March 27, 2002

COLUMBIA, Mo. - The University of Missouri baseball team will play a Big 12 Conference series this weekend with games scheduled against:
*No. 26 Texas Tech, 7 p.m., Friday, Dan Law Field, Lubbock, Texas
*No. 26 Texas Tech, 2 p.m., Saturday, Dan Law Field, Lubbock, Texas
*No. 26 Texas Tech, 1 p.m., Sunday, Dan Law Field, Lubbock, Texas

Probable Starters: Here's a best guess of Missouri's starting pitcher rotation: Abel Newton, Friday, Justin James, Saturday, and Garrett Broshuis, Sunday.

Turn Back The Clock: Friday's game will feature both teams wearing replica uniforms from another era. Texas Tech will be wearing uniforms styled after its 1926 team while Missouri will wear pants styled after a 1950s version with its normal jerseys.

Milestone Wins: Both head coaches enter Friday's contest one win short of a milestone. Missouri head coach Tim Jamieson needs one win to record the 100th conference win of his career. Texas Tech head coach Larry Hays needs one win to become the fourth-ever coach in the history of NCAA Division I baseball to win 1,300 games in his career. Hays has a 1,299-698-3 record in his 32-year career.

Last Time Out: Missouri stole seven bases and struck out 16 batters during its 5-2 win over Harris-Stowe (Mo.) on Tuesday. Cody Ehlers had three hits and two runs batted while Jayce Tingler stole three bases and had a pair of hits. The Tigers' pitching staff struck out nine consecutive batters through the fourth and seventh innings to set a Big 12 Conference record. The previous mark was six set by Oklahoma against Kansas State in 1998. Matt Hobbs (four) and Derek Roper (five) combined to set the record. The individual record is six, set by OU's Geoff Geary.

MU/Texas Tech Series: Texas Tech leads the series, 10-9, but Missouri has won two games in each of the past three years (1999, 2000 and 2001). Missouri won the first-ever meetings (6-3 and 26-3) in 1965.

In 2001 vs. Texas Tech: Jayce Tingler drove in W.T. Hoover with a bunt single in the eighth inning to lift the Tigers to a 5-4 win in game one of the three-game series on March 30, 2001. Texas Tech won game two, 10-2. In game three on April 1, Missouri scored five runs in the second inning but trailed 9-5 before coming to bat in the eighth inning. The Tigers got 11 hits, five straight to lead off the inning and then had a string of six consecutive, to score nine runs and record a 14-9 win. Mick Weiss, Lee Laskowski and Hoover each had two hits in that inning.

Texas Tech Notes: The Red Raiders enter the Missouri series with a 21-12 overall mark and a 5-7 Big 12 record. As a team, Texas Tech is hitting .321. Nick Blankenship is hitting .322 with a league-best 12 home runs.

Game Rescheduled: The Feb. 26 Missouri/Saint Louis game which was postponed due to weather will now be played on April 17 at 6:30 p.m. at Taylor Stadium/Simmons Field.

Big 12 Leader: Cody Ehlers entered the week as the Big 12's leading hitter with a .438 batting average. He did nothing to hurt that average as Ehlers went 3-for-3 on Tuesday night to raise his batting average to .461 and his on base percentage to .548. In this week's statistics (released prior to Tuesday's action), Ehlers led the Big 12 in batting and slugging percentage (.822) while ranking second in home runs (seven) and on base percentage (.522).

Who's Hot? It is no surprise that Cody Ehlers would be the leader here, too. In his last five games, Ehlers is hitting .615 and has been walked a team-high nine times. In the Tigers' last 10 games, Ehlers is hitting .538.

Running Tigers: Missouri stole a season-high seven bases against Harris-Stowe on Tuesday night. The high last season was six against Southeast Missouri State on April 3, 2001. Jayce Tingler stole a career-best three bases. He had stolen two bases on six separate occasions in his career.

Off And Running: As a result of stealing three bases on Tuesday night, Jayce Tingler has now stolen 40 bases in his career. He ranks fifth all-time in that career chart. Tingler could crack the program's all-time Top 10 charts this season in walks, hits and runs scored. Here's a look at where Tingler stands and who holds the mark is for 10th:
Walks - Tingler, 96 10th, Jon Williams, 116
Hits - Tingler, 151 10th, Curt Brown, 210
Runs - Tingler, 121 10th, Greg Cypret, 156

Setting The Table: When leading off an inning, Jayce Tingler has reached 18 times in 38 attempts (.474). Despite that average, Tingler does not lead the team in that category. Cody Ehlers has reached 14 times in 22 attempts (.636) while Jody Roughton (10-of-16, .625), Lee Laskowski (11-of-18, .611) and Luke Cassis (12-of-21, .571) are also threats when in that situation.

Bases Loaded: As a team, Missouri has been productive when batting in bases-loaded situations as the Tigers are hitting .436 in that situation. Jody Roughton is hitting .833 (5-of-6) when up at that time while Jayce Tingler is hitting .714 (5-of-7).

Tough With Two: Outfielder Ryan Rallo is hitting .455 (10-of-22) when batting with two outs in an inning. Jody Roughton is hitting .371 (13-of-35) while Cody Ehlers is hitting .344 (11-of-32). Both Roughton and Ehlers have driven in 11 runs when batting with two outs.

Five Hits: Chris Julo had five hits in Missouri's 20-4 win over William Woods (Mo.) on March 6. Julo's performance were the most hits any MU player has had in a game since J.R. Warner had five hits against Centenary on Feb. 2, 2000.

It's My Birthday: The Tigers celebrate several birthdays on game days this season. Here's a list of who's already had birthdays and who's next:
Feb. 15 - Tyrone Roberson (DNP in MU's 6-4 win over Portland)
Feb. 16 - Mick Weiss (0x4, 2 runs scored in MU's 11-7 win over Portland)
March 2 - Matt Hobbs (game with Youngstown State canceled due to weather)
March 10 - W.T. Hoover (DNP vs. Oklahoma) and Ryan Rothford (DNP vs. OU)
March 30 - Drew Endicott (MU vs. Texas Tech)

Preseason Talk: Jayce Tingler was named the Big 12 Conference's best baserunner by Baseball America while Abel Newton was named one of the league's top newcomers.

Top Class: Missouri had one of the nation's top recruiting classes this past year, according to Collegiate Baseball in its annual compilation of top recruiting classes. Missouri was listed in the "other top classes" category.

Coaching Staff: The next win in Big 12 Conference play will be the 100th career league win for head coach Tim Jamieson, who is in his eighth season. Jamieson's overall record is 236-178-1 and the Tigers are 99-107 in Big 12/Big 8 play during his reign. He recorded his 200th career victory with a 9-8 win over Wichita State on March 7, 2001. 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, sixth season), Evan Pratte (hitting coach/infield, fifth season) and Chris Smith (outfield, second season). The Tigers have had 19 players enter professional baseball during Jamieson's tenure. 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

30 Wins Again: In 2001, Missouri recorded its sixth-straight season with 30 or more victories and its 15th such season in the past 17 years.

Success: The Tigers opened the 2002 season ranked 36th among all NCAA Division I teams with 1,774 wins. In its 106 seasons of baseball, MU has won 60.5 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 is in his fourth season as the play-by-play announcer.

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. The Tigers have hit 22 home runs in 2002.

Next Up: Missouri is scheduled to play Southeast Missouri State on April 2. The game is slated to start at 6 p.m. at Taylor Stadium/Simmons Field. Missouri continues in non-conference action by facing Washington in a three-game series starting April 5.