May 18, 2003
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at the
2003 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Tournament
Oklahoma City, Okla. - SBC Bricktown Ballpark (13,066)
Wed.-Sun., May 21-25, 2003
BRICKTOWN IS TIGERTOWN THIS WEEKEND
The Missouri baseball team, after a two-year hiatus, makes its return to the Phillips 66 Big 12 Conference Baseball Tournament as the No. 4 seed - Mizzou's highest regular-season finish in the seven-year history of the Big 12. Picked to finish ninth by the league's coaches, the Tigers have relied on contributions from several sources, including a young yet tested corps of starters on the mound, a four-year starter in the leadoff spot and center field, and a fresh mix of junior-college and freshmen newcomers to mark one of the biggest one-year turnarounds in school history.
SEVERAL BARRIERS BROKEN EN ROUTE TO UPPER DIVISION
Although Mizzou is not ranked in any of the four major baseball polls, the Tigers have received plenty of national recognition this season; the week of April 21 found Missouri ranked in all four polls. It is the first time that the Tiger baseball team has been ranked since the 1997 preseason. Here's what has Mizzou on the move:
OKIE NATIVES COMING HOME
A sextet of Sooners are expected to be listed on Mizzou's 27-man roster for the Big 12 Tournament. They will mark Tim Jamieson's first Oklahoma natives to play on the biggest baseball stage in the Sooner State, as the Tigers missed the Big 12 Tournament in the last visit to Bricktown Ballpark in 2001:
? ? ? In addition, freshman C Scott Fisher (Tulsa) is on the Tiger roster this year.
TINGLER DRIVES THE TRAIN
Senior OF Jayce Tingler (Smithville, Mo.) continues to prove himself as the best true leadoff hitter in the Big 12, yet he is also helping the Tigers in a way that would be expected of someone hitting lower in the order. In addition to leading the Tigers with 62 runs scored - which is not surprising from his position in the leadoff spot - he is also second on the team with 44 RBI.
? ? ? Tingler, who led the prestigious Cape Cod League in on-base percentage last summer, also hit his first career homer, at Southeast Missouri on March 11. He leads the squad with a .390 batting average, and boasts an impressive .516 on-base percentage - which leads the Big 12 - thanks to his league-leading 43 walks.
TINGLER FEATURED IN BASEBALL AMERICA AS HE NEARS RECORDS
Senior CF Jayce Tingler (Smithville, Mo.) is featured in the May 25 issue of Baseball America, which features Chicago Cubs pitching phenom Mark Prior on the cover.
? ? ? Tingler, an all-Big 12 candidate, is close to several Tiger career records. His next hit will give him 266, passing Ryan Fry (1995-98) as Mizzou's all-time hit king. In addition, Tingler's 163 career walks are just two away from breaking the record held by Matt Nivens (1994-97). Finally, Tingler needs to score four runs to pass Fry's 223 as Mizzou's career leader in that category.
FLANDERS IS MOST VALUABLE
Another reason for the success of the Tigers has been the production of junior C Brad Flanders (Smithville, Mo.), who was a teammate of Tingler's at Smithville High School north of Kansas City.
? ? ? Originally signed by Mizzou to help manage a young pitching staff, Flanders has also provided plenty of pop in his bat. He currently is second on the team with his .354 batting average, and four weeks ago hit homers against SMS and Baylor to give him a then-team-high-tying six this year. In addition, his guidance behind the plate is one of many reasons Mizzou's team ERA has dropped to 4.90 from 7.09 a year ago.
? ? ? Flanders was named the Most Valuable Player of the ULM Holiday Inn/Citgo Classic the weekend of Feb. 22-23. Flanders batted .615 (8-for-13) in Mizzou's three games with a pair of homers, four doubles, five RBI and five runs scored.
TIGER TURNAROUND
It's safe to say (and Baseball America has in its midseason college report) that Missouri is one of college baseball's biggest surprises this season. Picked ninth by the league's coaches before the start of the season, the Tigers have played well enough to secure a berth in the Big 12 Tournament with several weekends to spare, and have made an upper-division finish in the league for the first time since 1998 with their Big 12 era-highest fourth-place finish this season.
? ? ? With at least two games in the Big 12 Tournament left, plus possible NCAA Tournament action to follow, the Tigers have made the list of the best turnaround jobs in school history.
NUMBER 1 IN YOUR SCORECARD...
While it's obvious that this year's team is not the same as last year's, it is still literally true. A total of 19 players are seeing their first game action as Tigers: nine are true freshmen, three are redshirt freshmen, and seven are transfers from two- or four-year colleges.
? ? ? Of those 19, four (Flanders, Kinsler, Taylor and Hernandez) are position starters, with another five (Garrett, Roberson, Williams, Johnson and Boone) seeing significant platoon or reserve roles. Three (Hill, Admire and Shipman) have cracked the mid-week pitching rotation, with another pair (Stallings, Parker) playing significant relief roles.
TIGERS IN THE NCAA STATS
The Tigers' 8.9 runs per game not only leads the Big 12 - it also ranks Mizzou seventh in the nation through last weekend's games. In addition, MU's team .319 batting average ranks at No. 30 in the country; it is the third-best mark in the league.
? ? ? Individually, senior Jayce Tingler (Smithville, Mo.) is ranked No. 27 in the nation with his .413 batting average. Two other statistical categories that Tingler leads in the Big 12 - walks and on-base percentage - are not tracked by the NCAA until the season is completed.
 Harry Weber puts the finishing touches earlier this year on a bronze bust of former head coach John "Hi" Simmons. It was unveiled at Taylor Stadium this past weekend.  |
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Last Friday, May 16, before the start of the Oklahoma series, a bronze bust of Hall of Fame Head Coach John "Hi" Simmons was unveiled on the concourse at the stadium that bears his name. Around 50 of his former players, as well as three of his sons, were in attendance. Among the speakers were ABCA Hall of Famer Gene McArtor, who followed Simmons as head coach following the legend's retirement in 1973, and former Tiger basketball coach Norm Stewart, who was a freshman pitcher on Simmons' 1954 NCAA Championship team.
? ? ? Simmons, who passed away in 1995, coached at Mizzou from 1937-73, finishing with a record of 481-294-3. In addition to the 1954 title, had three other squads (1952, '58, '64) finish as the national runner-up, and in total brought six teams to the College World Series. He also skippered Mizzou to 11 conference championships.
? ? ? The Lancaster, Mo., native coached 19 All-Americans, including nine first-team choices. A former president of the American Baseball Coaches Association, Simmons was inducted in the State of Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 1977, and is also a member of the ABCA Hall of Fame.
BROSHUIS EARNS ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT PLAUDITS
Sophomore RHP Garrett Broshuis (Advance, Mo.) has been named to the 11-member Verizon? Academic All-District VII Baseball Team, as voted upon by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). As a member of the team, Broshuis' name now is forwarded onto the national ballot for consideration as an Academic All-American.
? ? ? Broshuis holds a 3.92 cumulative grade-point average in psychology, and has posted a perfect 4.0 GPA last semester. He has twice been a member of both the Big 12 Conference Commissioner's Honor Roll and Student-Athlete Dean's List. A member of Mizzou's Student-Athlete Advisory Council, Broshuis attended the 2002 NCAA Leadership Conference in Orlando, Fla.
? ? ? He is 5-2 with a 6.53 ERA as Mizzou's No. 2 starter.
? ? ? Broshuis and sophomore Travis Wendte (Moore, Okla.) also were named to the 2003 Baseball Academic All-Big 12 Team last week.
KINSLER HAS STELLAR WEEK, SERIES IN OKLAHOMA
Two weeks ago, Tiger junior SS Ian Kinsler (Tucson, Ariz.) had an impressive weekend in Stillwater to cap a great week, as Kinsler went 10-for-12 (.833) against Oklahoma State, with four doubles, a triple, two homers, and eight RBI and runs apiece. He hit his first homer of the week during Mizzou's thrilling 11-10, bottom-of-the-ninth comeback win against Southeast Missouri State. He raised his average in Big 12 play to a team-leading .397, which ranks him sixth in the league. Overall, Kinsler is batting .349 with five homers and 42 RBI.
WALK (OFF) LIKE A MAN
Junior LF Ryan Rallo (Chesterfield, Mo.) hit a two-run homer to left field - his second of the game - with two out and two strikes in the bottom of the ninth to lead the Tigers to a thrilling 11-10 win over Southeast Missouri State last Wednesday at Taylor Stadium. It is the first walk-off homer for Mizzou (30-15) since Mick Weiss also deposited a shot into the Tiger bullpen against Iowa State in 2001. Rallo is now tied for the team lead with eight homers; he also has 36 RBI and is hitting .307.
JOHNSON BREAKS OUT THE WOOD
Junior OF Kyle Johnson (Omaha, Neb.) hit his fourth homer of the season on April 29 at T.R. Hughes Ballpark, yet what was notable about the shot was not simply that he had hit Mizzou's last two homers at the time. The blast was hit with a wooden bat - just the second in the four-year history of the Wood-Bat Classic. Junior OF/DH Lee Laskowski (Clayton, Mo.) hit the first as a freshman in 2001.
CONSISTENT PRODUCTION
Of the seven hitters in the Tiger lineup averaging the required 2.5 plate appearances a game to qualify for NCAA statistics, five of them - Jayce Tingler, Brad Flanders (Smithville, Mo.), Ian Kinsler (Tucson, Ariz.), Zane Taylor (Kirksville, Mo.), and Ryan Rallo (Chesterfield, Mo.) - are hitting above .300 this season. The other two, Jeremy Hernandez (Aptos, Calif.) and Cody Ehlers (Stillwater, Okla.), are batting .287 and .279, respectively. Ehlers has recovered from an extremely slow start to the season - he was hitting just .189 heading into the Big 12 home opener against Kansas on March 21 - and is hitting .321 (third on the team) in Big 12 games.
MIZZOU SCORES RECORD-BREAKING TOTAL VS. BAYLOR
Before a regional television audience on FOX Sports Net, Mizzou broke out the bats at Baylor Ballpark and beat the top-20 Bears on April 19, 23-18, to snap a season-long four-game losing streak.
? ? ? The 23 runs were the most by a Missouri ballclub against a Big 12 Conference opponent. In addition, it marked the most runs in a conference game since 1996, when Mizzou beat Oklahoma State, 24-23, in the final season of the Big Eight.
? ? ? The school record for runs against a conference opponent is 27, set by the 1956 club against Big Seven foe Nebraska.
TIGERS 36TH TO 1,800 WINS
With its 11-4 win against Northern Iowa on Feb. 23, Missouri became the 36th program in NCAA history to amass 1,800 wins. Mizzou's record through 108-plus seasons of baseball is 1,840-1,186-19 (.607).
MIZZOU PLAYS - WEATHER OR NOT
The challenges of playing baseball in the Midwest have revealed themselves again this spring, as the Missouri baseball team has had 11 games cancelled or postponed due to inclement weather to date this year, and an 12th because of scheduling difficulties.
? ? ? The Tigers lost three games in Phoenix (of all places) due to torrential rainfall; the first two games of the Tigers' home-opening series against Central Methodist and Lindenwood; a doubleheader against Youngstown State; both dates of a two-game set against Western Illinois; the series finale against Texas Tech, and a wood-bat game against Illinois that was to be played at a minor-league park in the St. Louis area.
? ? ? Mizzou is actually "just" three games under the 56-contest NCAA limit, however, because of some creative scheduling. To start, the Tigers had 57 games on their schedule in anticipation of such inclement weather, and the Tigers have been able to make up several games, including their most recent rescheduling, a 15-6 win over Rockhurst on May 9.
DOUBLE YOUR PLEASURE
As part of the rescheduling, the Tigers have already played full or split doubleheaders - games against two different teams on the same day - five times to date this year. That's the most twinbills in a season for Mizzou since the 1998 squad finished with seven.
UNCW MARKS EARLIEST START IN SCHOOL HISTORY
The Feb. 6 contest against UNC Wilmington marked the earliest start in Mizzou's 109 seasons of baseball. The previous earliest start came two years ago, when the Tigers opened the 2000 season against San Jose State on Feb. 9.
? ? ? As recently as 1996, Mizzou didn't start its baseball season until Feb. 20 - two weeks after this year's start.
? ? ? Although the Tigers played their first game in the friendly confines of Taylor Stadium/Simmons Field on Feb. 25, that isn't the earliest home start in Mizzou history. That honor goes to the 1999 squad, which hosted Lincoln University on a sunny, 38-degree day on Feb. 13.