Friday, April 6
Columbia, Mo.
1 p.m.
University of Missouri
vs
Alabama
No. 18 @MizzouBaseball Hosts Alabama for SEC Series at Taylor Stadium
4/5/2018 3:20:00 PM | Baseball
All three games will begin at 1 p.m. on SEC Network+
- No. 18 Mizzou Baseball, winner of three straight and four of five, hosts SEC West foe Alabama in a three-game series at Taylor Stadium this weekend. All three games will begin at 1 p.m. beginning Friday as a poor weather forecast forced a schedule change. With inclement weather expected all weekend, sty tuned to MUTigers.com all weekend for any other schedule changes. All three games will air live on SEC Network+ and KTGR on the radio waves.
- This weekend's series marks Mizzou's fourth straight SEC series against a foe from the league's western division. Mizzou will close its SEC slate with six straight series against SEC East teams following this weekend's series with Alabama. Mizzou is off to a 5-4 start in SEC play, its best start to conference play since opening 2015 with a 6-3 mark.
- Mizzou is coming off of a series win at nationally-ranked Auburn last weekend and a 12-1 win over SIU-Edwardsville Wednesday in 30-degree temperatures at Taylor Stadium. Mizzou lost Friday night to projected top-five pick Casey Mize and Auburn, 5-2, despite Mizzou tagging Mize for two runs, including a leadoff homer from Trey Harris. Mizzou then gutted out a 2-1 win Saturday thanks to great pitching from starter Michael Plassmeyer and senior RHP Andy Toelken, who allowed just one run over 9.0 innings of work, striking out 10. In the Sunday rubber game, Harris hit a go-ahead grand slam in the top of the fifth inning as Mizzou won, 5-0, on Easter Sunday. RS junior RHP Bryce Montes De Oca tossed 6.0 shutout innings, scattering just one hit while fanning five. Mizzou pitching combined for a one-hitter. Mizzou then slugged 14 hits, including two homers in the rout of SIUE.
- Alabama took two of three games from top-10 Kentucky last weekend but lost midweek to Jacksonville State, 4-0. Led by first-year head coach Brad Bohannon, the Tide have won two of their last five games coming into the weekend set.
- Mizzou leads the all-time series with Alabama, 6-4, after sweeping the Tide in Tuscaloosa to open SEC play a year ago. Mizzou outscored Alabama, 19-9, last year and did a lot of the damage on the base paths, stealing 10 bases on 10 attempts in the three-game set. Alabama had no steals. Mizzou pitching limited Alabama to just .186 hitting in last year's series.
- Mizzou and Alabama last met in Columbia during the 2015 season as Mizzou took two of three that year, winning Friday, 4-3, and Sunday, 5-3. Alabama won the Saturday game 6-0. The two teams met in the SEC Tournament that year with Alabama grabbing a 4-3 win.
- Mizzou is 14-1 at home this season with the lone loss coming in 15 innings in a 3-1 decision vs. Mississippi State. Dating back to last season, Mizzou has won its last four home weekend series and since May 2 of last year, Mizzou is 18-2 in its last 20 games played on Simmons Field.
- Mizzou Baseball is one of just two teams to rank in the national top-10 in both fielding (fifth) and ERA (10th). Mizzou is the only team in the nation to rank in the top 15 in both of the above categories and runs scored per game (13th).
PROJECTED STARTERS
- Friday: Sophomore LHP T.J. Sikkema (2-1, 2.88 ERA) vs. RHP Sam Finnerty (3-1, 3.30 ERA)
- Saturday: Junior LHP Michael Plassmeyer (3-0, 2.38 ERA) vs. RHP Jake Walters (2-3, 4.93 ERA)
- Sunday: RS Junior LHP Bryce Montes De Oca (4-1, 2.40 ERA) vs. LHP Garret Rukes (1-1, 1.38 ERA)
TIGERS CUT BACK ON ERRORS
- Over its last 16 games, Mizzou has played errorless baseball in 13 of those contests and is now fielding at a .984 clip on the year, fourth-best 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 29 games this year, Mizzou has just 18 errors - conversely, Mizzou had 44 at this point of the season a year ago, two-and-a-half times as many errors
- For even more perspective, Mizzou has zero errors in 18 of 29 games this season (62%). 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 two errorless games ahead 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. Mizzou is 16-2 when it plays errorless baseball this season.
FIRST IS FAR FROM THE WORST
- The Tigers have scored in the first inning in 11 of 19 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 15 of 29 games this season, going 12-3 in such contests.
- Mizzou has outscored opponents, 30-12, in the first inning this season and 49-14 over the first two frames.
- Since head coach Steve Bieser took over the program, Mizzou has scored 89 times in the first inning in his 88 games (1.01 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 as he is emerging as one of the nation's top hitters. Through 29 games, Misner leads the SEC and is second nationally in walks with 32, and is second in the SEC and 10th nationally in OBP (.522). His walk total is seven ahead of the next-closest SEC play (Georgia's Keegan McGovern - 25). Additionally, Misner ranks high in a variety of categories in the SEC. Below is a snapshot:
• Walks - 1st - 32
• Stolen Bases - 1st - 12
• OBP - 2nd - .522
• Triples - 2nd - 3
• Batting - 5th - .371
• Runs - 4th - 34
• Total Bases - 9th - 66
• Hits - 10th - 39
• Slugging - 11th - .629
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 seven weeks under first-year pitching coach Fred Corral.
- Last weekend vs. Auburn, Mizzou allowed just six runs over the three-game set, with just one combined run in the wins Saturday and Sunday. Mizzou's pitching staff combined to one-hit the Auburn Tigers Sunday en-route to the rubber-game win.
- Mizzou ranks in the national top-30 in four of the major pitching categories, the nation's No. 10 ERA at 2.84. Below is a look at the national marks for Mizzou's staff:
- 12th - Hits Allowed - 7.23
- 10th - WHIP - 1.17
- 10th - ERA - 2.84
- 8th - Strikeout-Walk Ratio - 2.91
GETTING IT DONE WITH PITCHING AND DEFENSE
- At the midway point of the season, Mizzou is playing a brand of baseball that second-year head coach Steve Bieser can be proud of. Mizzou ranks fifth nationally in fielding percentage at .984 and 10th nationally in ERA 2.84. Mizzou is allowing just 3.14 runs per game this season. That mark is good for seventh nationally and second-best in the SEC.
- Mizzou is one of just two teams nationally to rank in the national top-10 in both fielding and ERA. Below is a look at the other teams:
- Mizzou - 4th in Fielding / 10th in ERA
- UCLA - 9th in Fielding / 4th in ERA
- Taking that note even farther, Mizzou is the only team in the nation to rank in the national top 15 in fielding (fourth), ERA (10th) and runs scored (13th).
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ Baseball
INF/OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballIn the NOW - Embrace the Opportunity
Monday, February 10
Inside Mizzou Athletics - Talkin' Baseball with Brock Lucas
Monday, February 03
Mizzou vs. LSU Series Highlights
Monday, April 22
Mizzou at Missouri State Highlights
Friday, April 19
