March 26, 2004

Click Here for more Mizzou Baseball Information
Download Free Acrobat Reader

Listen Mizzou Baseball Here

The Big 12 Conference season will open up for Mizzou this weekend as Kansas State visits Columbia for a three-game series. The Tigers enter the weekend with a 19-4-1 record, their best mark since the 1982 team was 20-3. KSU opens conference play with a 17-6 record. Missouri is ranked No. 26 in the latest NCBWA poll, while Kansas State is No. 35 in the same poll. Both team enter the weekend series on winning streaks as the Tigers have won their last four games and the Wildcats have won three straight. Game one of the series will start at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. The second game will start at 2 p.m. on Saturday and the final game of the series will begin at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

Last Time Out
Missouri won its fourth game in a row by defeating in-state rival Southeast Missouri State by a 6-3 score in Cape Girardeau, Mo. on Wednesday. Southeast Missouri State got to Tiger starting pitcher, freshman LHP Nathan Culp, in the first inning, as the first five Indians reached base on four singles and a walk. Three runs crossed the plate as SEMO took the early lead. Culp then settled down, and with the help of the MU bullpen, did not allow another run in the game. Mizzou finally got on the board with a four-run sixth inning on two hits and some help from Southeast Missouri State. Senior 1B Cody Ehlers led off he inning by reaching on an error by the centerfielder, advancing all the way to third base. He would score on an RBI single by sophomore RF James Boone. They also scored runs on a wild pitch, a passed ball and a balk in the inning, taking the lead with the aid provided by the Indians. The Tigers got additional runs in the eighth and ninth inning, as Boone walked to lead off the eighth and scored on a single by sophomore OF Tyler Williams. In the ninth Boone reached on a single and was driven in on a double by Ehlers. Culp went five innings, allowing the three hits, all earned, on six hits. He struck out six and walked two. Junior RHP Dustin Braud, sophomore LHP Taylor Parker and senior RHP Mark Alexander kept the Indians scoreless in the final four innings. Culp moves to 2-1 on the year and Alexander picked up his team-leading fifth save of the year.

Conference Starters
Mizzou is 3-4 in Big 12 Conference season opening games and have lost its last three conference openers. In the Big 12 season opening series, the Tigers are 8-13 and are 0-9 in the last three season in the opening Big 12 series.

The Hits Keep on Coming
Six Tigers have multi-game hitting streaks in tact heading into this weekend series, led by senior Lee Laskowski's 14-game hit streak. That streak matches Ryan Rallo's 14-game streak from earlier in the season as the longest by a Tiger this year. Senior Cody Ehlers is currently on a 11-game hitting streak, which is his longest of the season. Junior James Boone has a nine-game streak in tact heading into the Kansas State series Sophomore Zane Taylor and senior Brad Flanders carry four-game streak into the weekend. Sophomore Trevor Helms has had hit in the last two games he has played in.

Brushing Batters Aside
Junior RHP Garrett Broshuis is nothing if not consistent. In five of his first six starts Broshuis has pitched exactly six innings. He has one seven-inning outing to go along with the five six-inning starts. He took the win in the first three starts and was the starter in the game with Washington on March 7 which ended in a tie, a game in which the Tigers' led when Broshuis left the game. He broke the string of six-inning outings by going seven innings against Tennessee-Martin on March 14 in his fifth start. He allowed only one run on four hits and did not give up a hit until the fifth inning. Broshuis is second on the team with 35 strikeouts and has had a season-high eight K's twice this year (vs. Portland and vs. Coastal Carolina). He has an ERA of 2.19 and has allowed just one run in four of his six starts.

Now Appearing
Junior RHP Dustin Braud (pronounced 'Bro') is tied for the team lead with senior RHP Mark Alexander with 11 appearance this season. Braud has come on in middle relief for Mizzou this year and has been able to compile a 3-1 record to go along with a 2.20 ERA. Opposing batters are hitting just .161 off of Braud this season. Alexander has recorded four saves and has a 1.50 ERA. The Tigers have had two shutouts this season with Alexander getting the save in both of those games (Portland and Western Illinois). He has five saves on the year, which leads the Big 12 Conference.

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 six starts, he has five wins and has allowed just six runs in 35.1 innings for a 1.53 ERA. The Tigers have had two shutouts this season and both have come in games that Dessau has started. Dessau joins junior Garrett Broshuis as the only five-game winners for the Tigers this season.

Bo Knows Triples
Junior Bo Davis had pinch hit for the Tigers in 10 games prior to getting his first start of the season last Sunday at first base. Davis took advantage of the spot in the lineup, going 4-for-6 with two triples, three RBI and a three runs scored. Davis led off the game by getting hit by a pitch and had singles in the second and fifth innings. With two outs in the sixth inning, he tripled down the right field line, driving in a run. He would then score on a wild pitch. In the eighth inning, Davis would again triple to right, driving in another run. He would later score on an error by the third baseman. Davis is the first Tiger to have two triples in a game since Kyle Johnson did it against Northern Iowa in 2002.

A Magic Number
Mizzou has scored 21 runs in two games this season and both have taken place on the 21st of the month. On Feb. 21, the Tigers defeated Coastal Carolina 21-4 at the Beach Blast in Myrtle Beach. It was the most runs the Tigers have scored since putting 23 on the board against Baylor last April in a 23-18 win. Against Coastal, Mizzou banged out 18 hits, six home runs, six doubles and one triple. Last Sunday, March 21, Mizzou picked up a 21-1 win in the last game of the three-game series with Chicago State. That came two days after the Tigers scored 19 on, yes, the 19th of the March. Looking ahead, MU does not have a game scheduled for April 21, but will host Oklahoma State on May 21.

Lee Leads the Way
Senior OF Lee Laskowski carries a 14-game hitting streak into the week after back-to-back big weekends. During the 14-games streak, he is hitting .404, with four doubles, one triple and five home runs. He has compiled 17 RBI and scored nine times in the last 14 games. His 14-game hitting streak matches Ryan Rallo's 14-game hitting streak from earlier in the year, marking the longest streak by a Tiger this season. Laskowski, who was hampered by injuries and finished with just two home runs last year, has already past that mark in 2004. Actually, he matched that total in one weekend as he homered in back-to-back games against Youngstown State.

Joining the 300 Club
With Mizzou's 3-2 win over Memphis on March 13, Head Coach Tim Jamieson picked up his 300th career victory. He currently has a record of 305-220-2 in his 10 season with MU. Jamieson's first win came on Feb. 27, 1995 with a 12-2 MU victory over Lincoln University. He recorded his 100th win on March 14, 1998 by defeating Eastern Michigan 3-0, and his 200th win came against Wichita State, a 9-8 victory on March 7, 2001. He is the third coach in Missouri history to record 300 wins, joining John "Hi" Simmons (481 wins) and Gene McArtor (733 wins).

A Record for the Record Books
The Tigers are 19-4-1 heading into the weekend, which is their best record since the 1982 team was 20-3. That year, MU finished with a 39-17 record. Mizzou opened this year with six straight wins before Albany handed MU its first loss of the year on Feb. 22. The 6-0 start was the best start since the 1987 team began the year 7-0. The 1986 team also opened with seven straight wins.

An A for Ehlers
Mizzou senior 1B Cody Ehlers has started all but one game at first base for the Tigers this season. He currently carries an 11-game hitting streak into the weekend series with Kansas state. Ehlers opened the year by recording at least one hit in each of the first six games of the season. He has had more than one hit in nine of MU's 24 games this year and has had mutli-hit games in seven of the last 11 games. The senior has had at least three hits in two games this year. He leads the team with six home runs, 34 hits and 28 RBI and his .370 batting average is second best on the team.

Hello Rallo
Mizzou senior Ryan Rallo has a .309 batting average and Rallo is second on the team with five home runs and 24 RBI. He had a 14-game hitting streak snapped at the Easton/USA Challenge in Millington, Tenn. against Memphis. During the streak, Rallo had a .353 batting average, five home runs, four doubles and 18 RBI. The streak was snapped as Rallo was 0-for-1, with four walks, against Memphis. The 14-game streak was the longest by a MU player since Jayce Tingler put together a 14-game hitting streak last season. 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.

Hunting for Mense
Freshman OF Hunter Mense can be difficult to find when he is in the game. He accomplished a rare feat last Sunday against Chicago State, by playing in all three of the outfield positions during the game. He started the game as the Tigers' centerfielder. Later in the game, Mense moved to right field, playing two innings there before taking over in left field for the final inning of the game. Mense has also been the Tigers designated hitter this season. He can play first base and could pitch for Missouri.

Boone's County
Although they didn't name Boone County (which Columbia the county seat for) after sophomore RF James Boone, if he continues his hot hitting, they may have to name something after him. He was named the Big 12 Conference Player of the Week on March 16, after going 10-for-15, good for a .667 batting average, in the four games at the Easton/USA Challenge leading MU to the tournament title. He had two doubles, two RBI, two stolen bases, three runs scored, a slugging percentage of .800 and an on base percentage of .722 for the weekend. Boone opened the tournament with a 4-for-5 performance against Wake Forest. He followed that with two hits in each of the next three games. He was 2-for-3 with a double, two RBI and a run scored against Indiana State. He then went 2-for-3 against Memphis and was 2-for-4 with a run scored against Tennessee-Martin.

All Tied Up
For just the 20th time in 3,069 games, Mizzou had a game end in a tie on March 7 against Washington. After the two teams split the first two games of the series, game three was to be the rubber game of the series. Due to Missouri's travel arrangements, a curfew was placed on the game and was called after 10 innings in order for the Tigers to catch their flight our of Seattle. The tie was the first time since the first game of the 2001 season against San Jose State. That game was called after the sixth inning due to rain with the score tied at zero. The Tigers have had back-to-back ties once before, in 1914 when MU and Kansas State tied 9-9 and 2-2 in consecutive games.

He Arndt Bad
Freshman INF Gary Arndt has worked his way into the Tigers' starting lineup this season. He has started eight games this year, including the last eight at shortstop. He hit his first career home run on March 19 against Chicago State and has driven in 10 runs on the year. He did not start against Wake Forest on March 12, but entered the game and scored the game-winning run in the 12th inning. He then started and had a three-run RBI triple against Indiana State. Against Tennessee-Martin, he was 2-for-2 and scored three of the Tigers' seven runs on the day.

No Runs For You
Mizzou has recorded two shutouts this season, already half as many shutouts as it recorded all of last season. 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 innings, 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. On Feb. 28 against Indiana State, 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.

Up Next
The Tigers will be on the road on Wednesday to take on Illinois State at 4 p.m. in Normal, Ill. to take on Illinois State. MU will then return home next weekend for a three-game series with Baylor. Game one will start at 6:30 p.m. on Friday.