Friday, March 23
Columbia, Mo.
6:30 p.m.
University of Missouri
vs
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Mississippi State
No. 25 @MizzouBaseball Faces SEC West Foe Mississippi State This Weekend
3/22/2018 2:09:00 PM | Baseball
Three-game series begins Friday at 6:30 p.m.
- No. 25 Mizzou Baseball, which has won 14 consecutive home games for the first time since 2006-07, continues a five-game homestand against SEC West foe Mississippi State this weekend at Taylor Stadium. All three games will air live on SEC Network+ and KTGR in the Mid-Missouri area. Friday's game is at 6:30 p.m., Saturday's contest is at 2 p.m. and the finale on Sunday is at 1 p.m.
- Mizzou is coming off a midweek series sweep over the Sun Belt Conference's Arkansas State. Mizzou won Tuesday, 11-1, behind a career-day from senior INF Alex Samples (3-for-3, career-high five RBI) and another solid midweek start from junior lefty Tyler LaPlante. On Wednesday Mizzou won 14-9 as the offense again exploded for its sixth game with 10+ runs. Mizzou tied a 62-year old school record with 10 steals in Wednesday's win.
- Mizzou has won 14 consecutive home games, dating back to last season. That is the longest regular season home winning streak since May 5, 2006, through March 23, 2007, when Mizzou won 16 straight. Mizzou won its final six home games in 2006 before winning its first 10 in 2007.
- Mizzou head coach Steve Bieser has shuffled this weekend's rotation, moving Preseason All-American T.J. Sikkema to a starting role Friday night. It will be his first start since May 24, 2017, in the SEC Tournament vs. LSU (a 10-3 Mizzou loss). In his career as a starter, Sikkema is 1-2 with a 4.26 ERA in 19.0 innings. He has allowed 16 hits and only three walks in those outings. His best career start came on May 18, 2017, at Tennessee, a complete-game, four-hit shutout when he struck out seven without a walk. His start against LSU in last year's SEC Tournament came with just three day's rest.
- Junior LHP Michael Plassmeyer, who has been brilliant this season, will remain on Saturday. He is 3-0 with a 2.81 ERA and 43 strikeouts against only four walks. He struck out eight, his most ever in an SEC game, at LSU during his third win last Saturday. RS junior RHP Bryce Montes De Oca, the SEC's leader in opponent batting average, will start Sunday.
- Mississippi State is a perfect 8-0 all-time vs. Mizzou. This weekend's matchup is the first between Mizzou and Mississippi State since a 2016 series at Dudy-Noble. Then ranked No. 3 nationally, Mississippi State won all three meetings in early May. MSU won Friday, 8-2, Saturday, 4-3, and Sunday, 3-1. MSU also won three over Mizzou at Taylor Stadium in 2014.
- Of course, the series between Mizzou and Mississippi State is highlighted by an epic, 17-inning game in the opening round of the SEC Tournament in 2013. MSU won that game, 2-1, on a walk-off single by senior catcher Mitch Slaughter. Dillon Everett and Shane Segovia each had a pair of hits in that game but Mizzou was limited to just 11 hits in the 17 innings.
- The only other meeting between the two schools came in 2003, a 10-5 Bulldog win in NCAA Regional action in the Strakville Regional.
- At 17-5 this season, Mizzou is now 53-28 overall since Steve Bieser took over the program last year. Mizzou has not been that far over .500 in a span of 81 games since Feb. 9, 2007 through March 25, 2008, when it was 61-20.
PROJECTED STARTERS
- Friday: Sophomore LHP T.J. Sikkema (1-0, 2.25 ERA) vs. LHP Konnor Pilkington (1-2, 1.55 ERA)
- Saturday: Junior LHP Michael Plassmeyer (3-0, 2.81 ERA) vs. LHP Ethan Small (1-2, 3.04 ERA)
- Sunday: RS Junior RHP Bryce Montes De Oca (3-1, 2.17 ERA) vs. RHP Jacob Billingsley (2-1, 3.52 ERA)
TIGERS CUT BACK ON ERRORS
- Mizzou Baseball has committed just one error in its last nine games and has not committed an error in 13 of 22 games. The Tigers now rank third in the SEC in fielding percentage at .983, a mark that ranks 10th nationally.
- Anyone who has followed Mizzou closely over the last several seasons would note that the defensive turn-around has been one of the nation's best. Mizzou fielded at just a .966 clip a year ago, a mark that ranked 194th in college baseball. Through 22 games this year, Mizzou has just 14 errors - conversely, Mizzou had 39 at this point of the season a year ago, nearly three times as many errors
- For even more perspective, Mizzou has zero errors in 13 of 22 games this season (59%). For perspective, here's the previous three seasons:
- Errorless games
- 2017: 16 of 59 (27%)
- 2016: 19 of 56 (34%)
- 2015: 18 of 58 (31%)
- The sample size is obviously smaller this season, but Mizzou is just three errorless games shy of its total of such games a season ago (16 in 59 games).
- Playing great defense is something that second-year head coach Steve Bieser hoped to build his program around.
FIRST IS FAR FROM THE WORST
- The Tigers have scored in the first inning in nine of 12 games and had a streak of eight straight games scoring in the first inning snapped Friday night at LSU.
- Mizzou has scored in the first inning in 13 of 22 games this season, going 11-2 in such contests.
- Mizzou has outscored opponents,27-10, in the first inning this season and 43-11 over the first two frames.
- Since head coach Steve Bieser took over the program, Mizzou has scored 86 times in the first inning in his 81 games (1.06 per game) – Mizzou had scored just 64 first-inning runs in the previous two years combined (114 games; 0.56 per game).
MISNER EMERGING AS ONE OF SEC'S MOST FEARED HITTERS
- Mizzou sophomore 1B/CF Kameron Misner is turning heads across the nation's as he is emerging as one of the nation's top hitters. Through 22 games, Misner leads the nation in walks with 28, is third nationally in runs (31) and fifth nationally in on-base percentage (.561). His walk total is eight ahead of the next-closest SEC play (Georgia's Keegan McGovern - 20). Additionally, Misner ranks high in a variety of categories in the SEC. Below is a snapshot:
• Runs - 1st - 31
• Walks - 1st - 28
• On-Base Percentage - 1st - .561
• Stolen Bases - 1st - 11
• Triples - 2nd - 3
• Batting - 4th - .397
• Hits - 6th - 31
• Doubles - 6th - 8
• Total Bases - 6th - 57
• Slugging - 7th - .731
• RBI - 9th - 25
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 five and a half weeks under first-year pitching coach Fred Corral.
- Two weeks ago 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. Last Tuesday vs. No. 20 Wichita State, Mizzou took a 9-1 lead into the ninth before allowing three runs in the frame.
- Mizzou ranks in the national top-30 in three of the major pitching categories and is just outside the top 30 with a 3.21 ERA, which is 39th nationally. Below is a look at the national marks for Mizzou's staff:
- 24th - WHIP - 1.18
- 20th - Hits Allowed - 7.24
- 29th - Strikeout-Walk Ratio - 2.87
BUT CAN HE GET ON BASE?
- A key to Mizzou's offensive success this season has been the ability to get on base. Mizzou boasts a team OBP of .420, which ranks 13th nationally. A big key to that has been the ability to put together productive at-bats and force the opponent to throw pitches in the strikes zone. Mizzou has walked 146 times through 22 games, more than any team in the nation. For perspective, Mizzou averaged just 192 walks per season in the four seasons prior to Bieser's arrival. Mizzou is on pace to reach that mark by the 30th game this season.
- Mizzou's team OBP is something that head coach Steve Bieser wants to see carried over into SEC play. The .420 clip is a stark improvement from the last several years:
- 2017 OBP: .360
- 2016 OBP: .345
- 2015 OBP: .330
- 2014 OBP: .327
- 2013 OBP: .338
- Getting on base is a key component of Bieser's approach to offense through his pitch recognition program. Over his last three years at SEMO, Bieser's Redhawks ranked 14th in OBP in 2014, sixth in 2015 and seventh in 2016. It is clear that Bieser values hitters who routinely get on base.
BUT CAN HE SCORE RUNS?
- Mizzou's offensive approach is obviously built around getting on base, a big component is making things happen when runners get on base. Last time out, Mizzou matched a 62-year old school record with 10 stolen bases and now ranks 15th nationally and second in the SEC in steals with 39.
- The activity on the base paths, mixed with always having runners on base has led to the nation's No. 7 rank in runs scored as Mizzou has 188 through 22 games. To provide some perspective on how far the offense has come under Bieser's tutelage, Mizzou scored just 196 total runs in 2014, just four years ago. Mizzou is just eight runs shy of matching that total this season, and we're not halfway through the 56-game regular season. Mizzou scored its most runs since 2010 last season (347) in the first year under Bieser.
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