2002 Season-In-Review
9/10/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
When the 2002 Missouri baseball schedule was announced, the Tigers knew they would have their hands full. A record 55 games were going to be played against NCAA Division I competition, and seven of those teams were returning from an appearance in the 2001 NCAA Championships.
While the weather changed a few of the opponents, Missouri faced 10 teams which eventually played in the 2002 NCAA Championships and seven of those advanced to a regional final. One of those teams, Texas, won the national title. While the schedule was one of the nation's toughest, the Tigers recorded many wins and highlights in the 24-29 campaign.
A key to the Tigers' season was its offensive production, which rose to the occasion. Despite playing only 53 games out of a 56-game schedule, MU scored 413 runs, more than it had in the 2000 and 2001 seasons, and had three individuals, Jody Roughton, Mick Weiss and Cody Ehlers, drive in 50-or-more runs.
 Jayce Tingler was named Second Team All-Big 12.  |
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With the offense scoring among the nation's leaders, the Tigers were building for the future by having three freshmen starting pitchers and a freshman closer. While those individuals led the team in wins, innings pitched, appearances, game started, strikeouts and saves, the collegiate baseball learning curve sometimes gave a few harsh lessons.
The Tigers opened the season by suffering a loss to Washington on Feb. 14 but rebounded with three-straight victories in the Rawlings/Oakland Athletics Spring Training Tournament in Phoenix, Ariz. The Tigers avenged the loss to Washington on Feb. 17 as they rallied to down the Huskies, 10-9, as a bases-loaded single by Tingler plated the winning run.
 Cody Ehlers joined Tingler on the All-Big 12 Second Team. |
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Snow and cold conditions forced the Tigers to change their schedule and MU won three games in two days against Missouri Baptist, Lindenwood and William Woods before opening Big 12 play at Oklahoma. However, late-inning heroics allowed the Sooners to pick up three wins.
After a split with Arkansas State, nationally ranked Texas came to town. The Longhorns, buoyed by the nation's leading pitching staff, swept the Tigers. Freshman Abel Newton struck out seven batters in seven innings in the middle game of the three-game set but it was just a glimpse of things to come for him.
 Travis Wendte earned Louisville Slugger Freshman All-America honors. |
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The Tigers' success carried over into a non-conference win over Harris-Stowe (Mo.). Missouri set a Big 12 record by striking out nine consecutive batters. It started when Matt Hobbs recorded the final out of the fourth inning with a strikeout before striking out the side in the fifth. Derek Roper relieved Hobbs and retired all three batters on strikes in the sixth. Roper then fanned the first two batters of the seventh inning on six pitches and had two strikes on the third batter of the inning. That batter grounded out to third base, snapping the streak at nine. MU struck out a total of 16 batters in the contest.
Hobbs continued his streak of strikeouts against nationally ranked Texas Tech as he struck out the first three batters he faced in the seventh inning to set the Big 12's record for consecutive strikeouts by one pitcher with seven over two games. After losing the first two games of the Texas Tech series, Garrett Broshuis led MU back as he scattered seven hits in eight innings to pick up the win in the series' final game.
The Tigers dropped a non-conference game to Southeast Missouri but rebounded with three consecutive wins over Washington, another NCAA regional finalist. Cody Ehlers gave the Tigers a 5-3 win in game two of the series with a two-run homer in the 12th inning. Ehlers then drove in the tying run before Jody Roughton drove in the winning run as the Tigers rallied for a 12-11 win in the series finale.
 Lee Laskowski earned All-Big 12 Honorable Mention. |
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The Tigers suffered another midweek loss before starting a five-game win streak. After losing to SMS, the Tigers downed Saint Louis behind three hits and three RBI by Roughton before meeting archrival Kansas. The two teams had game one in Columbia rained out before moving the series to Kansas. Rain forced the teams to play two games on April 21 but the Tiger bats came out in full force. Laskowski hit two homers and Weiss added a pair of doubles in the opener as MU rolled to a 16-10 victory. In the nightcap, a 14-4 Missouri win, Weiss had three doubles and hit a grand slam to fuel the Tigers. Weiss was named the Phillips 66/Big 12 Conference Player of the Week for his performances against KU. Justin James threw the first complete game of the season for the Tigers in the nightcap.
The Annual Wood Bat Classic was next and MU downed Saint Louis, 10-0, at T.R. Hughes Ballpark in O'Fallon, Mo. Derek Roper faced the minimum of 15 batters in five innings. He teamed with Garrett Bauer, Drew Endicott, Matt Hobbs and Aaron Paterson for the shutout. Six Tigers had two or more hits in the contest.
The hits kept coming as the Tigers rapped out 14 in an 11-10 win over nationally ranked Texas A&M to continue the five-game win streak. Ehlers drove in four runs while Roughton added a three-run home run. Texas A&M scored six of its runs in the ninth inning but the Tigers were able to hang on.
MU had 11 hits in game two of the series but suffered a 16-5 loss to snap the win streak but it rebounded with a seven-run first inning in the series finale. That outburst fueled the Tigers to a 13-2 win. Newton threw a complete game while Tingler and Laskowski each drove in four runs.
As a result of winning its fourth-straight series, MU had high hopes for the rest of the season as the Tigers had improved to a 22-20 record overall and a 9-11 mark in Big 12 play to rank seventh in the league standings. Also boosting spirits was the fact Missouri had 11 of its next 12 games at home.
However, the ride of success soon hit a bump in the road. The Tigers dropped the first game of a non-conference series against Western Illinois but rebounded in the second game behind W.T. Hoover, who had three hits and came within a triple of hitting for the cycle.
Unfortunately, the downward cycle continued when nationally ranked Oklahoma State came to Taylor Stadium/Simmons Field. Both teams needed to win the series to keep hopes alive for making the Big 12 Conference Tournament held at the Ballpark in Arlington (Texas). The Cowboys took a 7-2 lead after four innings in the opener and it was too much to overcome as OSU won, 8-5. In game two, MU opened an 11-7 lead after four innings but Oklahoma State hit two home runs in the ninth inning to record the 12-11 victory. Tingler extended his hit streak to 23 games in the series finale with a bunt single despite having two strikes on him.
Tingler's hit streak reached 24 games as he got two hits against Southeast Missouri State, winners of the Ohio Valley Conference. Despite Tingler and Hoover each having two hits at the top of the lineup, MU fell 5-2 to the Indians.
In a winner-take-all series against Kansas State for the lone remaining Big 12 Tournament berth, Missouri held a 3-1 lead after seven innings in the series opener. Kansas State responded, scoring four runs in the eighth inning, and handed the Tigers a 5-3 loss. Tingler's hit streak came to an end in the contest.
The Tigers' hopes of the Big 12 Tournament berth came to a close when late-inning rallies again fueled Kansas State in the second game of the series. The Wildcats scored three runs in the seventh and five more times in the eighth to record a 10-1 triumph.
MU closed the season with a three-game set against Northern Iowa. Despite a first-inning grand slam by Roughton, Northern Iowa recorded an 8-5 win in the opener. Broshuis pitched eight shutout innings in game two as the Tigers recorded a 6-3 win and gave head coach Tim Jamieson his 250th career win at MU. Ryan Rallo hit his second home run in as many games while each of the six position-playing seniors either had a hit, drove in a run or scored in MU's Senior Night.
Freshman Brent Lacy had three hits in the season finale, a 10-6 setback to UNI.
Tingler and Ehlers were named second-team All-Big 12 selections by the league's coaches. Roughton, Ehlers and Laskowski were honorable mention choices. Broshuis was a first-team academic all-conference pick while Drew Endicott and Vitello were second-team selection to that squad. Roughton (Detroit, 24th round), Endicott (Kansas City, 41st round) and Hobbs (Kansas City, 50th round) were chosen in the 2002 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.
