May 4, 2002

COLUMBIA, Mo. - After suffering an 8-5 loss to No. 25 Oklahoma State on Friday night, Missouri will face the Cowboys today at 2 p.m. in game two of the three-game Big 12 Conference series at Taylor Stadium/Simmons Field. The Tigers are 23-22 and 9-12 in league play this season while Oklahoma State is 31-15 overall and 9-9 in conference action.

Last Time Out: Jayce Tingler, Cody Ehlers and Jody Roughton each had two hits for the Tigers but that was not enough as the Cowboys picked up the 8-5 victory. OSU shortstop Rob Watson had three hits and score twice to back the pitching performance of Scott Baker, who improved to 6-1 on the season. The Cowboys used three runs in the third inning and four more in the fourth to build a 7-2 lead. Trailing 8-4 entering the ninth inning, Missouri scored once and had two runners on base with two outs when Roughton's fly ball to right field was caught at the warning track to end the game.

Series Openers: For just the fourth time this season, Missouri has lost opening game of a Big 12 series. MU is now 4-4 in the series opener. In 2001, the Tigers were 1-9 in the first game of a conference series.

MU/OSU Series: The Cowboys, who have won the past six meetings, lead 119-67.

Hit Streak: Jayce Tingler had two hits in Friday's contest to extend his hit streak to 21 games. Tingler has at least one hit in 40 of Missouri's 45 games this season.

Scoring: Outfielder Jayce Tingler has scored 63 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.

Record Watch: 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 today's game with 46 career swipes, moved into 10th place all-time in career runs after scoring twice in Friday's contest. Tingler is in 10th place with 119 career walks. Here's a look at where Tingler stands and who is 10th or ranks above him:
Walks - Tingler, 119 9th, Nick Rallo (1983-86), 121
Hits - Tingler, 182 10th, Curt Brown (1974-78), 210
Runs - Tingler, 156 10th, Greg Cypret (1975-78), 156 (9th, Phil Bradley, 161)

Senior first baseman Mick Weiss, who has 23 career homers, needs one home run to tie Mark Thiel (24, 1974-76) for 10th place in that MU all-time career chart.

Next: Missouri and Oklahoma State wrap up this Big 12 series Sunday at 1 p.m.