May 9, 2002

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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 Kansas State. Here's a look at the games:
*MU vs. Kansas State, Friday, 6:30 p.m., Taylor Stadium/Simmons Field
*MU vs. Kansas State, Saturday, 2 p.m., Taylor Stadium/Simmons Field
*MU vs. Kansas State, Sunday, 1 p.m., Taylor Stadium/Simmons Field

Records: Missouri is 23-25 (9-14 Big 12) while Kansas State is 23-23 (8-13). The Tigers are seventh in the Big 12 standings while KSU is ninth.

Big 12 Tournament: To advance to the 2002 Big 12 Conference Tournament held at the Ballpark in Arlington, Texas, both teams need to win this series.

Probable Starters: Here's a best guess of Missouri's starting pitcher rotation: Garrett Broshuis (Fr., RHP, 4-5), Friday; Justin James (Fr., RHP, 2-4), Saturday; and Abel Newton (Fr., RHP, 4-4), Sunday. Kansas State's expected starters are: Kevin Melcher (Jr., RHP, 5-5), Brock Smith (Sr., LHP, 3-6) and TBA, Sunday. Ross Hawley (Sr., RHP, 1-5), who has started 13 games for KSU, is a candidate for Sunday's start.

On the Horizon: Missouri head coach Tim Jamieson needs one more win to record the 250th of his career. The Tigers are 249-190-1 during his eight seasons as head coach.

Last Time Out: Jayce Tingler and W.T. Hoover each had two hits but those hits were not enough as Southeast Missouri handed the Tigers a 5-2 loss on Tuesday. The Tigers' pitching staff struck out 14 batters but also allowed 11 hits.

MU/Kansas State Series: Missouri leads, 146-92-1.

Last MU/Kansas State Series: The Wildcats swept the 2001 series in Manhattan, Kan. The Wildcats used eight home runs and seven doubles to pick up the three wins. Former Tiger Ryan Stegall went 7-for-12 (.583) with three doubles and two home runs but the rest of the MU lineup went 15-for-83 (.181).

MU/KSU Notes: Kansas State has won the past four meetings. Since the formation of the Big 12 Conference, MU leads, 9-6, and has won both (1998 and 2000) home series.

Kansas State Notes: The Wildcats were scheduled to play nationally ranked Wichita State on Wednesday night but that game was canceled due to weather. KSU, which has lost its last four league games, enters the weekend contests after dropping a three-game series at Oklahoma. Outfielder Pat Maloney is the league's top hitter with a .406 batting average. He also has hit 10 home runs and driven in 48 runs. In conference play, KSU's offense has been led by infielder Ty Soto (.370 batting average) and the Wildcats' pitching staff has been anchored by reliever Franco Pezely. Pezely has appeared in 10 league games and has a 2-0 record with a 3.12 earned run average and 27 strikeouts in 26 innings. The Wildcats have been hurt by a .943 fielding percentage in league games. Head coach Mike Clark is in his 16th season at KSU and has a 413-450 record.

The Streak: Jayce Tingler enters this weekend's action with a 24-game hit streak. He had two hits in Tuesday's game against Southeast Missouri to keep the streak alive. 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 (Washington, 2/14; Texas, 3/15; Baylor, 3/22; Baylor, 3/23; and Texas Tech, 3/29) 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's 18-game hit streak in 2001 and Tingler's 15-game hit streak in 2000 were those season's longest marks.

Career Year: Senior first baseman Mick Weiss has established career highs in home runs (10) and runs batted in (50) this season.

Offensive Explosion: As a result of already scoring 392 runs this season, Missouri has scored more runs than it did in 2000 (386) and 2001 (349). If the Tigers top the 400-run plateau, it would mark the fifth time in the past seven years they have surpassed that total. Missouri currently ranks 23rd in this week's NCAA Division I statistics by averaging 8.3 runs per game.

Mr. RBI: Junior infielder Jody Roughton leads the Tigers with 55 runs batted in, the third-most in the Big 12 Conference. Roughton's 55 RBI are more than any Tiger had in the 2001 season.

Scoring Machine: Outfielder Jayce Tingler has scored 64 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, in 2001.

Who's Hot? In the Tigers' last 10 games, Missouri has four regulars hitting over .365. Jayce Tingler, as a result of his career-best 24-game hit streak, leads the way with a .391 average. Jody Roughton (.375), W.T. Hoover (.370) and Cody Ehlers (.368) are also swinging hot bats.

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 .370 batting average into this weekend's contests.

The Hit Parade: In 33 of its 48 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 .313 compared to a .298 mark against left-handed pitching. Missouri is hitting .308 overall this season.

Against Ranked Teams: According to this week's rankings by www.boydsworld.com, Missouri has played the nation's 11th-toughest schedule. The Tigers are 8-16 against ranked opponents this season. The Tigers' schedule has been ranked as high as sixth this season.

Don't Leave Early: Missouri has had nine games decided in the last at bat by either team. MU is 4-5 in those games. MU wins /MU losses 2-run 11th vs. Portland (2/15) / 1-run 10th vs. Notre Dame (2/22)
4-run 9th vs. Washington (2/17) /5-run 9th vs. New Orleans (2/24)
2-run 12th vs. Washington (4/6) /1-run 12th vs. Oklahoma (3/8)
2-run 9th vs. Washington (4/7) /1-run 9th vs. Oklahoma (3/9)
/ 2-run 9th vs. Oklahoma State (5/4)

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 56 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)

Tough With Two: Ryan Rallo remains the Tigers' top producer when batting with two outs. Rallo is hitting .455 (15-of-33). Jody Roughton and Cody Ehlers have driven in 26 and 21 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.

Ouch! Sophomore infielder Felipe Tetelboin suffered a dislocated (right) kneecap during the 12-4 win over Western Illinois (May 1) on the first play of the game. Tetelboin, from Van Nuys, Calif., is expected to miss at least two weeks. 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, ranks 10th with 120 career walks and ranks 10th with 157 career runs. Tingler moved into the Top 10 in each category against during last week's action. Here's a look at where Tingler stands and who is 10th or ranks above him:
Walks - Tingler, 120 /9th, Nick Rallo (1983-85), 121
Hits - Tingler, 188 /10th, Curt Brown (1974-78), 210
Runs - Tingler, 157 /9th, Phil Bradley (1979-81), 161

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 249-190-1. 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 close the regular season with three games at home against Northern Iowa, May 16-17-18.