Victory Lifts M.U. Into Tie For 2nd Place(Columbia Daily Tribune, May 7, 1954)
The Missouri Tigers came up with two runs in the 11th inning here yesterday to defeat the Kansas State Wildcats, 5-3, and climb into a second place tie in the Big Seven conference race. The Colorado Buffs, who won from Kansas, 6-5, share the runner-up spot with the Bengals.
The Tigers and Wildcats were scheduled to wind up their two-game series this afternoon with Lefty Ed Cook the likely Missouri pitcher. The Bengals then move on to Boulder for a pair of contests with Colorado on Monday and Tuesday.
Singles by Buddy Cox and pinch-hitter Herb Morgan drove in the winning runs in the 11th yesterday and provided Emil Kammer, who had relieved Bert Beckmann in the ninth, with his third victory of the season. Cox' single scored George Gleason, who had opened the inning with a walk and advanced when Bob Schoonmaker was safe on an attempted sacrifice. Morgan, batting for the left fielder Jim Doerr, then grounded a single to right to send Schoonmaker across with the insurance run.
The Tigers held a 3-2 lead going into the ninth when the 'Cats came to life to tie the score and only stalwart relief by Kammer prevented a K-State triumph.
Catcher Dick Meyers, leading off, was safe on Todd Sickel's fumble, and after Beckmann fanned pinch-hitter Boyer, Larry Hennesy laced a double to left center. Kammer replaced Beckmann and walked Perk Reitemeier intentionally to fill the bases. Bob Whitehead then looped a Texas League single to left that scored Myers with the tying run, and left the bases loaded but Kammer turned on the steam and fanned Bob Smith and Don Prigmore.
Cox' single in the fifth was Missouri's first hit off Reitemeier, Kansas State's starter. But the Bengals went to work in the sixth and took a 2-0 lead on a walk to Dick Dickinson, Sickel's safe bunt, and infield out, an intentional pass to Jerry Schoonmaker and Hennessey's muff of Bob Schoonmaker's ground ball.
The Wildcats tied it in their half when Retiemeier opened with a double and scored on Prigmore's single. Progmore stile second and crossed the plate as pinch-hitter Bob Parker came through with a single.
The Tigers made it 3-2 in the eighth on successive doubles by Musgrave and Jerry Schoonmaker before the Wildcats came back to tie in the ninth.
A key to the streak was the play of the defense, especially Dickinson, third baseman Todd Sickel and second baseman Buddy Cox. The three, with first baseman Schoonmaker, possessed the qualities of a solid defense. With quick feet, excellent range and good hands in the infield, the pitchers were confident that most balls hit on the ground would be turned into outs.
''It was good for me, because I always pitched fast and low and let them hit the goddamn thing,'' said Emil Kammer, who didn't experiment with curves and off-speed pitches but relied purely on smoke. ''In fact, I think all three of us (pitchers) were that way. We just had a hell of a defense, we really did.''
The defense had to be good, by the very nature of the pitching staff. Featuring lefties and off-speed pitchers, right-handed hitters were more apt to pull the ball to left field - hard and on the ground.
''Todd and I made quite a few errors,'' Dickinson said, ''but we always seemed to make them when it didn't make much of a difference. Maybe we were just lucky. I know we got a lot of chances, because Beckman by his own definition was a 'shitballer' and Cook was a lefty. Guys would pull the lefties, so we got a lot of action."
(Columbia Missourian, March 13, 1994)
Missouri’s baseball coach John (Hi) Simmons and Manager Eddie Stanky of the St. Louis Cardinals have something in common – a spotty pitching staff. But the Cardinals have more time to solve their dilemma than do the Bengals, who are stuck with an extremely short schedule.
Simmons is allotted only 16 men on a four-game road trip like the one that begins tomorrow. He has to cram five pitchers into his shortened squad. So far no Bengal has gone the distance, and in most instances Simmons has had to call on three pitchers to wrap up a victory.
(Columbia Missourian, May 6, 1954)
Bert Beckmann, who started the washed-out game with Kansas here last Friday, will face the K-Stater tomorrow, with Emil Kammer ready for relief duty. Southpaw Ed Cook will start the Saturday game and Kammer is due to face Colorado on Monday and Beckmann on Tuesday. Other pitchers making the trip are right-handers Gene Gastineau and Norman Stewart.
Kansas State, after sweeping two games from Nebraska, has suddenly lost its batting punch. The Wildcats have been blanked in their last three outings, 8-0 by Iowa State, and 3-0 and 12-0 by Nebraska.
(Columbia Daily Tribune, May 6, 1954)
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