Tigers Face Arkansas State, Texas Tech
3/26/2001 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 26, 2001
For Immediate Release
Contact: Matt Schmidt
Monday, March 26, 2001
Columbia, Mo. -- After winning a series against a nationally ranked opponent for the second-straight week, the University of Missouri baseball team (15-10-1, 5-7 Big 12) heads to Jonesboro, Ark., to meet the Arkansas State Indians in a two-game series this week before returning home to face Big 12 Conference member Texas Tech in a weekend series.
Missouri has won 10 of its last 12 games and the past three weekend series.
Upcoming Schedule: Missouri's upcoming action is as follows:
*Arkansas State - Tuesday, 7 p.m., Tomlinson Stadium/Kell Field
*Arkansas State - Wednesday, 2 p.m., Tomlinson Stadium/Kell Field
*Texas Tech - Friday, 6 p.m., Taylor Stadium/Simmons Field
*Texas Tech - Saturday, 2 p.m., Taylor Stadium/Simmons Field
*Texas Tech - Sunday, 1 p.m., Taylor Stadium/Simmons Field
Probable Starters: Missouri will start Matt Hobbs on Tuesday against Arkansas State. Hobbs (4-2) has a team-high four wins this season. He won his first two starts and now has won his last two starts. No decision has been made on Wednesday's starting pitcher. The tentative rotation for the Texas Tech series looks like this:
*Friday- Drew Endicott
*Saturday - Mitch Kiler
*Sunday - Shaun Marcum
Endicott, a sophomore right-hander from Carthage, Mo., has a 2-4 record and a 5.36 earned-run average. He struck out a career-best eight against Oklahoma State on Feb. 24. Kiler, a left-handed pitcher from Shawnee, Kan., is 1-1 with a 4.61 ERA on the season. Kiler scattered seven hits in seven innings in a win over Nebraska. Marcum, a freshman from Excelsior Springs, Mo., is 2-0 with a 2.43 ERA. He limited Nebraska to five hits and two runs while throwing his first-ever collegiate complete game in the 3-2 win on Sunday (3/25).
Arkansas State Notes: The Indians enter the week with a 9-17 record after losing two of three games to Western Kentucky this past weekend. Outfielder Nick Martin is hitting .318 to lead Arkansas State. First baseman Kent Brunen has driven in a team-high 19 runs while batting 280. Head coach Bill Bethea is in his 10th season with the Indians.
Statistical Breakdown: Here is how Missouri and Arkansas State match up:
Missouri Arkansas State
*Batting Average .271 .236
*Doubles 45 30
*Home Runs 13 10
*Runs Scored 157 (6.04 per game) 110 (4.23 per game)
*ERA 3.89 4.91
*Opponents' BA .254 .286
*Strikeouts 151 163
*Strikeout to Walk Ratio 2.69 1.65
*Won/Loss 15-10-1 16-5
Missouri-Arkansas State Series: The Tigers hold a 16-5 lead in the series with the Indians, who are members of the Sun Belt Conference. The series started in 1958 with the Tigers recording a 13-0 win. Arkansas State came back to win the second game of the series 2-0. Missouri won both meetings in 2000 and has won the past three meetings.
Missouri vs. ASU in 2000: Missouri scored three runs with two outs in the fifth inning to rally and beat Arkansas State, 6-2 in the first game of the two-game series. With MU trailing 2-1 and runners on second and third with two outs in the fifth, Ryan Stegall doubled to right-center field to drive in two runs and Jon Williams followed with a double to left to score another. Williams singled in another run in the seventh inning and Mick Weiss hit his first home run of the season in the eighth to close the scoring for the Tigers. Stegall's ninth-inning single over the heads of a drawn-in outfield drove in Jayce Tingler with the winning run as Missouri completed a two-game series sweep over Arkansas State with a 7-6 victory.
Texas Tech Notes: The Red Raiders (21-12 overall, 6-6 Big 12) won the best-of-three series with Oklahoma State 2-1 this past weekend. Texas Tech won game one 2-0 and game two 10-2 before dropping the series finale 2-1. Chris Phillips (Jr., RHP) improved to 8-1 with a win over Oklahoma State. The Red Raiders have had the past two Big 12 Pitchers of the Week in Brandon Roberson (5-3, 4.03 ERA) was honored on March 19 and Phillips was chosen on March 12. Roberson will start Friday's contest while Phillips will start Saturday. Sunday's starter will be announced later. Head coach Larry Hays is in his 15th season as the Red Raiders' coach.
Statistical Breakdown: Here is how Missouri and Texas Tech match up:
Missouri Texas Tech
*Batting Average .271 .302
*Doubles 45 65
*Home Runs 13 30
*Runs Scored 157 (6.04 per game) 265 (8.03 per game)
*ERA 3.89 4.07
*Opponents' BA .254 .259
*Strikeouts 151 241
*Strikeout to Walk Ratio 2.69 2.67
*Won/Loss 15-10-1 21-12
Missouri-Texas Tech Series: The Red Raiders lead the series against Missouri by a 9-7 margin. The series started with Missouri winning two games in 1965 (6-3 and 26-3). The Tigers won the 2000 series (2-1) after seeing Texas Tech win all three games of the regular season but Missouri won the Big 12 Conference Tournament game 8-7.
Missouri vs. Texas Tech 2000: The Tigers won the best-of-three series by a 2-1 margin at Dan Law Field in Lubbock. The series win was the Tigers' first over Texas Tech since the 1997 formation of the Big 12 Conference. In game one, Nick Wilfong powered a 19-hit attack with two home runs to pace the Tigers to a 16-14 victory over Texas Tech. Wilfong's second home run was a two-run shot to right field in the 10th inning to give MU the win. Texas Tech used a seven-run seventh inning to rally for a 11-6 triumph in game two of the series. In the series finale, Missouri scored two runs in the fourth and three in the fifth to pick up a 6-5 victory and the series win.
Player of the Week: Freshman outfielder Lee Laskowski made his first-ever start against Missouri Valley (3/13) and has been impossible to remove from the lineup. During a five-game stretch, he hit .429 (9x21) with two doubles and two home runs. Laskowski, from St. Louis, has also driven in five runs. He also recorded three games with two-or-more hits. For his efforts, Laskowski was named the Big 12's Player of the Week for the week of March 13 to 18. Laskowski is the first Tiger to be honored this season. In 2000, Missouri's Logan Dale was honored as a pitcher of the week on Feb. 21, outfielder Jayce Tingler was selected on March 6 and then-third baseman Landon Brandes was chosen on May 15.
Tigers on Tears: The Tigers have won eight of their past 10 games and Missouri has been doing it with offense, defense and pitching. Three of the Tigers' starters are hitting .350 or better. Jayce Tingler leads the way with a .436 batting average (17x39). Tingler also has driven in a team-best 13 runs while scoring 10 himself during the stretch. Lee Laskowski is hitting .366 with four doubles and two home runs while Wes Fewell has returned from a wrist injury to hit. 350 with four doubles.
As a team during that 10-game stretch, Missouri is hitting .295 while its opponents are hitting .220. But the Tigers have done more than just hit the ball as Missouri has also stolen 28 bases on 32 attempts in the past 10 games. MU's pitching staff has a 2.98 earned-run average during those 10 games and alowing opponents to hit only .220. The Tigers are also fielding at a .964 clip for those 10 contests.
The Running Tigers: Missouri has stolen 41 bases in just 26 games this season. The Tigers stole 54 bases in the 57-game 2000 season. The school record is 83 set in the 1979 campaign. Individually, Jayce Tingler leads the way with nine stolen bases and he is one of four players with five-or-more thefts.
Calling Mr. Ripken?: While the consecutive games played streak set by Cal Ripken, Jr., is not quite in jeopardy, Ryan Stegall has started every one of the 138 games he has played for the Tigers. Stegall started all 55 games he appeared in as a freshman but did not play in the March 31, 1999, non-conference game against Kansas but has started every game since then to bring his streak to 111 games. Stegall was the lone Tiger to start all 57 games in 2000 and he is one of four players to start all 26 games in 2001.
Recent Action: Missouri won two of three games against nationally ranked Nebraska this past weekend. After falling 14-4 in game one of the series, Missouri won the next two games by scores of 6-2 and 3-2. Jayce Tingler had six hits in the series and drove in four runs. Tingler had two hits in the opener and a three-hit game in game two. While MU had only three hits in the series finale, all three came in the second inning as Missouri scored three times - one a Tingler single, one on a balk and another on a single by Cody Ehlers. In the opener, Nebraska scored two runs in each of the first four innings to take an 8-1 lead before recording the win. Mitch Kiler scattered seven hits in seven innings while the MU offense scored four runs in the first two innings. Lee Laskowski had four hits for the Tigers who won game two, 6-2. In the series finale, Shaun Marcum allowed five hits as he picked up his first-ever collegiate complete game as MU made its three second-inning runs stand up in the 3-2 triumph. Missouri used a 13-hit attack in the 12-0 win over Western Illinois (3/20). Mick Weiss, Wes Fewell, Brian Desch and Felipe Tetelboin each had two hits to lead the Tigers. Ryan Rallo drove in two runs with a seventh-inning single. Five players had two-or-more-hits as the Tigers downed Western Illinois 10-2 (3/21). Tingler led the way with three hits and stolen bases while Jon Williams, W.T. Hoover, Fewell and Luke Cassis each had two hits. Missouri used six pitchers in the contest and Jon Harris improved to 3-0 with the win.
Big 12 Leaders: Missouri has a number of players among the leaders in this week's Big 12 Conference statistics. Here's a look at the leaders in various categories:
*Drew Endicott is in an eight-way tie for shutouts (1) and is in a four-way tie for complete games (3).
*Ryan Stegall is in a fourth-way tie for third place in saves (3).
*Jayce Tingler ranks fifth in walks per game as he has walked 19 times in 26 games (0.73 bb/game). He is tied for seventh in stolen bases (9).
*Shaun Marcum ranks sixth with a 2.43 earned-run average and he is 10th in opponents' batting average (.232).
*Mick Weiss ranks 17th in batting average (.348).
In all games, the Tigers rank fifth with a 3.81 earned-run average. Missouri has allowed a league-low 70 walks.
Hit Streaks: Jon Williams saw a 10-game hit streak snapped in the 12-0 win over Western Illinois (3/20). Williams also had an eight-game hit streak earlier this season. Mick Weiss had a team-best 13-game hit streak snapped this past weekend. In terms of current streaks, Brian Desch has a seven-game hit streak and Jayce Tingler has a five-game hit streak going.
MU vs. 2000 NCAA Participants: The Tigers have 19 games scheduled against teams which participated in the 2000 NCAA Championships. Missouri is 5-3-1 so far this season against those foes, defeating Loyola Marymount and Wichita State, winning two of three games from Nebraska this past weekend, winning one of three games against Baylor and tying San Jose State. Upcoming opponents Texas Tech (this weekend), Oklahoma, Texas and Creighton also advanced to the 2000 NCAAs.
Missouri vs. Ranked Teams: Missouri has posted a 5-8 record against teams nationally ranked. However, MU has won four of the last six games against opponents ranked in the nation's top 10 with all four of the wins coming in the past two weekends.
Home Sweet Home: The Tigers have posted an impressive 9-1 record this season at Taylor Stadium. Missouri went 18-12 in 2000 - the first season at Taylor Stadium.
Milestone Watch I: Ryan Stegall hit his 24th career home run in the win over Truman State on March 14. Ironically, Stegall hit his first career home run against the Bulldogs in 1999. Stegall is tied for ninth place on the career home run chart with Mark Thiel (1974-76) with 24 round-trippers.
Milestone Watch II: Ryan Stegall is in second place with 15 career saves. He passed Jeff Cornell, who recorded 14 saves from 1976-78, to move into sole possession of second place against Kansas (3/11). Stegall set a single-season record in 2000 with 12 saves.
Weather: Weather has played a factor in the Tigers' season. MU has had six games affected by rain or snow or fog. Missouri's season-opening contest against San Jose State was called with the Tigers coming to bat in the sixth inning due to rain and the score tied 0-0. MU's game with Creighton will now be played April 18 at 7 p.m. at Taylor Stadium/Simmons Field. That game was originally scheduled for Feb. 21 but was postponed due to snow and cold. Missouri's game with Lincoln on Feb. 27 was cancelled due to snow. The Tigers replaced that contest with the game against Truman State. The second game of the Tigers' series with Baylor was suspended due to fog covering the outfield in the bottom half of the first inning. The contest was completed on March 4. The doubleheader against Pepperdine (3/17) was due to snowfall and cold temperatures while the doubleheader against Nebraska (3/24) was due to cold temperatures and single-digit wind chills the day before. Technically, the list could be seven as the second day's action of the Cal Poly/J.Carroll Classic was cancelled due to rain. However, MU was able to schedule a game with Loyola Marymount to fill that open date.
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 1940. It now has played 19 tie games all-time with 10 of those games occurring between 1897 and 1921.
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.
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 is in his seventh season and has an overall mark of 210-151-1 and a record of 91-88 in Big 12/Big 8 play. He recorded his 200th career victory over Wichita State (9-8) on March 7. 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 5-0 against Western Illinois and has guided the Tigers to a 13-10 overall record against Nebraska and a 1-1 mark in the Big 12 Tournament. Jamieson's milestone victories:
*1 - Missouri 12, Lincoln 2 - Feb. 27, 1995
*50 - Missouri 8, Nebraska 2 - April 24, 1996
*100 - Missouri 3, Eastern Michigan 0 - March 14, 1998
*150 - Missouri 5, Oklahoma 2 - April 17, 1999
*200 - Missouri 9, Wichita State 8 - March 7, 2001
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 are 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 games). Kelley is in his third season as the voice of MU baseball.
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 13 home runs.
Tigers By Inning: Missouri has scored 27 runs in the eighth inning, fueled by 17 runs in the past six games. Outside of that outburst, the Tigers have found the middle innings to be their favorite for scoring runs. The Tigers have scored 19, 23 and 22 runs in fourth, fifth and sixth innings. Missouri scored a season-high eight runs in the eighth inning in the win over Peperdine (3/17). The second inning has been the Tigers' downfall, allowing 25 runs.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 EX Total Missouri 15 18 11 19 23 22 17 27 4 1 157 Opponents 12 25 13 16 7 10 13 9 10 1 116
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
*Andy Runyan
Birthdays: The following Missouri players will have their birthdays during the 2001 season: Feb. 16 - Mick Weiss (2 hits, 1 run scored, 1 RBI vs. Nevada-Las Vegas)
Feb. 19 - Dan Bane (DNP)
March 2 - Matt Hobbs (DNP)
March 10 - W.T. Hoover (1 hit vs. Kansas, 1 run scored, 1 RBI)
March 24 - Shannon Wheeler (DNP)
March 25 - Brian Desch (DNP)
March 30 - Drew Endicott
April 1 - Kurt Propst
April 16 - Cody Ehlers
May 18 - Jon Williams
Next: Missouri heads to Southeast Missouri State for a 6 p.m. game on April 3 in Cape Girardeau before taking on Oklahoma in a Big 12 Conference series April 6-7-8 at Taylor Stadium/Simmons Field.
