April 6, 2002
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Missouri and Washington continue the three-game non-conference series between the two schools with today's 2 p.m. contest.
Last Time Out: Chris Julo had four hits and drove in four runs while Luke Cassis had a pair of hits and drove in a career-high three runs as the Tigers picked up the 11-9 victory. After falling behind 6-4 in the fifth inning, Missouri scored four runs in its half of the fifth inning, plated two runs in the sixth and added another run in the seventh inning to record the win. Justin James won his first collegiate game while Travis Wendte registered his fourth save. Aaron Paterson got the Tigers out of jams in the seventh and eighth innings. Lee Laskowski got a pair of hits to extend his hit streak to 12 games.
Who's Hot? In the Tigers' last five games, Luke Cassis is hitting .450 (9-of-20) while Lee Laskowski is hitting .409 (9-of-22). Chris Julo has only appeared in two of those contests but is hitting .667 (6-of-9) as a result of back-to-back multi-hit outings. In fact since moving to third base, Cassis has six multi-hit efforts in his last nine starts.
It's A Hit: As a result of his current 12-game hit streak, sophomore outfielder Lee Laskowski has now hit in 25 of the Tigers' 28 games in 2002. Laskowski opened the 2002 season with a 10-game hit streak.
The Closer: In his past three outings, Travis Wendte has one save and struck out five batters in 3.1 innings pitched.
Friday Win: As a result of picking up the 11-9 win last night, Missouri has now won three Friday games this season. In 2001, Missouri went 2-7 on Fridays.
Around the Big 12: The Sunflower state had success in the Lone Star state Friday. In fact, all of the road teams won the first game of the series. Kansas State picked up a 7-5 win over Texas Tech in 15 innings while Kansas downed Texas 5-3. Oklahoma defeated Nebraska, 5-4, in Lincoln while Oklahoma State rallied to defeat Baylor, 11-10, in Waco. In non-conference play, Texas A&M edged Texas-Pan American, 2-1.
Big 12 Records: Matt Hobbs set a Big 12 Conference record when he struck out seven straight batters over a two-game stretch. Hobbs struck out the final four batters he faced against Harris-Stowe (3/26) before whiffing the side in the seventh inning against Texas Tech (3/29). Hobbs and Derek Roper teamed to strike out nine consecutive batters against Harris-Stowe (3/26).
Next Up: The two schools are set to complete the series tomorrow at noon.