May 5, 2000
The Missouri Tigers (29-18, 10-11 in the Big 12 Conference) will break this week to take final examinations, then head to Norman, Okla. where they'll square off in a conference series against the Oklahoma Sooners (32-18, 15-9) at Dale Mitchell Field. The Tigers have won seven of their last nine games but were thwarted Sunday, by Kansas State, from reaching several milestones. A win would have given MU 30 victories for the fifth straight season, would have given the Tigers their first Big 12 sweep of the year, and would have given them a five-game winning streak - equalling their longest of the year. But KSU prevailed, 9-6. This week's series begins Saturday night at 7 p.m., followed by a 2 p.m. contest on Sunday, and a 7 p.m. game on Monday. The Sooners are ranked 25th in this week's USA TODAY Baseball Weekly/ESPN Coaches' Poll. Missouri will play its final home game of the year on Wed., May 10, against the Southeast Missouri State Indians (30-12). Game time at Taylor Stadium at Simmons Field is 5 p.m.
Series Record
Oklahoma leads Missouri, 121-91, but the Tigers took two-of-three from the Sooners last year in Columbia. OU won two-of-three the last time the two teams hooked up in Norman, in 1998.
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 191-135 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 172-101 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 14-6 in games decided by one or two runs. MU is 8-2 in one-run games and 6-4 in two-run affairs. Mizzou has also played six three-run games.
Tigers Looking To Lace Up Their Hitting Shoes
Missouri has gone 7-2 in its last nine games, but during the same span the Tigers' offense has slumped. As a team, they've posted just a .244 batting average in the last nine games, struck out 49 times, walked 45 times, and scored 50 runs. The only Tigers hitting over .300 the last two weeks have been Dustin Barnes (.412), Landon Brandes (.333) and Jayce Tingler (.300).
Pitching, Defense Come To The Fore
With the Tiger bats in hibernation the last two weeks, Mizzou has relied on its pitching and its defense. In MU's last nine games, the Tiger pitchers have a cumulative earned run average of 3.00, and recorded 71 strikeouts and only 24 walks. The highest ERA on the staff during that period of time is 4.50 and five Tiger pitchers are at 3.00 or lower (Matt Hobbs 0.00, Ryan Stegall 1.59, Jon Harris 2.03, Mitch Kiler 2.08 and Brian Ackerson 3.00). On defense, Mizzou has fielded at a .986 clip over the last nine games, with just five errors in 358 total chances.
Mizzou Has Virtually Clinched A Berth In Big 12 Tournament
The Missouri Tigers are in sixth place in the Big 12 Conference standings with a record of 10-11 and have virtually clinched a berth in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Conference Tournament. The top eight teams in the league standings advance to the 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. The only team that could dislodge the Tigers from a spot in the tourney is Iowa State. The Cyclones, 6-18 in the league, would need to win their six remaining Big 12 games against Oklahoma State and Oklahoma while the Tigers drop six straight to OU and Texas A&M to finish with a better conference winning percentage. The Tigers are three games behind fifth-place Oklahoma. Missouri is 6-3 on the road in conference play this season, having won series at Texas Tech, Kansas and Iowa State. Missouri has gone 2-5 on Big 12 Fridays, 3-4 on Saturdays, and 5-2 on Sundays.
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
Baseball America recently 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 in league play, 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, was a second-team selection in the outfield. Both have had long hitting streaks this season - Tingler, 15 games, and Stegall, 11.
Stegall Earns Save Record & Heats Up Again At The Plate
When Ryan Stegall needed just eight pitches to post a 1-2-3 ninth inning Saturday, preserving a 8-6 Missouri victory over Kansas State, it earned him his school-record 10th save of the season. He had been tied with Jeff Cornell for the Mizzou record. Cornell, now a scout with the Toronto Blue Jays, saved nine games for the Tigers in 1978. He had suffered "blown-saves" in two of his last previous three outings - against Baylor and St. Louis University. But against SLU last 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 10 saves already have him tied for fourth place on the MU career list, and rank him tied for 15th in the latest NCAA Division I statistical rankings. Stegall was in a 5-for-27 slump (over eight games) before he went 3-for-4 with a home run in Sunday's 9-6 loss to Kansas State. Stegall is now hitting .389, while ranks him third in the Big 12 for all games - he's been the league leader for most of the year. He's smoked the ball at a .449 clip in conference games which still leads the loop. He has not hit lower than .333 in any conference series this season. Stegall has 21 doubles which is tied for 5th place on the MU season charts - seven away from the school record of 28 by Aaron Jawoworski in 1996. Stegall has hit safely in 39 of Mizzou's 47 games, and is among the Big 12 leaders in hits (72), doubles (21), triples (3), RBIs (52), total bases (117) and saves (10). 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.
Brandes Steps Up
Third baseman Landon Brandes has been an offensive sparkplug of late, hitting hit .300 in the last eight games (12-of-36), with two doubles, three home runs (including a grand slam to beat Southwest Missouri State) and 11 runs batted in. He missed nine games earlier in the season with a broken bone in his left hand, but is tied for the team lead in home runs (7) and is second in RBI (41).
Tingler Is One Of Big 12's Best Freshmen
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 been Mizzou's leadoff hitter 38 times this season. He's among the league leaders in hitting with a .352 batting average, and during MU's last 29 games, he's had hitting streaks of 15 and 7 games. During MU's six games prior to last weekend's Kansas State series - in which the Tigers won five times - he hit .391 and scored eight runs. Tingler went hitless against the Wildcats, but he walked seven times - including five straight. He leads the team with a .513 average with runners in scoring position. He had a typical Tingler game last 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. 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 three other Big 12 encounters - at Texas Tech, against Baylor and Kansas State - games Mizzou eventually won. For the season, Missouri is 10-2 when Sansone climbs the hill. He leads the Tigers pitchers in strikeouts with 63 in 64.2 innings. Sansone will be MU's Saturday night starter, and will be followed in the rotation by junior Jon Harris (5-4 and a winner in his last two starts) and junior lefty Mitch Kiler (2-1).
Kiler Piles Up The Appearances, Gets Saves, Now Starts
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 24 appearances this season. Now he'll take his team-leading 2.74 ERA to the mound for a starting assignment on Monday against the Oklahoma Sooners. It will be his first starting call since last year's Big 12 Tournament when he was the Tigers' starter in semifinal action against the Baylor Bears. He earned his first two saves of the season last week, and has posted a 1.88 ERA in his last 12 appearances - a stretch of 24 innings in which he's allowed only five runs, while striking out 24 and walking six. Kiler is especially tough against lefthanded batters who have hit just .089 against him this season. 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 2.74 overall, and 2.28 in Big 12 games. His strikeout-to-walk ratio is a staff-best 4.0:1 (48-12). His strikeouts translate to an average of 10.1 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 181.2 innings with a 3.86 earned run average while allowing 186 hits and 97 runs (78 earned), with 181 strikeouts and 74 walks.
Around The Bases
? MU's pitchers are piling up the strikeouts. Tiger pitchers have fanned 384 opposing batters this season and have issued 182 walks (2.10:1). Missouri pitchers have struck out 10-or-more batters in 16 games this season.
? Missouri has hit into 53 double plays in 47 games, while turning just 30. 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 vs. Cal State Northridge and has allowed only six hits in his last two starts.
? 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 47 games this season.
? Landon Brandes hit Missouri's only grand slam home run of the season against Southwest Missouri State.
? 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.
? Dustin Barnes had played almost exclusively as a late-inning, defensive replacement until the last five games. He got into the St. Louis U. contest late for defense and wound up with two hits, the second of which drove in MU's final run in a 5-3, 12-inning victory. He has started at second base in Mizzou's last four games, and takes a five-game hitting streak into the OU series. Barnes is hitting .412 during his streak (7-for-17) with five RBI.
? 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."
? The Tigers have one home game remaining - Wed., May 10 against Southeast Missouri State (5 p.m.). The Indians, who beat Mizzou 14-8 in Cape Girardeau on March 8, are currently tied for second in the Ohio Valley Conference with a 13-4 record and are 30-13 overall.
? Assuming the Tigers qualify for the Phillips 66 Big 12 Conference Baseball Tournament in Oklahoma City, they'll have a long trip next week. 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.
? 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 just four collective errors. Warner has six assists this season, while Wilfong and Tingler have three each.