Aaron Crow’s reputation preceded him. Kent State was aware of what Missouri’s sophomore right-hander was going to bring to the mound in the opening round of the Columbia Regional.

G.J. McCarthy photos

Above, Aaron Crow, who threw a complete game in Missouri’s 10-2 win over Kent State last night, delivers a pitch in the second inning. Below, Paul Lewandowski and his 6-year-old son, Ben, play outside Taylor Stadium.

The community seems to have gotten the message, as well.

The dominant pitching of Crow and a grand slam home run from John McKee thrilled a standing-room-only crowd of 3,481 with a 10-2 victory over the fourth-seeded Golden Flashes last night on Simmons Field.

The top-seeded Tigers averaged 645 fans per game this season and have grown used to playing in front of large, vocal crowds on the road in the Big 12. This time, the fans were behind them.

"We’ve never had an opportunity to play in front of this many Missourians before, and it was awesome," MU Coach Tim Jamieson said. " … It’s one of the best experiences I’ve had in Columbia, Missouri, I can tell you that."

The Tigers (41-16) are hoping for another boisterous crowd today when they take on third-seeded Louisville at 6:30 p.m. The Golden Flashes (33-25) will face No. 2 seed Miami in an elimination game at 1 p.m.

Crow gave the fans plenty to cheer about. The native of Wakarusa, Kan., pitched his third career complete game - his first was at the Malibu, Calif., Regional last year. Crow scattered five hits with zero walks while striking out eight - including the final three hitters in the ninth inning.

With each strikeout in the ninth, the roar of the crowd grew louder.

"I thought it was awesome," said Crow, who threw a career-high 119 pitches. "It really pumped me up."

Taylor Stadium capacity is normally about 2,200. Extra bleachers were added along the first-base line and out along the left-field line where the batting cages normally are.

Missouri associate athletic director Tim Hickman said that late-arriving fans were warned that only limited-view seating was available. Two fans couldn’t find a spot they were happy with and were given a refund.

"Everybody else wanted to be inside," Hickman said.

"You could feel the excitement all week," Jamieson said. "… It’s something that you get a lot of people that maybe have never been to a game before, you might get those people back - particularly with this type of atmosphere."

A few Tigers admitted to being awestruck at the live atmosphere in the stadium, and they played nervously early in the game. Starter Chris Carpenter didn’t allow a baserunner until the third and didn’t yield a hit until the fourth.

But Crow faced the minimum through five innings - a second-inning hit was erased with a double play - to keep the Tigers in the game until they found their legs. Crow attacked the outside of the plate and got ahead of most hitters. He had good velocity on his fastball and threw his changeup and slider for strikes in any count.

Crow’s only blemish came in the seventh inning on Greg Rohan’s two-run home run to left-center.

"He was as good as advertised," Kent State Coach Scott Stricklin said. "We were told he was very good. He pitched off of emotion. You can tell his team feeds off of it, too."

The Tigers got rolling in the fourth inning. Ryan Lollis singled and Jacob Priday doubled to put the first pressure of any kind on Carpenter. Freshman catcher Trevor Coleman laced a single into center field to score both runners.

Carpenter, expected to be a first-round pick in the Major League Baseball draft, walked the first two batters in the sixth. Coleman singled to load the bases for McKee. The senior first baseman turned on a 3-2 fastball and dropped it on top of the scoreboard in left field for a 6-0 lead.

"It feels pretty good, especially when you’ve got - what was it, 3,500? - behind you," McKee said. "It can’t get much better than that."

McKee’s blast chased Carpenter, but reliever Dominique Rodgers didn’t have any better luck. Aaron Senne greeted him with a single and advanced to third when right fielder Jason Patton misplayed the ball. Senne scored on Evan Frey’s single.

Patton misplayed another Senne hit in the eighth. Patton was nowhere close to a ball that dropped in the right-field corner for a triple. Kyle Mach had an RBI single and Gary Arndt singled off reliever Robert Sabo. With two outs, Lollis pushed a ball through the right side to score both.

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