Tigers Out to Even Series With Ft. Wood Here Tomorrow

M.U. Bows to Hilltoppers in Opener, 6-3
(Columbia Daily Tribune, April 5, 1954)

The Missouri Tigers dropped their baseball opener to the Ft. Leonard Wood Hilltoppers, 6-3, at the fort Saturday, but they'll have a chance to square accounts here tomorrow afternoon when they meet the soldiers again at Rollins Field.

Coach John Simmons plans to use the same three Tiger hurlers who worked against the Hilltoppers Saturday, but in a different way. Emil Kammer is slated to work the first three innings, followed by Ed Cook and Bert Beckmann. Beckmann hurled the first three frames at Ft. Wood, Cook followed and Kammer finished up. The rest of the Missouri lineup will be the same, with a few possible alterations in the batting order, Simmons said.

The Hilltoppers jumped off to a 3-0 lead against Beckmann in the third inning Saturday, added another run off Cook in the fourth and picked up their final two tallies in the seventh on a two-run homer by Vince Magi.

The Tigers were stopped cold in the first three innings by Lefty Pete Burnside, who gave up but two hits and posted eight strikeouts. They loaded the bases in the first with one out, but Burnside worked out of the jam by fanning Jerry Schoonmaker and Buddy Cox.

The Hilltoppers dented Beckmann for three runs in the third on Bob McKee's single, a double by Keith Schmidt, a single by Nick Cappelli that eluded Jerry Schoonmaker in center field and rolled to the fence, and Magi's single.

Missouri tied the score in the fourth with three runs off Ed Staab on a walk, a double by George Gleason, and singles by Lloyd Allen and Bob Musgrave, but the Hilltoppers added two more when Whitey Herzog was hit by a pitch, stole second and scored on Magi's round-tripper.

Missouri's only threat after that was in the eighth when Gleason opened with a single and Kammer walked, but Dick Dickinson hit into a double play and Todd Sickel fanned.

Tomorrow's game is the first of three home engagements for the Tigers this week, with the University of Arkansas moving in on Friday and Saturday. Game time tomorrow will be 3:10 o'clock.