COLUMBIA - It was no shocker to Missouri baseball coach Steve Bieser.
After Tyler LaPlante threw eight innings Tuesday night in the Tigers' 9-4 win against Wichita State at Taylor Stadium, Bieser said he was not at all surprised the junior transfer lefty lasted into the ninth, or that LaPlante allowed two earned runs and two hits against five strikeouts and three walks on 94 pitches to pick up his second win in his first appearance since Feb. 24.
And if LaPlante was at all rusty, it didn't show as the Tigers (14-3) captured their ninth straight win.
"Honestly, I felt like I had a little bit of everything working," he said after the game. "As the game got going further I could tell I was getting a little more fatigued and was having a little more trouble controlling my fastball but everything else, curveball, slider, changeup, was all feeling pretty good.
"Early on we went heavy fastball-changeup and then as the game went on we started to go a little bit more to that curveball and slider and it just ended up working out really well."
LaPlante didn't use his changeup much at Johnson County Community College, which allowed opposing hitters to sit on his fastball, but with a more liberal use of his off-speed stuff, LaPlante kept Shockers batters guessing. Center fielder Greyson Jenista and third baseman Alec Bohm, both juniors, are projected first-round MLB draft picks, and the two hit a combined 0-for-6 with two walks against LaPlante, though Bohm doubled off of Cameron Dulle in the ninth.
Dulle came on with a runner on and nobody out in the final inning and gave up, in order, a double, a two-RBI single, a fielder's choice and three straight walks. Bond caught a runner going to third on a wild pitch after the first walk. Nile Ball came on and, after a hit batsman scored another run, struck out a batter looking to end the game.
"Tyler was still throwing quality pitches but it got to the point he threw so well and he was getting his pitch count up there and I didn't want to push it," Bieser said. "Tyler could have finished that game on his own, but we also want to make sure he can throw next week, too."
Missouri scored in the first inning for the eighth straight game. Connor Brumfield led off with a single, and after a Trey Harris strikeout, Wichita State starter Preston Snavely walked four straight batters. Brett Bond and Zach Hanna were credited with RBI, but Bond was doubled off second on a Vierling flyout to right to end the first.
The Tigers tacked on a run in the third. Harris was hit by a pitch and advanced on a wild pitch before Brian Sharp knocked him home with a single to right. The Shockers pulled Snavely after the next batter, a Bond fielder's choice.
Wichita State's pitchers missed the strike zone badly all game. Preston Snavely hit one batsman in 2 innings, Tyler Davis hit two in 1 innings and Robby Evans hit one in an inning, and the six pitchers to make an appearance collectively walked seven more.
The Tigers added two more unearned runs in the fifth. Kameron Misner started the inning with a double down the left field line and scored on an error by Wichita State's second baseman, who couldn't handle a Sharp grounder. Sharp went to second on the throw, to third on a perfectly-placed bunt single by Bond, and came home when, after the Shockers changed pitchers, Keylan Kilgore's pickoff attempt to first missed badly.
Two runs in the seventh - a strikeout wild pitch and a Chris Cornelius double - and the eighth - a Sharp RBI single and a Bond sacrifice fly - got Missouri to nine.
Sharp closed out Missouri's non-conference schedule 23-for-54 (.426) with 23 RBI and 16 runs. The team's 2-3-4 hitters against Wichita State, Harris, Misner and Sharp, each have 23 hits. Misner's two walks in the game gave him a share of the NCAA lead with 23, and Harris (25) and Misner (24) are first and second in the Southeastern Conference in runs scored.
The Tigers will need production from throughout the lineup this weekend at No. 19 Louisiana State, but the heart of Missouri's order, all slashing better than .330/.520/.440 (average, slugging and on-base percentage) will be key if Missouri is to continue its winning ways.
Missouri is currently third in the East behind Florida and Kentucky, while LSU (11-6) is sixth in the West ahead of only Mississippi State.
Friday's game is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., Saturday's for 6 p.m. on SEC Network and Sunday's finale for 2 p.m.