Tuesday, March 13
Columbia, Mo.
6:30 p.m.
University of Missouri
vs
Wichita State
No. 24 @MizzouBaseball Set for Top-25 Tilt With Wichita State Tuesday
3/12/2018 1:55:00 PM | Baseball
First pitch between the nationally-ranked teams is at 6:30 p.m. on SEC Network+
- Mizzou Baseball, ranked No. 24 in this week's Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Top-25, begins a pivotal week of action against a pair of ranked opponents on Tuesday as No. 20 Wichita State comes to Taylor Stadium for a 6:30 p.m. game. The game, which is Mizzou's second against a ranked opponent this season, will air live on SEC Network+ and KTGR in the Mid-Missouri area.
- Mizzou is 1-0 this season against ranked opponents, defeating then No. 24-ranked Miami on the road on, 9-0, on Feb. 21.
- Mizzou is ranked in one of the major top-25 polls for the first time since March 28, 2017, when it checked in at No. 23.
- Mizzou and Wichita State have split 10 all-time meetings with five wins apiece. The two teams are meeting for the first time since April 22, 2014. That year, Mizzou defeated Wichita State, 5-4, on a 10th-inning, walk-off RBI single from 2B Dillon Everett in a game what was played at Kauffman Stadium, home of the Kansas City Royals. The game was part of the College Baseball Hall of Fame Classic.
- The all-time series with Wichita State dates back to 1978 when Gene McArtor's Tigers defeated the Shockers, 9-1 and 6-1 in two meetings that year. The two teams have met three times in the postseason as well. Mizzou won 5-4 in the 1980 Midwest Regional and lost, 9-2, in the 1996 Midwest Regional. In the most recent postseason matchup, the Shockers claimed a 3-0 win in game one of the 2004 Fayetteville Regional. Eventual first-round draft pick Mike Pelfrey (No. 9 overall in 2005) started that game for the Shockers, going 8.2 shutout innings, scattering just four hits while striking out 14. He threw 138 pitches in the outing. Below is a look at the all-time meetings between Mizzou and Wichita State.
- 2014 - 5-4 - Win
- 2004 - 0-3 - Loss - NCAA Fayetteville Regional
- 2001 - 9-8 - Win
- 2000 - 5-6 - Loss
- 1999 - 1-12 - Loss
- 1998 - 3-12 - Loss
- 1996 - 2-9 - Loss - NCAA Midwest Regional
- 1980 - 5-4 - Win - NCAA Midwest Regional
- 1978 - 6-1 - Win
- 1978 - 9-1 - Win
- Mizzou has won eight consecutive games during its season-long nine-game homestand, which concludes Tuesday vs. Wichita State. Mizzou is averaging 7.6 runs per game over its current eight-game winning streak while allowing just 1.88 in that span. Mizzou's fielding has been tremendous as well, allowing just one unearned run in the eight games. Mizzou's pitchers are limiting batters to .183 hitting during the eight-game win streak with a 1.66 ERA. Mizzou's pitchers have allowed just seven extra-base hits over the eight-game winning streak (five doubles, two homers). Mizzou is averaging 10.13 strikeouts per game while it has walked just 23 batters (2.88 per game) in that span
- Mizzou is still TBD on a starter for Tuesday, but it will be either sophomore LHP T.J. Sikkema or junior LHP Tyler LaPlante. Sikkema was the planned starter, but came down with a flu bug. Head coach Steve Bieser and his staff will see how Sikkema feels Tuesday and make a decision based on that.
- Wichita State is sending sophomore RHP Preston Snavely (1-0, 2.57 ERA) to the mound. He has made two appearances this season. His first was a 2.0-inning outing at McNeese State, allowing an earned run on three hits with a strikeout and a walk. He was great last time out over 5.0 innings vs. SIU-E. He allowed just three hits and struck out a season-high eight in a win.
PROJECTED STARTERS
- Tuesday: LHP Tyler LaPlante (1-0, 1.29 ERA) or LHP T.J Sikkema (1-0, 0.87 ERA) vs. RHP Preston Snavely (1-0, 2.57 ERA)
TIGERS CUT BACK ON ERRORS
- A bugaboo for Mizzou last season was its overall team defense, but second year head coach Steve Bieser and his staff appear to have the Tigers on the right track defensively through the first 16 games this season. Through 16 games last year, Mizzou had 25 errors, almost twice as many as it has through the first 16 games this season (just 13). Mizzou was fielding .961 at this point a season ago and it has seen that number increase to .979 this year.
- Without an error over the last weekend's three-game set with La Salle, it was the Tigers' first weekend series without an error since May 16-18, 2013, in a series win at home over Kentucky.
- It was also the first three-game stretch without an error since April 1-4 of last season in two games vs. Florida and one vs. Illinois.
- Mizzou has allowed just one unearned run over its eight-game winning streak.
FIRST IS FAR FROM THE WORST
- The Tigers have scored in the first inning in seven consecutive games during the eight-game winning streak.
- Mizzou has scored in the first inning in 10 of 16 games this season, going 9-1 in such contests.
- Mizzou has outscored opponents, 22-5, in the first inning this season and 32-5 over the first two frames.
- Since head coach Steve Bieser took over the program, Mizzou has scored 81 times in the first inning in his 75 games (1.08 per game) – Mizzou had scored just 64 first-inning runs in the previous two years combined (114 games; 0.56 per game).
PITCHING SHINING UNDER FIRST-YEAR PITCHING COACH FRED CORRAL
- Mizzou's pitching staff, despite losing first-round pick Tanner Houck and workhorse Cole Bartlett to the draft a year ago, has been tremendous through four weeks under first-year pitching coach Fred Corral.
- Last weekend against La Salle, Mizzou allowed just six runs and took a no-hitter into the fifth inning of every game. Mizzou limited batters to .177 hitting on the weekend and surrendered just three extra-base hits.
- Over the eight-game win streak, Mizzou is limiting batters to .183 hitting with only seven extra-base hits (five doubles, two homers).
- Mizzou ranks in the national top-25 in six of the major pitching categories. Below is a look at the national marks for Mizzou's staff:
- • 7th - WHIP - 1.05
- • 7th - Strikeout-Walk Ratio - 3.73
- • 10th - Hits Allowed - 6.67
- • 16th - ERA - 2.45
- • 22nd - Strikeouts/Nine Innings - 10.3
- Mizzou is second in the SEC with 168 batters struck out as well, trailing only Kentucky (180).
BOND HEATING UP
- Mizzou senior C Brett Bond was dubbed the No. 4 college senior by PerfectGame.org during the offseason and turned down the MLB Draft (23rd round by the Astros) to return to Mizzou for his senior season. Bond got off to a slow start by his standards this season, batting just .167 through the first six games of the season. Head coach Steve Bieser and his staff had Bond as the team's cleanup hitter to start the year, but his slow start dropped him down in the order. However, he's been on a tear over his last 10 contests, raising his batting average from .167 to .291.
- Over his last 10 games, Bond is batting .351 (13-for-37) with a homer, two doubles, six RBI and eight runs. He was the team's top hitter during last weekend's series with La Salle, going 6-for-9 with two runs, a double and four RBI.
- Bond's success is key to the Mizzou order as his right-handed bat serves as the perfect split in the cleanup spot between a pair of Mizzou lefties who have enjoyed hot starts - sophomore three-hole hitter 1B Kameron Misner (.368/0544/.719, 3 HR, 11 XBHs, 16 RBI) and junior 3B Brian Sharp (.420/.492/.720, 3 HR, 8 XBHs, 21 RBI). If Bond stays hot, he would fit perfect between Misner in the three hole and Sharp in the five hole, putting a righty between the two lefties.
TIGERS IN SEC WEEKLY HONORS
- Mizzou junior 3B Brian Sharp earned SEC Player of the Week on Feb. 26 and RS junior RHP Bryce Montes De Oca earned SEC Pitcher of the Week the following Monday. That is noteworthy as Mizzou is the only SEC school to earn both awards this season.
- Sharp earned Player of the Week after throwing 9.2 shutout innings without a walk and 14 strikeouts while scattering just seven hits, including 5.0 shutout innings at No. 24 Miami in a 9-0 win, while going .563/.588/1.125 with 10 RBI at the plate that week. Northeastern, Sharp exploded for one of the most impressive single-game performances in school history in the second game of a Saturday doubleheader. In Mizzou's 20-1 win, Sharp went 5-for-5 with a pair of homers, a triple, a walk and a school-record nine RBI, tying the mark set by Jacob Priday on April 11, 2008, vs. Texas. His 13 total bases were the most since Priday had 15 in that same game vs. Texas. A double shy of the cycle, Sharp came to bat in the eighth inning with the bases loaded. Instead of hitting the double he needed for the cycle, he launched a grand slam to right field to complete the historic performance.
- After throwing 7.0 innings of no-hit, shutout baseball in Mizzou's first no-hitter since 2005, Montes De Oca was the SEC Pitcher of the Week,on March 5. Montes De Oca struck out a career-high 12 in his longest career outing as a Tiger vs. UMBC, starting a combined no-hitter. It was the program's 10th no-no and the first since Max Scherzer and Michael Cole combined to no-hit Texas Tech in 2005.
- That marked the first SEC Pitcher of the Week honor for Montes De Oca and he is the first Mizzou pitcher to earn this distinction since May 22, 2017, when Cole Bartlett earned the nod after throwing a complete game, one-hitter at Tennessee. He also earned Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week for his efforts.
- Montes De Oca was untouchable during his Friday night vs. UMBC, his third start of the season. He carved up the UMBC order efficiently and likely would have finished the game had it not been for a 26-pitch fifth inning during which he walked two. Those were the only baserunners against him all evening. Just one batted ball left the infield during his 7.0 innings and only two of the 21 outs he recorded were hit in the air, a foul out to first base and a shallow pop to left that was gloved by Mizzou SS Chris Cornelius.
- That start earned him a game score of 87, which was the fourth-best mark in the nation last week and second-best among schools from a Power 5 league.
MIZZOU IN ELITE COMPANY
- Following the first four weeks of play, Mizzou is in some pretty elite company as one of just four teams to rank in the top 20 nationally in both ERA and runs scored.
- This week, Mizzou ranks 12th in the nation with 135 runs scored and 16th with a 2.45 ERA.
- The only other teams nationally to do so are No. 6 Florida (18th in runs, sixth in ERA), No. 10 Texas A&M (13th in runs, fifth in ERA) and No. 18 Arkansas (19th in runs, seventh in ERA).
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