March 31, 2002
LUBBOCK, Texas - The University of Missouri baseball team (10-14, 2-8) meets Texas Tech in an 11 a.m. doubleheader to complete three-game Big 12 Conference series. The Red Raiders recorded a 7-4 victory in the series opener Friday.
Probable Pitchers: Justin James (0-1) and Garrett Broshuis (1-4) will be Missouri's starting pitchers. James, a freshman from Yukon, Okla., struck out a career-best seven batters in his last start (Baylor, 3/23). In two of his three Big 12 starts, James has not recorded a decision despite leaving with a lead.
Friday Night: Wild pitches, passed balls, stolen bases and key hits powered Texas Tech to the 7-4 win. The Red Raiders stole three bases and took advantage of a wild pitch and two passed balls as well as an error in the contest. The Tigers scored their four runs two at a time, two runs coming in the sixth inning and two in the ninth. Missouri had four players each get two hits.
Who's Hot? Jody Roughton, Ryan Rallo, Mike Weiss and Luke Cassis each had two hits for the Tigers in Friday night's game. Lee Laskowski extended his hit streak to eight games. Laskowski is hitting .355 during the streak, the exact same mark he is hitting this season. Despite going hitless in five trips to the plate Friday, Cody Ehlers is hitting .452 in his last nine games. Ehlers entered the weekend as the Big 12's top hitter with a .461 batting average.
Strikeouts: After striking out a career-best 10 against Baylor (3/22), Abel Newton struck out seven batters in six innings of work. Newton has struck out at least three batters in his past three Big 12 starts.
Streak Over: Matt Hobbs entered the weekend having recorded four straight strikeouts. He struck out the first three batters he faced Friday night to run his streak to seven and set a Big 12 record, snapping the mark set by Oklahoma's Geoff Geary in 1998.
Friday Night Fright: In the past two seasons, Missouri has won only two game ones of a three-game Big 12 series. Missouri posted a 4-6 record in game two of those series in 2001. The Tigers are 1-2 in game two this season.
Let's Play Two: Missouri had four doubleheaders last season. MU split its two-game sets with Baylor, Eastern Kentucky and Nebraska and won both games against Pepperdine. The Baylor series featured a suspended game.