May 1, 2002
COLUMBIA, Mo. - After suffering a 7-5 loss to Western Illinois on Tuesday, Missouri will face the Leathernecks today at 3 p.m. at Taylor Stadium/Simmons Field. The Tigers are 22-21 this season while Western Illinois is 6-32.
Last Time Out: Western Illinois snapped MU's nine-game win streak over the Leathernecks behind the offensive displays of Jeff Wellwood, Pete Tronick and Ryan McCool as each player had three hits. Mick Weiss had three hits, including his career-best 10th homer of the season, and three runs batted in. Neither team started quickly as both teams did not score until the fourth inning. In the Tigers' half of the fifth, Jayce Tingler had a two-out single which extended his hit streak to a career-best 19 games.
MU/Western Illinois Series: The Tigers lead the series, 14-4.
Hit Streak: While the 19-game hit streak by Jayce Tingler is the longest this season and in recent years, he is still a few games short of the school record of 26 set in 1981 by Shane Fairbanks and tied by Grant Ingram in 1994. Ryan Stegall had an 18-game hit streak in the 2001 season while Tingler had a 15-game hit streak in 2000 for those season's long marks.
Career Year: Senior first baseman Mick Weiss has established career highs in home runs (10) and runs batted in (46).
Offensive Production: Not counting Tuesday's game, Missouri ranks among the nation's leaders in runs per game. In Tuesday's NCAA Division I statistics release, the Tigers ranked 19th as a result of scoring 8.5 runs per game.
Offensive Explosion: As a result of already scoring 361 runs this season, Missouri has scored more runs than it did in 2001 (349) and driven in more runs (321 to 310).
Mr. RBI: Junior infielder Jody Roughton leads the Tigers with 50 runs batted in, the third-most in the Big 12 Conference. Roughton's 50 RBI are more than any Tiger had in the 2001 season.
Scoring: Outfielder Jayce Tingler has scored 59 runs this season and is on pace to crack the program's all-time Top 10 list for runs scored in a season. In 10th place is Bryan Seymour, who scored 66 runs in 1997.
What a Schedule: Missouri has faced the nation's sixth-toughest schedule this season, according to the RPI report on www.boydsworld.com.
Off And Running: The next stolen base for Jayce Tingler will tie him with Dave Silvestri (1986-88) for fourth place on MU's all-time career chart with 47 stolen bases. Tingler, who enters the week with 46 career swipes, moved into a tie for 10th with a walk this past weekend against Texas A&M. He could also crack the program's all-time Top 10 charts this season in hits and runs scored.
Here's a look at where Tingler stands and who is 10th:
Walks - Tingler, 116 10th, Jon Williams, 116
Hits - Tingler, 180 10th, Curt Brown, 210
Runs - Tingler, 152 10th, Greg Cypret, 156
Next: Missouri will play Oklahoma State in a Big 12 Conference series. Game one will be Friday at 6:30 p.m. at Taylor Stadium/Simmons Field.
Upcoming Promotions: This weekend marks MU's participation in the Phillips 66/Big 12 Conference Tournament giveaway promotion. One lucky fan could win a suite for the tournament, which will be held May 22-26, 2002 at The Ballpark in Arlington, home of Major League Baseball's Texas Rangers. This weekend will also honor the 1942 Big Six Champion Missouri Tigers. Frank Graham, Ken Quevreaux, Earl Conklin and Russ Hoffman will be honored prior to Saturday's contest (2 p.m. against Oklahoma State). The 1941 and 1942 Tigers won back-to-back league titles under John "Hi" Simmons. This weekend will also feature sets of MU trading cards given away each day. A different set will be given away each day.