(Columbia Daily Tribune, May 14, 1994)
For Game 4, Missouri needed a pitcher. Kammer, Beckman and Cook had pitched the first three games. The Tigers were in the losers bracket, having had a 12-game winning streak broken by Rollins College of Florida after beating Lafayette. So Missouri faced elimination in each of its last four CWS games.
Stewart got the call against Oklahoma A&M. In a regular-season game with the Aggies, Stewart's performance in relief almost caused him to quit the team. He compounded walks with throwing errors.
``He lost his poise in that first game,'' Simmons said. ``He couldn't get hold of himself.''
After that, Stewart was on hold until after Missouri clinched the Big Seven and with it an automatic berth in Omaha. He won a regular season start at Iowa State after the conference race was decided.
Stewart said he almost fell off his stool when Simmons announced the Game 4 starter during a team meeting. ``Hi said, `They think we're out of pitchers, but we've got a guy that's been working.' I think most of the guys thought he was going to bring somebody in from Columbia. He said, `We've got a guy that's been working, and he's ready to pitch.'
``I'm sitting back there, and I heard my name. I said to Bert Beckman, `What'd he say?' When he said my name, Bert said, `Aw, shit.' In a humorous way.''
That would be part of the ``no slack'' description.
``I said `What did he say?' Burt said, `He said you're going to pitch tomorrow.' I said, `That's not a very good reaction for my teammate to have. That's not very encouraging.' ''
Having been informed by Simmons that hits were preferable to walks, Stewart frustrated the Aggies who left 13 men on base in Missouri's 7-3 victory.
``Norm was absolutely fantastic in the clutch that game,'' Gleason said. Gleason and Schoonmaker homered.
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