April 27, 2000

Tigers Have 10 To Go In Stretch Run

The Missouri Tigers (27-17, 8-10 in the Big 12 Conference) have 10 games remaining to enhance their chances for post-season play, and nine of them are against conference opponents. The Tigers go into this weekend's series against the Kansas State Wildcats (16-24, 3-17) at Taylor Stadium at Simmons Field having won five of their last six games. It's the final weekend home games of the season for the Tigers, with games Friday night at 7 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. Saturday has been designated as "Little League Day" with youths from Daniel Boone Little League and Columbia Diamond Council admitted for $1.00 if they are wearing their uniform. Sunday is Senior Day, when infielder Dustin Barnes, catcher Ryan Pickett, infielder Mike Rallo, and pitcher Meade Smith will be saluted in pre-game ceremonies.

Series Record

Missouri leads Kansas State, 144-99-1, and won two-of-three from the Wildcats last season in St. Joseph. In Columbia, MU swept the 'Cats in 1998, and took two-of-three in '96. After having won seven in a row, including two games over Oklahoma State, Coach Mike Clark's club has lost its last four games - three to Iowa State in Ames, last weekend, and 12-3 at Creighton on Wednesday.

Missouri Coach Tim Jamieson

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 189-134 record, which includes four postseason conference tournaments, a trip to the NCAA Tournament ('96), and a regular-season Big Eight title ('96). Jamieson's Tigers are 170-100 since 1996, and have won at least 30 games in each of the last four seasons.

Tigers Know How To Handle Close Games

Missouri is 13-6 in games decided by one or two runs. MU is 8-2 in one-run games and 5-4 in two-run affairs. Mizzou has also played five three-run games.

Pitching, Defense Have Come To the Front For Tigers

There's no secret as to why Missouri has won five of its last six games - the Tigers have excelled on the mound and in the field. During the last six games, Mizzou has managed only a .250 team batting average (with the Big 12's leading hitter, Ryan Stegall, hitting at just a .200 clip) and averaged five runs per game. But the Tiger pitching staff has posted an excellent 2.53 earned run average during that span - with 50 strikeouts and 13 walks in 57 innings - and the Mizzou defense has

Mizzou Moves Up Two Spots In The Big 12 Race

Without playing a conference game, the Missouri Tigers moved up to sixth place in the Big 12 Conference race last weekend. While the Tigers were playing a non-league series with Cal State Northridge, Oklahoma State and Texas A&M slid backward past the Tigers. Oklahoma State was swept by Oklahoma in the annual "Bedlam Series" while Texas A&M dropped three games at Nebraska. The Tigers are four games behind fifth-place Texas Tech - a team from which Missouri won two-of-three games in the opening league series of the season. The Tigers still have league series remaining with OU and Texas A&M - both on the road where the Tigers are 6-3 in the Big 12 this season (2-7 at home where they still have last-place Kansas State this weekend). MU's three home series, though, have been against the league's top three teams - Texas, Baylor and Nebraska. The top eight teams advance to the Phillips 66 Big 12 Conference Tournament, May 17-21, in Oklahoma City. Missouri, Baylor, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M and Texas Tech are the only teams that have advanced to the Big 12 Post-Season Tournament each season since the formation of the conference in 1997. Missouri has gone 1-5 on Big 12 Fridays, 2-4 on Saturdays, and 5-1 on Sundays. Here's what each of the Big 12 teams have remaining in league play:

1. BAYLOR - Kansas, at Kansas State

2. TEXAS - Texas A&M, Nebraska

3. NEBRASKA - Iowa State, at Texas

4. OKLAHOMA - at Texas Tech, Missouri, at Iowa State

5. TEXAS TECH - Oklahoma, at Oklahoma State

6. MISSOURI - Kansas State, at Oklahoma, at Texas A&M

7. OKLAHOMA STATE - Iowa State, Texas Tech

8. TEXAS A&M - Texas, Missouri

9. KANSAS - at Baylor, at Kansas State

10. IOWA STATE - at Nebraska, at Oklahoma State, Oklahoma

11. KANSAS STATE - at Missouri, Kansas, Baylor

Brandes' Bomb Is Difference In 7-4 Win Over SMS

Landon Brandes delivered a grand slam home run over the scoreboard in left field in the fourth inning Wednesday night and the Missouri Tigers went on to a 7-4 victory over the Southwest Missouri State Bears at Taylor Stadium at Simmons Field. It was Brandes' sixth home run of the season and Mizzou's first grand slam. After Bears pitcher Mike Bowen retired the first two Tigers in the inning, Jayce Tingler reached base on a bunt single and J.R. Warner walked. On a routine ground ball by Ryan Stegall that would have ended the inning, SMS second baseman Matt Gardner made his first of two errors on the evening and the bases were loaded. One pitch later, Brandes unloaded. The homer gave the Tigers a 6-2 lead. Warner was 3-for-4 on the night with two doubles and three runs scored, while Tingler and Stegall each were on base four times. Junior Ralph McCasland pitched four innings in relief of Brian Ackerson and earned the victory (7-4). Mitch Kiler struckout the side in the ninth inning to earn his first save of the season. Winning for the fifth time in six games, Missouri (27-17) climbed 10 games over .500 for the first time this season, and also swept its two-game series with SMS.

Tigers Take Billikens To The Woodshed

Jon Williams tripled home Nick Wilfong in the 12th inning Tuesday night, and Dustin Barnes followed with an RBI-single, propelling the Missouri Tigers to a 5-3 victory over the St. Louis U. Billikens in the first Rawlings-KTRS Baseball Classic at T.R. Hughes Ballpark in O'Fallon. Both teams used wooden bats in the game, provided by St. Louis-based Rawlings Sporting Goods. Mizzou took a 3-2 lead into the bottom of the ninth inning, after a sacrifice fly by Ryan Stegall and a two-out double by Wilfong plated a pair of runs in the sixth inning. Stegall took the hill in the ninth inning, looking for a school-record 10th save of the season. But the Bills (17-25) got a pair of bloop hits to tie the game - a double by Kurt Evans and a single by Adam Shea. Despite blowing the save, Stegall worked the rest of the game - the four- inning stint was his longest ever - and earned the victory (2-1). He allowed four hits and one run while striking out three and walking one. Freshman Drew Endicott pitched the first eight innings for the Tigers - his longest outing of the season.

Sunday's Game Will Be Televised

Metrosports out of Kansas City will televise Sunday's game against Kansas State on a tape-delay basis. Veteran announcer Fred White will call the play-by-play. Besides airing in Kansas City at 7 p.m. on both May 1 and 2, the game will also be shown in Columbia (AT&T Cable, Channel 28, 7 p.m., May 1) and in Springfield (AT&T Cable, Channel 36, 6 p.m. May 2 and 3). Arrangements are still pending in St. Louis.

Ticket Information For Phillips 66 Big 12 Conference Baseball Tournament

Some tickets still remain for the Phillips 66 Conference Baseball Tournament which will be contested May 17-21 at the Southwestern Bell Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City, Okla. While club level and box seats are sold out, reserved tickets and general admission tickets still remain. All-session reserved seats are available for $60 and all-session G.A. tickets are on sale at $40. To order by mail, make checks payable to Big XII Baseball, and mail to OKC All Sports Association, 100 West Main, Suite 285, Oklahoma City, OK 73102. Include $3.00 for postage and handling per order.

Baseball America Touts Mizzou's Stegall, Tingler

Last week's issue of Baseball America featured an All-America checklist, broken down by class, and two Missouri Tigers were prominently included. Sophomore Ryan Stegall, the Big 12 Conference's leading hitter (.391 for all games, .462 in conference games), was a second-team choice among the nation's sophomores both as a position player and as a relief pitcher. Jayce Tingler, one of the Big 12's hottest hitting freshmen with a .370 batting average, was a second-team selection in the outfield. Both have had long hitting streaks this season - Tingler, 15 games, and Stegall, 11.

Brandes Steps Up

Third baseman Landon Brandes has been Mizzou's offensive leader during the Tigers' last five games. He's hit .400 in that span (10-of-25), with two doubles, two home runs (including a grand slam on Wednesday) and seven runs batted in. He's also handled 11 flawless chances in the field during that period, and in MU's last game had a season-best five assists. He missed nine games earlier in the season with a broken bone in his left hand, but is still tied for second on the club in both home runs (6) and RBI (37). His slugging percentage of .542 is second behind Ryan Stegall (.626). His average now up to .347, Brandes ranks 16th in all-game hitting in the conference.

Stegall Hits His First Slump Of The Season But Still Leads League

Sophomore shortstop Ryan Stegall is just 4-for-20 in Missouri's last six games, and that slump has dropped his batting average below the .400 level for the first time this season. He's now hitting .391. But that mark still leads the Big 12 in hitting. And he's smoked the ball at a .462 clip in conference games which also makes him the league leader. His 20 doubles this season have him tied for 7th place on the MU season charts - eight away from the school record of 28 by Aaron Jawoworski in 1996. He's second in the Big 12 in doubles and ranks 18th nationally in that category. Stegall has hit safely in 37 of Mizzou's 44 games. Stegall has 36 hits in Big 12 games, and by comparison, only six other Tigers have as many as 36 hits for the entire season. Stegall is also among the league leaders in hits (68), triples (3), RBIs (50), total bases (109) and saves (9). On the mound as the Tigers' closer, Stegall is still looking for the MU season saves record. He has tied the record of nine set by Jeff Cornell in 1978. He has suffered "blown-saves" in two of his last three outings - against Baylor and St. Louis University. But against SLU on Tuesday, he went on to pitch four innings - the longest pitching appearance of his career - and earned the win when Mizzou prevailed 5-3 in 12 innings. His nine saves already have him tied for sixth place on the MU career list, and rank him tied for 16th in the latest NCAA Division I statistical rankings. 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.

Tingler Looks Like Big 12's Best Freshman

Jayce Tingler (Smithville, MO) has firmly established himself as one of the top freshmen in not only the Big 12 Conference but in the nation. He's seventh in the league in hitting with a .370 batting average, and during MU's last 26 games, he's had hitting streaks of 15, 7 and 2 (current) games. During MU's last six games - in which the Tigers have won five times - he's hit .391 and scored eight runs. The little lefty is hitting a team-best .425 against left-handed pitchers, and also leads the club hitting .526 with runners in scoring position. He had a typical Tingler game on Wednesday against Southwest Missouri State. He had a bunt single, walked twice, was hit by a pitch, stole a base (he has 12 thefts this season), and scored two runs. As Missouri's leadoff hitter in 35 games, Tingler has led the Tigers to a 22-13 record. 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 runner at home and made a diving, game-saving catch in Mizzou's win. Entering the Texas series, Tingler 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.

Pete Sansone Leads Off Tiger Pitching Rotation

Righthander Pete Sansone has become the ace of the Missouri starting staff, running up a 5-0 record which includes three Big 12 victories (all on Sundays against Texas, Kansas and Iowa State). He took a no-decision in two other Sunday encounters - at Texas Tech and against Baylor - games Mizzou eventually won. For the season, Missouri is 9-2 when Sansone climbs the hill. He leads the Tigers pitchers in strikeouts with 56 in 58.2 innings. Sansone will be MU's Friday night starter, and will be followed in the rotation by junior Jon Harris (4-4 and a winner over Cal State Northridge last Saturday) and freshman Drew Endicott (1-2). Endicott worked a season-long eight innings on Tuesday vs. St. Louis U. and left the game with a 3-2 lead. His start on Sunday will be his first in a conference game. He's made four other starts on the season.

Kiler Piles Up The Appearances, Gets First Save

Junior lefthander Mitch Kiler would be a prize closer for many teams, but at MU he has made his mark this season as a steady setup man for closer Ryan Stegall. Kiler leads the MU pitching staff with 22 appearances this season - two away from moving into the Missouri season top-10. In his last outing on Wednesday, he struck out the only three men who faced him in the ninth inning. That effort in Mizzou's 7-4 win over Southwest Missouri State earned him his first save of the season (and first by anyone other than Ryan Stegall) and the second of his career. Kiler had his longest stint of the season in Missouri's 9-8 victory over Baylor, working the final three-and-two-thirds innings. He held the Bears to four hits and one run in earning his second victory of the season (2-1). Kiler's ERA is down to 3.11 overall, and 2.89 in Big 12 games. His strikeout-to-walk ratio is a staff-best 4.1:1 (45-11). For the season, lefthanders are hitting just .098 against him. His strikeouts translate to an average of 10.8 per nine innings. Missouri has relied heavily on its bullpen all season, since Tiger pitchers have yet to record a complete game. Mizzou's bullpen squad has worked 168.2 innings with a 4.05 earned run average while allowing 177 hits and 95 runs (76 earned), with 174 strikeouts and 72 walks.

Don't Run On These Boys

Missouri's starting outfield of LF Jayce Tingler, CF Nick Wilfong and RF J.R. Warner have combined for a .989 fielding percentage in 2000 with each one having made only one error. Warner has six assists this season, while Wilfong and Tingler have three each. Wilfong has thrown out baserunners in each of Missouri's last two games - one at third and one at home.

Around The Bases

? MU's pitchers are piling up the strikeouts. Tiger pitchers have fanned 363 opposing batters this season and have issued 171 walks (2.12:1). Missouri has struck out 10-or-more batters in 16 games this season.

? Missouri has hit into 51 double plays in 44 games, while turning just 28. The Tigers have turned two double plays in the same game only five times this season.

? Jon Harris took a no-hitter into the sixth inning last Saturday vs. Cal State Northridge.

? Missouri has hit back-to-back home runs three times in 2000 - Ryan Stegall and Jon Williams vs. Pepperdine in the first game of the season, Nick Wilfong and Williams in the third game against Kansas, and J.R. Warner and Ryan Stegall in the series-opener vs. Baylor.

? Ryan Stegall and J.R. Warner are the only Tigers who have started all 4 games this season.

? Landon Brandes hit Missouri's first grand slam home run of the season on Wednesday night.

? W.T. Hoover has delivered pinch hits in his last two plate appearances - a home run and a single.

? Despite ranking in Missouri's career top 10 for home runs, Mike Rallo has not delivered a round-tripper this season.

? Luke Cassis' home run against Baylor was his first in 127 career at bats and was his only hit in the series. Since that blast, he's 3-for-15.

? Dustin Barnes had played almost exclusively as a late-inning, defensive replacement until this week. He got into the game late for defense against SLU and wound up with two hits, the second of which drove in MU's final run. He started at second base on Wednesday and singled in his first at bat.

? C Ryan Pickett was honored at MU's basketball game against Oklahoma State as one of Mizzou's three Bank of America Community Champions.

? Missouri dedicated its new Ralph and Debbie Taylor/Phi Delta Theta Stadium (or more practically Taylor Stadium at Simmons Field) on April 8 when the Tigers entertained the Baylor Bears. The new facility has become affectionately known as "The Ralph."

? After this weekend's series against Kansas State, the Tigers have one home game remaining - May 10 against Southeast Missouri State. The Indians, who beat Mizzou 14-8 in Cape Girardeau on March 8, are currently leading the Ohio Valley Conference with a 12-3 record and are 29-10.

? Assuming the Tigers qualify for the Phillips 66 Big 12 Conference Baseball Tournament in Oklahoma City, they'll have a long trip at the end of the season. Since Missouri wraps up its league schedule with a three-game series at Texas A&M in College Station, May 12-14, the Tigers will head straight to OKC instead of returning to Columbia.