Tigers Down Iowa State, 5-3, With 4-Run Rally in 8th

Victory Gives Bengals Split; K.U. Here Next
(Columbia Daily Tribune, April 28, 1954)

The Missouri Tigers staged a four-run uprising in the eighth inning to defeat the Iowa State Cyclones, 5-3, at Rollins field yesterday afternoon and gain an even break in their first Big Seven conference series.

The Bengals, trailing 2-1 going into the eighth, had been able to muster only four hits off Bob Hermann, the Cyclones' side-wheeling right-hander and had again looked wobbly afield as they committed six errors.

But whatever magic Hermann had possessed, he lost it quickly in that inning. Bob Musgrave opened with a single to left and Jerry Schoonmaker followed with his fourth home run of the season, a 400-foot wallop that the cleared the fence in near-dead-center field. That put Missouri in the lead, 3-2, but the Bengals weren't through yet. George Gleason hoisted a pop fly to short right that eluded second baseman Bob Taylor for two bases and Bob Schoonmaker lashed a triple down the right field line to score Gleason.

Hermann left the premises after Schoonmaker's hit and was relieved by Dick Gardell. Jim Doerr's single sent Schoonmaker across with the fourth run and Buddy Cox followed with another single on which Doerr was thrown out trying for third.

Harold Gastineau, Missouri's third pitcher, tapped back to Gardell, and Cox, caught in a run-down, managed to get back to second. After both runners advanced on a wild pitch, Dick Dickinson's grounder hit Gastineau for the second out and Todd Sickel ended the inning with a tap to the mound.

The Cyclones picked up their final run in the ninth when Dick Skrie, batting for Gargell, laced a single to left, went to third when the ball bounced past Doerr to the fence, and scored on a single by Taylor, who, incidentally, the Tigers failed to retire once during the series.

Southpaw Ed Cook started for the Tigers and was nicked for the first Cyclone run in the third on a double by Jim Baker and Taylor's single. Missouri got that one back in the fourth on singles by Gleason and Bob Schoonmaker, a walk to Kent Henson and Buddy Cox' outfield fly.

Cook, the next batter, stopped an inside pitch with either his bat or his left hand - a point on which there was considerable difference of opinion. Umpire Harold Kratky ruled it a foul tip, but Cook, who fell to the ground obviously in pain, argued long and loud with strong support from Coach John Simmons and other members of the Missouri team. Kratky wouldn't budge and Cook fanned on the next pitch.

Ray George, first up for the Cyclones in the fifth, blasted a triple over Jerry Schoonmaker's head and after a conference on the mound, during which Simmons re-examined Cook's hand, Bert Beckmann came in to pitch for the Tigers.

The victory left Missouri in fourth place in the conference standings, with a 1-1 record, trailing Oklahoma (2-0), Kansas State (2-1), and Kansas (3-2).


Iowa State Cyclones

1954 Record:
11-10

Head Coach: L.C. "Cap" Timm (1938-1974)

Cap Timm led the Cyclones to the College World Series in 1957 and 1970.

Timm was a member of the NCAA Baseball Rules and Tournament Committee for 11 years; spent considerable time elevating the American Association of College Baseball Coaches, serving as president in 1959; almost single-handedly shaped the College World Series of Baseball and coached the U.S. team to its first championship in the Pan-American games. He was a member of the Iowa Baseball Hall of Fame, the College Baseball Hall of Fame, College Coach of the Year (1957), Conference Coach of the Year (1957, 1970) and winner of the prestigious Lefty Gomez award (1970), “presented by the American Baseball Coaches Association each year to an individual who has distinguished himself amongst his peers and has contributed significantly to the game of baseball locally, nationally, and internationally”.
(Diamond Reflections)