March 4, 2004

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After a five-game homestand, in which MU was 4-1, Mizzou returns to the road, traveling to Seattle this weekend for a three-game series against the University of Washington. Missouri enters the series 10-2 on the year and has won four straight. The start is the best for MU since the 1993 Tigers opened the year 11-2. Washington enters the weekend 6-3. Mizzou has won four of the five meetings with the Huskies, with all five of the games coming in the 2002 season. This will be the first trip to Seattle for Missouri. Senior Ryan Rallo takes a nine-game hitting streak into the weekend and junior Cosme Caballero has a seven-game hitting streak in tact. Following this weekend, MU will remain on the road as it travels to Millington, Tenn. for a four-game tournament next weekend. MU will take on Wake Forest, Indiana State, Memphis and Tennessee-Martin at the tourney.

Last Time Out
Mizzou took a sweep of a two-game series against Western Illinois on Tuesday and Wednesday at Taylor Stadium. Pitching was dominate in Tuesday's game, as freshman LHP Nathan Culp took the victory in his first collegiate start. Culp went six innings, allowing only one unearned run and one hit, while striking out five. Senior RHP Mark Alexander pitched the final three innings for his third save of the season. Senior 1B Cody Ehlers hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the first inning, his third of the season, giving MU its only runs of the game. The Tigers completed the sweep with an 8-2 win on Wednesday. Senior OF Ryan Rallo was 2-for-5 on the day to extend his hitting streak to nine games. Sophomore OF James Boone was 1-for-3 with three RBI, including a triple which drove in two runs. Sophomore RHP Nick Admire started and allowed just one earned run in four innings pitched. With the two wins, MU moved to 10-2 on the year, which is the best start since the 1993 Tigers opened the year 11-2.

From the Department of the Obvious
For pitchers, strike outs are better than walks. That is obvious and the Mizzou pitching staff is well aware of that. In the three games against Youngstown State last weekend, the Tigers struck out 29 batters and walked only three (an average of 9.7 K's and 1 BB per game). In the two games against Western Illinois, the Tigers struck out 17, while walking four. For the year, MU pitchers have recorded 108 strike outs, while allowing only 25 walks.

Countdown to 300
MU Head Coach Tim Jamieson needs just four more wins to reach the 300 win total as he has compiled a record of 296-218-1 in his 10 seasons at the helm of the Tigers. He will become just the third coach in Missouri history to record 300 wins joining John "Hi" Simmons (481 wins) and Gene McArtor (733 wins).

Dessau Sits 'em Down
A transfer from Forest Park Community College, junior RHP Erik Dessau has stepped into the Tigers' pitching rotation and been dominate this season. In his three starts, he has three wins and has allowed just one run in 20 innings for a team-leading 0.45 ERA. The Tigers have had two shutouts this season and both have come in games that Dessau has started. He has pitched at least six innings in each of his three starts and allowed only 15 hits, while striking out 12 and walking only one. Dessau joins junior Garrett Broshuis as the only three-game winners for the Tigers this season, both are 3-0 on the year.

The Hits Keep on Coming
Five Tigers have multi-game hitting streak in tact heading into the weekend series with Washington, led by Senior Ryan Rallo's nine-game hit streak. During the nine-game stretch, Rallo is hitting .387 with 12 hits, two doubles, two home runs and 11 RBI. Rallo's streak is the longest for any Tiger this season, ahead of junior Cosme Caballero, who carries a seven-game streak into the Washington series. A trio of Tigers (seniors Lee Laskowski and Brad Flanders and sophomore Zane Taylor) have three-game hit streak in tact at the beginning of the series in Washington.

Hello Rallo
Mizzou senior Ryan Rallo leads the Tigers with a .349 batting average and carries a nine-game hitting streak into this weekend's series with Washington. Rallo is also tied for second on the team with 13 RBI and is third with two home runs. During the nine-game hitting streak, Rallo is hitting .387 with two home runs and 11 RBI. Rallo had a nine-game hitting streak at one point during the 2003 season and opened the 2002 season with hits in the first five games of the year.

No Runs For You
Mizzou has shut out two of its first 10 opponents this year. In each of the two shutouts, junior RHP Erik Dessau has started on the mound and senior RHP Mark Alexander has relieved Dessau and preserved the shutout. Mizzou's shutout of Portland (13-0) on Feb. 14 in Phoenix, Ariz. was the first shutout by a MU team since April 29, 2003 when the Tigers defeated St. Louis in the "Wood Bat Classic" by a score of 9-0. Dessau started and pitched six inning, allowing seven hits to record the win. Alexander came on in relief, giving up just one hit and striking out five in three innings of work to record the save. Last Saturday, Dessau pitched seven innings of shutout work, giving up just three hits and striking out eight. Alexander came on for the final two innings and allowed just one hit in the 7-0 MU victory.