The baseball team opened up their 2026 campaign at Terry Park in Fort Myers, Fla. against the 2-2 University of Missouri (Mizzou) Tigers for a three-game series. Beginning their first season as a Division I team, New Haven faced a tough match, going up against an SEC squad.
Friday’s game was the first of three blowouts courtesy of the Tigers. Going into the bottom of the fourth inning, the game was tied at one after an RBI single on New Haven’s side from Shaun Callahan. Mizzou scored five runs in the fourth and another in the fifth inning. In the top of the sixth, Callahan scored on a wild pitch before another two runs scored by the Tigers extended Missouri’s lead, 9-2. Three more would come across for Mizzou, finalizing the 12-2 win for the Tigers. In the loss, Callahan went 3-4 at the plate, picking up the only RBI for New Haven and scoring a run. Myles McDermott allowed six unearned runs in 3.2 innings, striking out two and taking the loss.
The second game had similar results. Mizzou began the game with eight consecutive runs, six in the third, before New Haven got on the board with two in the fourth. Bobby Herzman went yard for the first time this season, a two-run shot to right, which cut the deficit to 8-2. The Tigers then scored three more in the bottom half, and two in the fifth to make it 13-2. Callahan scored his second run of the series, on a throwing error in the sixth, before Mizzou put up four more runs in the bottom half. A wild pitch and a groundout scored two more runs in the seventh for New Haven, but it wasn’t enough to mount the comeback which ended in a 17-5 loss for the Chargers. Vincent Fusco took the mound and allowed seven runs,six earned, in 2.1 innings. Six New Haven batters would record multi-hit games.
In the third and final game, the Chargers struck first courtesy of a Casey Cerruto RBI single, but Mizzou scored 11 consecutive runs with eight in the first inning. Jaylin Manson had an RBI single in the top of the fifth, before Mizzou scored three in the bottom half and two in the sixth, going on to win 16-2 and sweeping the Chargers. Cole Gibson gave up five runs without recording an out, and took the loss.
New Haven falls to 0-3 after being swept in the opening series of the season. The Chargers head to Fort Worth, Texas to take on the Texas Christian University (TCU) Horned Frogs for a three game series. The first game is on Friday and first-pitch is at 7 p.m. The game will be streamed on ESPN plus. For more information, visit NewHavenChargers.com.
