This week in Mizzou Athletics
October 08, 2019 | Sports,
By Olivia Evans
Welcome to the first edition of “This Week in Mizzou Athletics.” This weekly column aims to provide readers with a thorough recap of all sporting events that took place the previous week at Mizzou, as well as offer insight into what’s ahead for the Tigers in the week to come. Future issues of the column will only include sports in season, but in the opening edition a recap and preview of all sports teams will be provided.
Baseball/Softball:
Last week the baseball team faced off against the softball team for a charity game to raise support and awareness for Tiger Pantry, collecting canned goods from fans upon entrance into the game. The teams played four innings, and baseball ran away with the victory 4-0. This was the third year for this event and after baseball’s win, they now lead the series over softball 2-1. An estimated $1,000 of both canned goods and monetary donations was raised for Tiger Pantry.
The baseball team ended last season 34-22-1. The Tigers won’t compete again until October 18 in the opening of Mizzou’s Black and Gold exhibition series at Taylor Stadium.
The softball team ended last season 35-25 overall and 12-12 in the SEC. Their first game of the 2020 showcase will be October 5 against Southeast Missouri State at 4 p.m. and Missouri State at 6 p.m. in Springfield, MO.
Basketball:
The men’s basketball team is in the full swing of practices and preparation for the upcoming season. Their first game of the 2019-2020 campaign will be on November 6 at home against Incarnate Word.
The women’s basketball team is in a similar boat to the men’s team and are preparing for the season to start. The women will host an exhibition against Truman State on October 24. As of October 3, the Tigers added a new coach to their staff; Robert Sausaman comes to the Tigers with almost 10 years of experience across multiple levels of play.
Cross Country:
The Mizzou men’s and women’s cross country teams concluded their first-ever home meet at the brand new Gans Creek Course on September 27. Both teams won the meet, and Tom George won the individual title for the men’s 8k race. Freshman Jenna Schwartz is currently the only freshman in the South Eastern Conference to achieve two SEC honors for Freshman of the Week. Tom George also received an SEC honor for Male Runner of the Week following his performance at Gans Creek. The Tigers are in a bit of a recovery phase before hitting the road again with a split meet on October 18 at Wisconsin and Bradley.
Football:
Mizzou Football currently sits at 4-1 overall and 1-0 in conference play this season. After an early loss on the road to Wyoming, the Tigers came home and got down to business and haven’t lost a game since. On October 5 the Tigers beat Troy 42-10.
Cale Garrett was the defensive man of the game and, for the third consecutive game this season, Garrett made his way into the end zone to score a defensive touchdown for the Tigers. He is only the second player in school history to have three defensive touchdowns in one season. In the second quarter, Garrett picked off two passes from the Troy quarterback to help give his team the lead.
On the offensive end of the ball, Kelly Bryant put on a show. He threw three touchdowns on 12-19 and 221 passing yards. He also managed to rush for a touchdown. The offense saw many contributors yesterday including Albert Okuwegbunam, Jonathan Nance, Kam Scott and Larry Rountree III.
Next week the Tigers will face the Ole Miss Rebels (3-3 overall and 2-1 in the SEC) at home for Homecoming. This game will be played under the lights with kickoff starting at 6 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN2.
Golf:
Back on September 30, the Mizzou men’s golf team won their first match this season at the Jackrabbit Invitational. Redshirt freshman Ross Steelman, a CoMo native, won his first career individual title. Mizzou had three men finish in the top 10. The Tigers return to the tee box October 11-13 at the Bank of Tennesse Intercollegiate tournament.
Mizzou women’s golf won their sixth consecutive Johnie Imes Invitational on September 30. Noelle Beijer was the leading force for the Lady Tigers, finishing five under and third overall at the tournament. The Tigers will return to the course for more play October 20-21 for the Jim West Challenge in Texas.
Swim and Dive:
Both the men’s and women’s swim and dive teams opened their season on October 4 at home with the 14th annual Show-Me Showdown at the Mizzou Aquatics Center. The Tigers went on to capture the titles in 25 of the 26 events for the day, finishing first out of 11 teams. Nick Alexander, Haley Hynes, Jack Dubois and Leonardo Garcia Varela each claimed two individual titles.
The Tigers will have some time off until October 18 when they host Florida. This matchup will be broadcast on SECN+.
Track and Field:
The Tigers track and field campaign won’t kick off until early December. Until then, the Tigers remain focused on their training.
Former Mizzou track and field alumna Karissa Schweizer finished ninth in the 5000m at the IAAF World Championships in Doha, Qatar. She ran a personal best of 14:45.18, giving her the fifth fastest 5000m time in the US for women and the fastest US time ever at the World Championships. Schweizer is continuing to pursue her dream of making Team USA for the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics.
Wrestling:
Mizzou Tiger Style season will open up on October 19 with the annual Black and Gold Scrimmage. Last season the Tigers went 16-1 and were 7-0 in the Mid-American Conference. Tiger Style is one of the premier wrestling programs in America and has won seven straight conference championships, as well as finished sixth overall in the NCAA last season.
Mizzou wrestling alum J’den Cox has won back to back World Championships in the 2018 and 2019 seasons. This year he didn’t give up a single point in all four of his matches over two days. Over the last four years, Cox has won either an Olympic or World Championships medal every year.
Gymnastics:
Throughout the fall, Mizzou will host three free fall clinics as well as a Fan Fest. These will take place on the first weekend of November at the Tiger Performance Center. Last year the Tigers finished 8-11-1, and won’t touch the mat again until early December.
Soccer:
Mizzou soccer currently sits at 6-5-1 overall on the season and 0-3-1 in SEC play. After a strong debut going 5-0 for the 2019 season, the Tigers have started to struggle. Last week the Tigers suffered two losses, both within the conference, to Georgia and South Carolina. This week the Tigers hit the road and head up to Nashville to take on the Vanderbilt Commodores. This game will be broadcast on ESPN+ at 7 p.m.
Tennis:
Mizzou tennis opened its fall schedule September 20-22 at home. They earned five wins on the opening day of the tournament and earned another seven wins on the second day. Serena Nash went a perfect 3-0 in singles play to open up her senior season with the Tigers.
Ellie Wright and Lisa Fukutoku are representing Mizzou at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-American Championships October 7-8 in doubles play. They currently are 2-1 in doubles this year. Wright also had the opportunity to compete in singles play October 5-6 at the same championship series. She currently sits at 2-1 in singles as well.
Mizzou fans can catch the tennis team back in action October 17-22 at the University of Oklahoma for the ITA Central Regional Tournament.
Volleyball:
The Mizzou volleyball team is off to a hot start this season at 9-3. The Tigers have been led by a new interim head coach this season. Joshua Taylor is a renowned former volleyball player and has been with the Tigers since 2017. He is assisted by his wife Molly Taylor, who excelled in both the collegiate and professional volleyball circuits. She remains one of the best players in Mizzou history as well.
The next matchup for the Tigers will be October 6 at Hearnes Center, where they will face conference opponent Texas A&M. Then on Wednesday the Tigers stay home to battle Ole Miss, another SEC opponent. The Tigers are coming off a 3-1 away win against LSU.
Edited by Emma Moloney | ehm3gd@mail.missouri.edu