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Feb. 27, 2001
Columbia, Mo. -- The University of Missouri baseball team (3-5-1) will head to Waco, Texas, this weekend to meet nationally ranked Baylor in the second weekend of the Big 12 Conference season. The Tigers and Bears play Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Upcoming Schedule: Missouri faces the following foes:
*Baylor - Friday, 7 p.m., Baylor Ballpark
*Baylor - Saturday, 3 p.m., Baylor Ballpark
*Baylor - Sunday, 1 p.m., Baylor Ballpark
*Wichita State - Wednesday, 7 p.m., MU's Taylor Stadium/Simmons Field
Weather: Tuesday's game (Feb. 27) between Missouri and Lincoln has been postponed. The game, which would have been the Tigers' first of the season at Taylor Stadium/Simmons Field, was postponed due to the weather situation in Columbia. No word has been made regarding a make-up date.
Missouri's game with Creighton will be played April 18 at 7 p.m. at Taylor Stadium/Simmons Field. That game was originally scheduled for Feb. 21.
Baylor Notes: The Bears are 11-4 on the season and are scheduled to play Mary-Hardin-Baylor, a NCAA Division III, team Tuesday. Baylor is ranked 14th in the Baseball Weekly/ESPN Top 25 College Baseball Coaches Poll, 18th by Baseball America, 20th by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and 23rd by Collegiate Baseball. BU defeated Texas A&M twice this past weekend in its three-game series.
Baylor is led offensively by Kelly Shoppach and his .472 batting average. He also leads the team in home runs (4) and runs batted in (20). The Bears are hitting .300 as a team this season.
However, pitching has been the name of the game for the Bears who have a 2.26 earned-run average and recorded 107 strikeouts in 135 and 1/3 innings. BU has allowed only 108 hits and 48 walks. Sophomore Steven White was named the Big 12 Pitcher of the Week (Feb. 12) while classmate Mike Huggins (1B) was named the Phillips 66/Big 12 Player of the Week (Feb. 19). Zane Carlson has 13 strikeouts in 10 innings pitched and two saves while Josh Scott is 2-1 with a 2.45 ERA in 33 innings pitched.
Head coach Steve Smith is in his seventh season and has a 236-134-1 record. He led Baylor to its first-ever 50-win season in 1999. The Bears are in their second season at the Baylor Ballpark and have posted a 32-9 mark there all-time. BU is 6-3 at home in 2001.
Missouri versus Baylor: The Bears hold a 14-5 edge in the series which started in 1905. The Tigers snapped a six-game BU win streak with a 9-8 triumph last season. Missouri is 2-4 in Waco, posting 1-2 marks in both the 1997 and 1999 series. Here is a rundown of the series:
*1905 - Baylor 8, Missouri 5
*1964 - Baylor 5, Missouri 2
*1964 - Baylor 3, Missouri 1
*1997 - MU 3, Baylor 2, Baylor 6, Missouri 5, Baylor 9, Missouri 6, MU 9, Baylor 8 (Big 12 Tournament)
*1998 - Baylor 12, Missouri 1, MU 6, Baylor 4, Baylor 15, Missouri 14, Baylor 7, Missouri 3 (Big 12 Tournament)
*1999 - MU 8, Baylor 4, Baylor 6, Missouri 4, Baylor 9, Missouri 2, Baylor 2, Missouri 0 (Big 12 Tournament)<, baylor="" 9,="" missouri="" 2="" (big="" 12="">
*2000 - Baylor 6, Missouri 4, Baylor 13, Missouri 4, MU 9, Baylor 8
Last Year Vs. Baylor: Baylor won the series 2-1. The Bears scored three runs in the ninth inning to win the opener 6-4. In the second game, Baylor scored at least a run in each of the first seven innings and won 13-4. The Tigers rallied from a run down in the series finale as Nick Wilfong's two-out bunt single drove in J.R. Warner from third base and gave MU a 9-8 win. Warner singled earlier in the inning and moved to third base on a single by Landon Brandes, who drove in Jayce Tingler with the tying run.
Statistical Breakdown: Here is how Missouri and Baylor match up on paper:
Missouri/Baylor
*Batting Average .256/.299
*Doubles 13/32
*Home Runs 6/7
*Runs Scored 47 (5.4 per game)/120 (8 per game)
*ERA 4.44/2.26
*Opponents' BA .261/.222
*Strikeouts 55/107
*Strikeout to Walk Ratio 1.83/2.23
*Won/Loss 3-5-1/11-4
Ranked Teams: Missouri is currently 0-4 versus ranked opponents in 2001. The Tigers posted a 4-10 mark against ranked foes in 2000. MU's last road win against a ranked opponent was Feb. 27, 2000, a 6-5 victory over Texas Tech.
MU has already faced nationally ranked Pepperdine and Oklahoma State and will meet the ranked squads of Baylor, Wichita State, Pepperdine (again) and Nebraska throughout the season.
MU vs. 2000 NCAA Participants: The Tigers have 16 games scheduled against teams which participated in the 2000 NCAA Championships. The Tigers are 1-0-1 so far this season against those foes, defeating Loyola Marymount and tying San Jose State. Baylor and Wichita State, the Tigers' upcoming opponents, both advanced to the NCAAs last season.
Possible Rotation: The Tigers have sent Drew Endicott and Matt Hobbs to the pitching mound to open the past three weekends. Endicott (1-1) is expected to throw the opener with Hobbs (2-1) to take the mound in game two. Senior Mitch Kiler (0-0) could start game three. No formal decision has been made on the starting pitcher for that game or for Wednesday's contest.
Endicott has a team-high 18 strikeouts in 19 innings. He limited San Jose State to two hits in the season-opening game and picked up the win over Nevada-Las Vegas. Hobbs has wins over Loyola Marymount and New Mexico but saw his win streak snapped against Oklahoma State. Kiler has not recorded a decision in two starts (Utah and Oklahoma State).
Recent Action: The Tigers opened Big 12 Conference play and lost all three games to Oklahoma State. Missouri stranded a total of 27 runners in the series and ended up with a .212 batting average. Jon Williams paced Mizzou with a .455 batting average. He also hit one home run and drove in three runs.
Hot Bat: MU catcher Jon Williams is currently on an eight-game hitting streak. He leads the Tigers with a .375 batting average and has had a pair of three-hit games this season. Williams, who also has played two games at third base this season, missed the 2000 Big 12 Tournament after suffering an injury (torn ligaments and a dislocated left thumb) in the Texas Tech series.
Deja Vu?: When Missouri won the 1996 Big 8 regular season title, the Tigers dropped the first two games at Oklahoma State but rebounded to post a 20-8 league mark.
Milestone Watch: Missouri head coach Tim Jamieson has won 198 games during his career at MU. Jamieson will become the third Tiger head coach to win 200-or-more games when MU wins its fifth game of the season. Gene McArtor had a mark of 733-430-3 in 21 seasons (1974-94) while John "Hi" Simmons was 481-294-3 in 35 season (1937-73).
Milestone Watch II: Ryan Stegall hit his 23rd career home run in the loss to Utah. Stegall is tied for 10th place with Nick Wilfong (1998-2000) and Kevin LeCompte (1984-87) on the MU all-time charts. Mark Thiel (1974-76) is in ninth place with 24 round-trippers.
Milestone Watch III: Ryan Stegall sits in third place with 13 career saves. Stegall set a single-season record in 2000 with 12 saves and recorded his first of the 2001 season against Loyola Marymount. In other news, Stegall has started 94 consecutive games.
A Tie?: Yes, the Missouri Tigers had a tie game to open the season. The tie was not the first in school history. Missouri tied Illinois 3-3 in the 1986 season and tied Murray State 8-8 in the 1984 campaign. The 1980s decade featured three tie games. MU has been involved in seven tie games since the 1940 season and now has played 19 tie games all-time. A total of 10 of those tie games came between the 1897 and 1921 seasons.
Preseason Honors: Junior shortstop/relief pitcher Ryan Stegall has collected a number of preseason honors this season. They are:
*Named to Rotary Smith Award's watch list for Player of the Year
*Big 12 Player of the Year by Collegiate Baseball
*Second-team All-American utility player by Collegiate Baseball
*Third-team All-American utility player by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association
Sophomore outfielder Jayce Tingler and senior pitcher Mitch Kiler were mentioned as "Players to Watch" in the Big 12 by Collegiate Baseball.
Stegall recently received the "Brock Olivo Award" from the Kansas City Tiger Club as the MU male student-athlete of the year from the Kansas City metropolitan area. The award honors the character, dedication and leadership shown by Olivo during his career as he set Missouri's all-time rushing record.
2000 Recap: The Tigers went 33-24 in 2000 and advanced to the Big 12 Conference Tournament for the fourth consecutive campaign. Ryan Stegall was honored as the first-team all-Big 12 shortstop and was named an All-American utility player by two organizations. Jayce Tingler was named to the Freshman All-American team.
Coaching Staff: Head coach Tim Jamieson enters his seventh season and has an overall mark of 198-146-1 and a record of 79-61 in Big 12/Big 8 play. A University of New Orleans graduate, Jamieson was an assistant coach for the Tigers for six seasons before taking over the top spot. He led the Tigers to the 1996 Big 8 regular season crown and a berth in the Midwest Regional. Jamieson is assisted by Chal Fanning (pitching coach, fifth season), Evan Pratte (hitting coach/infield, fourth season) and Chris Smith (outfield, first season). The Tigers have had 16 players enter professional baseball during Jamieson's tenure. Jamieson is 5-11 against Baylor.
Another Season, Another 30 Wins: Missouri has won 30-or-more games the past five seasons and in 14 of the last 16 campaigns.
Success: The Tigers opened the 2001 season ranked 35th among all NCAA Division I teams with 1,743 wins. In its 104 seasons of baseball, Missouri has won 61.0 percent of its games.
Broadcasts: The Tigers' games this season will be carried on KWWC (90.5 FM) as well as on www.mutigers.com. Sean Kelley serves as the play-by-play announcer while color commentary will be provided by Mike Cronemeyer (home games) and Matt Schmidt (road contests). Kelley is in his third season as the voice of the Tigers.
Home Runs for Kids: Again this season, the Tigers have teamed with the University of Missouri Children's Hospital to develop a special program called "Home Runs for Kids." The program is geared to raise money for sick children at the Children's Hospital at University Hospital and Clinics.
The fund-raising program will recruit baseball fans, individuals, businesses, clubs and organizations, to pledge 25 cents to $10 or more for every home run the Tigers hit this season. All of the money raised by the "Home Run for Kids" program will be used locally to fund equipment, research and programs for patients at Children's Hospital. Currently, the Tigers have hit six home runs.
Big 12 Statistics: In conference-only games, MU ranks sixth in earned-run average (5.76) and seventh in batting average (.212). In all games, MU ranks fifth in ERA (4.44) and ninth in batting average (.256).
In all games, Jon Williams ranks 12th with a .375 batting average while Luke Cassis ranks 18th at .348. Ryan Stegall is one of five players with three home runs while Williams is one of seven with two triples. Matt Hobbs (3.18), Pete Sansone (3.18) and Drew Endicott (3.32) are ninth (tied) and 11th, respectively, in earned run average. Sansone ranks ninth in opponents' batting average (.220) while Endicott is one of three players to have hurled a shutout. Stegall's two home runs against Loyola Marymount is tied for the best single-game performance this season in the Big 12 with two other players. MU's 18 assists against Loyola Marymount are the most assists in a game this season.
Tigers By Inning: Missouri has found the fifth and sixth innings to be its favorite for scoring runs. The Tigers have scored 10 runs in each of the two innings. Missouri has scored three runs twice this season in the fifth inning (UNLV and New Mexico) and scored a season-best four runs in the second inning (New Mexico - 2/17).
Home Sweet Home: When the Tigers will open the 2001 home schedule, Missouri will play in the friendly confines of Taylor Stadium/Simmons Field. Taylor Stadium debuted in 2000 and Missouri posted an 18-12 mark at home.
Word on Wichita State: The Shockers are coached Missouri alum Gene Stephenson who is the active winningest coach at the NCAA Division I level. He has a career mark of 1,272-383-3 in 24 seasons. The nationally ranked Shockers are 4-2 this season and meet Long Beach State, Cal State-Fullerton and Tennessee this weekend in California before heading to Columbia. Wichita State downed Missouri 6-5 last season and now holds a 4-3 edge in the series. The Shockers have won the past four meetings, including a game in the 1996 Midwest Regional.
Academic Success: Seven members of the Tigers' squad were named to Missouri's Fall Student-Athlete Dean's List. They are: Dan Bane, Garrett Broshuis, Logan Dale, Bo Davis, Mitch Kiler, Malachi Momper and Andy Runyan
Next: The Tigers will play Wichita State Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Taylor Stadium/Simmons Field before returning to Big 12 Conference play against Kansas. The Tigers and Jayhawks play in Lawrence March 9 before meeting in Columbia March 10-11.