its first SEC win of the season. In its first six conference games, Mizzou averaged six runs per game but allowed an average of nearly 11 earned runs during that same stretch.

"We just can't execute pitches, specifically when we get to two-strike situations," Jackson said after the game. "We're not able to put guys away, and so, I think we got to just work on that and put our guys in a better position where they understand what they need to do."

You can watch the full postgame press conference with Coach Jackson in the video player below.

MU got a much-needed, positive effort on the mound from Sunday's starting pitcher Brady Kehlenbrink. The freshman left-hander struck out a career-high six batters and allowed just one earned run on one hit over three innings. The only blemish on Kehlenbrink's outing was a solo home run from Luke Cheng, which tied the game 1-1 in the third frame.

While the Rebels knotted the game in the third inning, Mizzou quickly rallied to retake the lead in the home half of the frame. Kaden Peer brought the go-ahead run home with an RBI single to left-center field, sparking a four-run frame for the Tigers. Jackson Lovich added the other three runs to the scoreboard with his fifth home run of the season to give the team a 5-1 lead after three innings.

However, the quality pitching disappeared once Coach Jackson called on the bullpen to start the fourth inning. Ole Miss outscored Mizzou 13-1 in the final six innings, tagging MU's relief pitchers with 12 earned runs on 13 hits. Besides Kehlenbrink's three-inning start, no other pitcher tossed more than 1.2 innings for the Tigers.

Offensively, there were several bright spots, though. Lovich and Keegan Knutson each posted three-hit performances, and the Kansas native finished just a triple shy of the cycle with three RBI's. Mateo Serna belted his team-leading sixth home run of the year to start the contest. Finally, six different players recorded at least one hit and four tallied at least one RBI.

Up next - Mizzou is taking a break from SEC action for a midweek Braggin' Rights showdown at Illinois on Tuesday, March 25 at 6 p.m.