May 2, 2002

COLUMBIA, Mo. - Missouri looks to take another step toward an appearance in the 2002 Big 12 Conference Tournament with a three-game league series this weekend against No. 25 Oklahoma State. Here's a look at the games:
*MU vs. No. 25 Oklahoma State, Friday, 6:30 p.m., Taylor Stadium/Simmons Field
*MU vs. No. 25 Oklahoma State, Saturday, 2 p.m., Taylor Stadium/Simmons Field
*MU vs. No. 25 Oklahoma State, Sunday, 1 p.m., Taylor Stadium/Simmons Field

Records: Missouri is 23-21 (9-11 Big 12) while Oklahoma State is 30-15 (8-9). The Tigers are seventh in the Big 12 standings while OSU is sixth.

Probable Starters: Here's a best guess of Missouri's starting pitcher rotation: Garrett Broshuis (Fr., RHP, 4-4), Friday; Justin James (Fr., RHP, 2-3), Saturday; and Abel Newton (Fr., RHP, 4-3), Sunday. Oklahoma State's expected starters are: Scott Baker (So., RHP, 5-1), Friday; Chris Reilly (Jr., RHP, 6-1), Saturday; and Justin Meccage (Sr., RHP, 3-0) or Mike Patitucci (Jr., LHP, 0-1), Sunday.

On the Horizon: Missouri head coach Tim Jamieson needs one more win to record the 250th of his career. The Tigers are 249-186-1 during his eight seasons as head coach.

1942 Big Six Champs Honored: This weekend will also honor the 1942 Big Six Champion Missouri Tigers. Four members of the squad, Frank Graham, Ken Quevreaux, Earl Conklin and Russ Hoffman, will be honored prior to Saturday's contest. The 1941 and 1942 Tigers won consecutive league titles under John "Hi" Simmons.

Last Time Out: W.T. Hoover had three hits and drove in three runs to lead the Tigers to a 12-4 win over Western Illinois on Wednesday. Lee Laskowski had two hits and also had three RBI. Jayce Tingler had two hits to extend his career-best hit streak to 20 games.

MU/Oklahoma State Series: Unless some bad weather strikes, this year will mark just the first time that the Missouri/Oklahoma State series has been played back-to-back years since the 1997 and 1998 seasons. OSU has won the past five meetings and leads, 118-67.

Last MU/Oklahoma State Series: The Cowboys swept the 2001 series in Stillwater, Okla.

MU/OSU Notes: With Oklahoma State and Missouri both ranked in the nation's Top 20 in runs per game, this series could be very offensive minded. According to this week's NCAA Division I statistical report, Oklahoma State averages 9.1 runs per game (8th) while the Tigers average 8.5 runs per game (19th). In 1996, the two teams played six times and, in four of those games, both teams scored at least 10 runs. One example of that production is Missouri's 24-23 win over the Cowboys at Simmons Field.

Oklahoma State Notes: The Cowboys, ranked 25th in the ESPN/Baseball Weekly poll, snapped a five-game losing streak by beating Arkansas-Little Rock 8-2 on Tuesday night. Outfielder Daylon Monette is hitting .359 this season. Third baseman Paul Powell has a team-high 13 home runs and shares the team RBI lead with Monette at 44. Head coach Tom Holliday has a 240-120 record in six seasons at OSU.

Scoring Onslaught: Missouri has scored 107 runs in its last 10 games and is hitting at a .351 clip during those contests. In fact, Missouri has scored 10-or-more runs nine times in its last 11 games.

Career Year: Senior first baseman Mick Weiss has established career highs in home runs (10) and runs batted in (48).

Offensive Explosion: As a result of already scoring 373 runs this season, Missouri has scored more runs than it did in 2001 (349) and driven in more runs (333 to 310). Another example of MU's run production is the fact the Tigers could surpass the 386 runs in the 57-game 2000 season this weekend.

Mr. RBI: Junior infielder Jody Roughton leads the Tigers with 51 runs batted in, the third-most in the Big 12 Conference. Roughton's 51 RBI are more than any Tiger had in the 2001 season.

Scoring Machine: Outfielder Jayce Tingler has scored 61 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.

Big 12 Player of the Week: For the second time in as many years, Missouri has had back-to-back Phillips 66/Big 12 Players of the Week. Mick Weiss was named Big 12 Player of the Week on April 22 after going 10-for-19 with 10 runs batted in. Lee Laskowski was named Big 12 Player of the Week on April 15 after hitting .500 and driving in nine runs from April 8-14. Laskowski and Jayce Tingler were back-to-back Big 12 Players of the Week March 19 and March 26, respectively, 2001.

Who's Hot? In the Tigers' last 10 games, Missouri has six regulars hitting at least .395. W.T. Hoover leads the way with a .467 average while Cody Ehlers is hitting .439 with 14 runs batted in. Also hitting .439 is Mick Weiss, who has hit three home runs and driven in 19 runs during that stretch. Lee Laskowski is hitting .432, Jody Roughton is hitting .400 and Jayce Tingler is hitting .395 to go with a team-best 11 walks to post an on base percentage of .527. Tingler has also scored 19 runs in the past 10 games.

Heating Up: After seeing his average dip to .257 on March 22, Mick Weiss has been on a tear. Weiss has collected 34 hits in his last 89 at bats for a .382 average. He also has hit nine doubles and eight home runs during that stretch.

The Hit Man: Sophomore Lee Laskowski continues to serve as one of the Tigers' top hitters. He has 24 multi-hit games this season and carries a .394 batting average into this weekend's contests.

The Hit Parade: In 32 of its 39 games (and in its past nine games) this season, Missouri has had at least 10 hits. In 2001, MU had 29 games with 10 or more hits.

Versus Left/Right: Against right-handed pitching, the Tigers are hitting .321 compared to a .299 mark against left-handed pitching. Missouri is hitting .315 overall this season.

Against Ranked Teams: This weekend's series marks the fifth time in the last six Big 12 series that Missouri will face a nationally ranked foe. MU is 7-8 in those 15 games. The Tigers are 8-13 against ranked opponents this season.

Tough Schedule: According to this week's rankings by www.boydsworld.com, Missouri has played the nation's sixth-toughest schedule.

Don't Leave Early: Missouri has had eight games decided in the last at bat by either team. MU is 4-4 in those games.

Setting The Table: While Jayce Tingler is the Tigers' leadoff man this season, Missouri has a number of people who are successful reaching base when leading off an inning. Tingler reaches base not quite 50 percent (.481, 37-of-77) of the time when leading off an inning. Other top Tigers are: Cody Ehlers, .571 (20-of-35); Luke Cassis, .545 (24-of-34); Lee Laskowski, .531 (17-of-32); Brent Lacy, .526 (10-of-19); and Jody Roughton, .500 (20-of-40).

Big Inning Barrage: The Tigers have scored 53 runs during the second inning this season. Here's a look at the Tigers' biggest innings (by inning only)
*1st - 7 vs. Texas A&M, 4/27 (2)
*2nd - 9, vs. William Woods, 3/6
*3rd - 4 vs. Arkansas, 3/19, vs. Texas Tech, 3/31 (1), and vs. Saint Louis, 4/17
*4th - 7 vs. Portland, 2/16
*5th - 4 vs. Washington, 4/5
*6th - 4 vs. Texas A&M, 4/26
*7th - 6 vs. Nebraska, 4/14, & vs. Western Illinois, 5/1
*8th - 5 vs. Nebraska, 4/12
*9th - 5 vs. Arkansas State, 3/13 and Texas Tech, 3/31 (2)

The Streak: Jayce Tingler enters this weekend's action with a 20-game hit streak. Tingler's previous best was a 15-game hit streak during the 2000 season. He also has had a 14-game hit streak in 2002. He has a hit in all but five games this season. While the hit streak by 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 2001 while Tingler's 15-game hit streak in 2000 were those season's longest marks.

Tough With Two: Ryan Rallo remains the Tigers' top producer when batting with two outs. Rallo is hitting .469 (15-of-32). Jody Roughton and Cody Ehlers have driven in 24 and 20 runs, respectively, when batting in that situation.

Pinch Hit Heroes: Depending on the situation, count on Bo Davis or W.T.Hoover to come through while serving as a pinch hitter. Davis is hitting .667 as a pinch hitter while Hoover is hitting .417 (5-of-12) in that role.

He's Back! Sophomore outfielder Ryan Rallo returned to action in the April 23rd 10-0 win over Saint Louis. He got one hit, a two-out double, and drove in two runs in his first action since suffering his second concussion of the season on April 2. Sophomore catcher Ryan Rothford missed 12 games after suffering a hand injury and concussion. Rothford, a transfer from Fresno City College, broke the middle finger of his left (catching) hand prior to the season and then re-injured the digit on April 5 against Washington. He returned to play in game two of the doubleheader against Texas A&M on April 27. Rothford has started two of the past three games and driven in one run in each start.

Ouch! Sophomore infielder Felipe Tetelboin suffered a dislocated (right) kneecap during Wednesday's 12-4 win over Western Illinois on the first play of the game. Tetelboin, from Van Nuys, Calif., will have a MRI this weekend to see if there is any further damage. He is expected to miss at least two weeks of action and could miss more depending on the MRI's results. Tiger catcher Brian Desch is also on the "disabled list" after suffering a concussion. Desch has not been cleared for competition and will miss the rest of the season.

Off And Running: Jayce Tingler's next stolen base 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, could also crack the program's all-time Top 10 charts this season in hits and runs scored. He cracked the school's Top 10 chart in career walks and ranks 10th with 117 (set against Western Illinois on May 1. Here's a look at where Tingler stands and who is 10th or ranks above him:
Walks - Tingler, 117 9th, Nick Rallo, 121
Hits - Tingler, 182 10th, Curt Brown, 210
Runs - Tingler, 154 10th, Greg Cypret, 156

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).

Attendance: Missouri drew a Taylor Stadium/Simmons Field record crowd of 1,508 fans in the April 13 game against Nebraska.

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.

Coaching Staff: Head coach Tim Jamieson, who is in his eighth season, has guided the Tigers to an overall record of 249-189-1. Missouri is 106-111 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. He picked up his 100th career conference win with the 7-1 victory against Texas Tech (3/31 - game two). 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

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 by the same publication.

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 40 home runs in 2002.

Next: The Tigers play at Southeast Missouri State on May 7 in a 5 p.m. game. Missouri returns to Big 12 Conference play with a three-game home series May 10-11-12 against Kansas State before closing the regular season with three games at home against Northern Iowa, May 16-17-18.