To illustrate the next step newest Cardinals prospect Levi Prater must make as a pitcher, his college coach described a no-hitter the Oklahoma lefty took into the fifth inning this past spring against Mizzou, and how it came undone in blink.
A broken-bat single here.
A single out of reach there.
And before Prater regained control of the inning, the Tigers had hit a three-run homer and scored another run to erase the Sooners’ 5-0 lead. Mizzou would go on to win the game at Minute Maid Park on a walk-off double. Prater didn’t get the loss, just the lesson.