A little more than halfway through the college baseball season the Missouri Tigers are proving to be a contender in the SEC.
Glendale grad Ty Wilmsmeyer is a large piece of Mizzou’s 21-12 record thus far.
“This year’s been really fun. We’ve won a couple of big games over some top 25 teams, and we were ranked ourselves there for a week or two,” said Missouri senior Ty Wilmsmeyer.
One thing consistent through this season’s success has been Wilmsmeyer in the lineup.
“Ty is such a dynamic player, he’s a speed player and he brings a lot of excitement to the game,” said Missouri baseball Coach Steve Bieser.
Defensively the Glendale product has done it all, but finally found his home in the outfield.
“He came in and we had him playing shortstop, we had him do a little pitching, had him play a little center field and really, we started to see he was going to be a true defender in center field. That’s what started to get him on the field consistently,” Bieser said.
That consistency on defense helped grow his game on offense.
“He can do a lot of different things with the bat, he’s really good at handling the bat,” the Coach added.
Wilmsmeyer had his best year as a junior, batting .273 while starting every game.
Through 32 games this season, he’s batting over .300 with a team-leading 13 stolen bases.
“It’s about trying to stay simple in the box. I’m not trying to do too much; I know I’m not a power hitter I’m just trying to get on base and swipe a few bags,” Wilmsmeyer said. “Just staying simple and get the ball a little quicker has been a big key for me.”
That simple mindset has won over the team as Ty hopes to lead the Tigers on a postseason run.
“Making a run in the SEC tournament then hopefully making a regional would be a huge goal for us,” Wilmsmeyer said.
“The young guys gravitate to him by the way that he carries himself and the way that he attacks the game,” Bieser said. “The older guys respect how he came through the system and eventually worked his way into that everyday lineup. Since he’s worked his way into that lineup, he hasn’t left it, so he’s done an outstanding job.”
With his leadership, perhaps there’s no limit to how far this team can go.
