April 6, 2000
The Missouri Tigers (20-11, 7-5) - winners of three in a row - will entertain the Baylor Bears (26-10, 10-5) - riding a six-game winning streak - in a crucial Big 12 Conference series this weekend. Friday's game begins at 7 p.m. Saturday's game starts at 2 p.m., and the game will be preceded by dedication ceremonies for MU's new Ralph and Debbie Taylor/Phi Delta Theta Stadium. Sunday's series finale starts at 1 p.m. Baylor is tied for second (with Texas A&M) - just two games behind league-leading Texas - in the Big 12 Conference standings, and Coach Steve Smith's Bears are ranked nationally by Collegiate Baseball (18th), Baseball America (13th) and Baseball Weekly (14th). The series, televised by College Sports Southwest, will be the first games ever televised outside of the Columbia area. On Wednesday, MU plays the Southwest Missouri State Bears at Price Cutter Park in Ozark, Mo. The minor league facility is the home of the Ozark Mountain Ducks.
Baylor Series Will Be Televised
As part of the Big 12 Conference's new baseball/softball package with College Sports Southwest, all three games of this weekend's Baylor series will be televised throughout the Big 12 region. John Quinlan will call the play-by-play, assisted by former BYU baseball coach and athletic director Glen Tuckett. On Sunday, MU Senior Associate Athletic Director and former baseball coach Gene McArtor will serve as the color commentator. Tuckett and McArtor are both former chairmen of the NCAA Baseball Committee. The games may be seen on Cox Cable affiliates. In Missouri the games will be available in Springfield on AT&T Cable (Channel 36), and throughout the Kansas City area on Metrosports. Other markets include: Houston, TX (KTBU, Ch. 55), Bryan, TX (Ch. 15), and Cedar Rapids, IA (Ch. 10). Missouri's series at Texas A&M, May 12-14, will also be televised by College Sports Southwest, as will games in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Tournament.
Series Record
MU trails Baylor, 12-4. Last year, Baylor won two-of-three games against Mizzou during the regular season, then beat MU twice at the Big 12 Conference Tournament in Oklahoma City, 2-0 and 9-2. The last time Baylor came to Columbia, the Bears won games #1 and #3 by respective scores of 12-1 and 15-14, sandwiched around a 6-4 Mizzou verdict.
Tigers Hit Their Stride
Missouri has won three games in a row, six of its last seven, and 11 of its last 14 since opening the season with a 9-8 record. During the last 14 games, the Tigers have hit .311 as a team and averaged 7.5 runs per game, while posting a team ERA of 4.61. Those figures are a marked improvement from the first 17 games of the year when MU hit and had an ERA of 5.29.
Mizzou Boasts Top Underclassmen
Missouri has the top-hitting freshman and sophomore in the Big 12 Conference. Jayce Tingler's .363 batting average 11th in the league and he's the only freshman among the loop's top-20 hitters. Second-year man Ryan Stegall ranks second in the league with his .408 mark. The next highest sophomore is Kansas' Ryan Klocksien (8th, .370).
MU-SLU 'Wood Bat Game' To Be Played At Minor League Park
Missouri's April 25 game against St. Louis U. has been moved from SLU's Billiken Sports Center to the T. R. Hughes Ballpark in O'Fallon, Mo. - home of the minor league River City Rascals. The stadium has 2,950 permanent seats and hillside/grass seating for an additional 2,200 fans. The game will be a unique experience for players from both teams as the game will be played with wood bats, provided by Rawlings Sporting Goods - a St. Louis company. Plans are to make one of each season's two Missouri-St. Louis games a "wood bat" game at the T. R. Hughes facility in O'Fallon.
Missouri Coach Tim Jamieson
MU Head Coach Tim Jamieson has firmly established himself as one of the top young coaches in college baseball. In his sixth year, "T.J." has led Missouri to a 182-128 record, which includes three postseason conference tournaments, a trip to the NCAA Tournament, and a regular-season Big Eight title. Jamieson's Tigers are 163-94 since '96, and have won at least 30 games the last four seasons.
Mizzou's Position In The Big 12 Race
Having won three of its four Big 12 Conference series, the Missouri Tigers are in fifth place in the league standings with a league mark of 7-5. At this point a year ago, Mizzou was 3-9 in the conference, but went 11-4 down the stretch to finish with a 14-13 Big 12 mark that was good for seventh place. Missouri has gone 1-3 on Big 12 Fridays, 2-2 on Saturdays, and 4-0 on Sundays. The Tigers' next nine conference games will be played at home. Nebraska comes to Columbia next weekend, and Kansas State will be here on April 28-30.
Stegall Has Tied Mizzou Saves Record
Sophomore Ryan Stegall earned saves in both of Missouri's victories at Iowa State last weekend, upping his total to nine and tying the MU season record set by Jeff Cornell in 1978. He's second in the Big 12 behind Texas' Charlie Thames (10) and ranks among the top five nationally. Stegall retired nine straight batters in three appearances last week, and is now 9-for-9 in save opportunities this season. In 17 career pitching appearances, he's been scored on only twice. His nine saves already have him tied for sixth place on the MU career list. He's also on a nine-game hitting streak, having gone 18-for-39 in that span (.462), with five doubles, a home run, 14 RBIs and 13 runs scored. His batting average of .408 ranks third in the Big 12 (all games). His league-games average of .472 is second. He's among the league leaders in a number of other categories, including . He has 16 doubles this season, three more and he'll move into Mizzou's season top-10. The record is 28 by Aaron Jaworowski in 1996. Stegall has hit safely in 27 of Mizzou's 31 games this season, including 18 of the last 19. He leads the team in batting average (.408), hits (51), doubles (16), triples (2), RBI (41), total bases (80) and slugging percentage (.640). Stegall set a Missouri and Big 12 Conference record March 1 by driving in six runs in the first inning against Western Illinois. The old conference mark was five by Iowa State's Matt Nordby against Northern Iowa last season. His first time at bat, he hit a three-run home run to right-center field. As MU batted around (the Tigers sent 14 men to the plate in the inning), Stegall came up again with the bases loaded and cleared them with a 3-run double.
Never On Sunday Against Pete Sansone
Righthander Pete Sansone upped his record to 4-0 when he beat Iowa State, 5-3. All four of his victories have come on Sundays - three of them in Big 12 Conference play (against Texas, Kansas and Iowa State). He took a no decision in another Sunday encounter at Texas Tech in a game that Mizzou eventually won. At Iowa State, Sansone pitched a career-long eight innings. He scattered seven hits and struckout eight, while allowing two runs and two walks.
Jamieson Can Rest Easy When He Calls On The 'Pen
Missouri's bullpen continues to shine. So far in 2000, Missouri's bullpen crew has worked 115 innings with a 3.67 earned run average while allowing 111 hits and 63 runs (47 earned), with 120 strikeouts and 55 walks. The relievers most called upon are Mitch Kiler (15 appearances), Ryan Stegall (14), P.J. McGinnis (12), Drew Endicott (11), Matt Hobbs (10), and Ralph McCasland (9).
McCasland Returns To Rotation
Junior lefty Ralph McCasland returns to the starting rotation this weekend, tentatively slated to pitch on Saturday. He started for the first time in nearly a month on Tuesday, and allowed just two runs over six innings in upping his record to 6-2. Both runs came in the first inning and in his final five innings he didn't allow a man past second base. Four of his six victories have come in relief appearances during Mizzou's last 13 games. A couple of rocky starting appearances early in the season still have him saddled with a 6.56 earned run average - highest on the staff - but in his relief role, his ERA is 3.05. Out of the pen, McCasland has pitched 17.2 innings, allowing 20 hits, 7 runs (6 earned), with five walks and 18 strikeouts.
Many Happy Returns For Landon Brandes
Third baseman Landon Brandes missed nine games with a broken bone in his left hand before returning to action a week-and-a-half ago against Central Missouri State. Since his return, he's hit .417 (5-for-12), with four RBI. In Brandes' absence, MU went 7-2, thanks largely to Kurt Propst who filled in at third base. Propst started seven of those games and hit .286, with three doubles, a home run and four RBIs.
Tingler On A 14-Game Hitting Streak
Pesky freshman Jayce Tingler (Smithville, MO) is currently riding a 14-game hitting streak - the longest streak by a Tiger this season. In case you are wondering, the school record is 26 games by Shane Fairbanks (1981) and Grant Ingram (1994). During the last 14 games, Tingler has hit .364 (20-of-55), walked 12 times and scored 15 runs. Earlier this season, he was the Phillips 66 Big 12 Player of the Week after enjoying the finest week of his young career with a .500 average (11-for-22) as the Tigers went 3-2 and completed the week with a 5-3 victory over the No. 4 Texas Longhorns. The rookie scored six runs, drove in six more, and was 3-for-3 in the stolen base department. He also threw out a Texas runner at home and made a diving, game-saving catch in Sunday's win. Entering the Texas series, he reached base in 11-of-12 at bats - including a streak of nine straight spanning the final Texas Tech contest and both games against Western Illinois.
Wilfong Continues To Feast On Big 12 Pitching
Centerfielder Nick Wilfong is hitting .429 in 12 Big 12 Conference games - third in the league - but just .197 in non-league action. He owns a eight-game hitting streak entering this weekend's series during which he's hit .364. In league play, he has a .816 slugging percentage with three doubles, two triples and four home runs. Two of his homers came in Game 1 of the Texas Tech series (the second a game-winner in the 10th inning), and the others came at KU and at Iowa State. For the season, though, the left-handed swinger also leads the teams with 27 strikeouts.
Power Surge For Jon Williams
Catcher Jon Williams has homered three times in Missouri's last six games and is tied for the team lead with Nick Wilfong - each with five. He had a six-game hitting streak snapped on Tuesday, but has hit safely in 15 of MU's last 18 games (.377). He's walked 30 times - second in the league.
Tigers Play Plenty Of Close Games
Missouri is 10-5 in games this season that were decided by one or two runs. MU is 6-2 in one-run games and 4-3 in two-run affairs. Mizzou has also played four three-run games.