April 20, 2004

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For Starters...
Less than a week after defeating SMS 5-4 in 10 innings, Mizzou will host the Bears in a rematch at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday at Taylor Stadium. The Tigers (24-13-1, 4-8 Big 12) are coming off their first Big 12 Conference series win of the year, taking two-of-three against No. 15 Nebraska last weekend. SMS carries an 18-17 record into Tuesday's game. Last Wednesday, in Springfield, MU's Cody Ehlers hit his 11th home run of the season in the top of the 10th inning giving the Tigers the 5-4 win over the Bears and a 16-15 edge in the all-time series between the two teams. That game was the tenth game for Mizzou that has been decided in the final at-bat. The Tigers are 5-5 in those games. Up next for Missouri is a trip to College Station, Texas where it will face Texas A&M in a three-game series which gets underway at 7 p.m. on Friday.

Last Time Out
COLUMBIA, Mo.-- Mizzou won its first Big 12 Conference series of the season, taking two-of-three from No. 15 Nebraska at Taylor Stadium last weekend. The Tigers have now won seven of the last 11 games against the Huskers. In Friday's series opener, senior Brad Flanders' single in the bottom of the ninth drove in sophomore Tyler Williams for the game-winning run. Mizzou had a 2-1 lead heading into the top of the ninth. After Nebraska scored a run in the top of the inning to tie the game, Flanders and the Tigers rallied in the bottom half of the inning to take the win. Unlike Friday's pitcher's dual, Saturday's game turned into an offensive show MU with taking a 2-0 lead in the series with a 16-11 win. The teams combined for 35 hits and every Tiger in the starting line up had at least one hit and all but one scored a run. Seniors Lee Laskowski and Flanders, along with sophomore James Boone all hit home run in the victory. The Tigers fell just short of claiming a sweep of the Cornhuskers, falling 11-10 in the final game of the series on Sunday. Trailing 8-1 going to the sixth inning, Mizzou scored eight unanswered runs in the next three innings to take the lead at 9-8. However, Nebraska scored three runs in the top of the ninth and MU could get just in its last at-bat.

Six Days Ago...
SPRINGFIELD, Mo.-- Mizzou snapped a six-game losing skid with a 10-inning, 5-4 win over Southwest Missouri State in Springfield last Wednesday. Senior 1B Cody Ehlers hit a solo home run in the top of the tenth for the game-winning run. Ehlers was 3-for-5 with the homer and two doubles on the night. The win is the first for MU over SMS since 2001 and gave Mizzou a 16-15 lead in the all-time series with the Bears. MU took a one-run lead into the eighth inning, where SMS tied it up with a run scoring on a wild pitch. Mizzou would answer with two runs in the top of the ninth. Ehlers led off with a double and senior LF Lee Laskowski followed with a walk. Ehlers would score on a single by senior Jeremy Hernandez and Laskowski was driven in on a single by senior RF Kyle Johnson. The Bears would answer that with a two-run bottom of the ninth to send it to the 10th. Then, with two outs in the top of the tenth, Ehlers connected for his 11th home run of the season. The Bears got a lead off single in the bottom of the tenth, but sophomore RHP Nick Admire retired the next three batters, including two strikeouts to finish the game. Freshman RHP Max Scherzer made his first career start for the Tigers and went four innings, allowing just one run on four hits. After the first two SMS batters of the game reached base, Scherzer stuck out the next three to get out of the inning. He finished with seven strikeouts in the four inning and walked two.

The SMS Bears
Southwest Missouri State enters Tuesday's game with a 18-17 overall record and is 9-6 in the Missouri Valley Conference. The Bears have lost three of its last five games, including a 5-4 loss to Mizzou last Wednesday. SMS is third in the Missouri Valley Conference standings with a 9-6 conference mark. After falling to the Tigers last Wednesday, the Bears split a four-game series against Bradley. Entering Tuesdays' game, SMS has a 9-10 record on the road and is 3-3 against teams from the state of Missouri.

Close Calls
Missouri has had its share of close games this season, as 12 of its 38 games have been one-run margins. Mizzou is 8-4 in those games. The MU and SMS game last Wednesday was another of the one-run games, as the Tigers took the 5-4 win in 10 innings. Two games this past weekend against Nebraska were one-run games. MU took Friday's opener 3-2 but dropped Sunday's contest 11-10. Sunday's game was the 10th game this season to be decided in the final at bat for MU, which has a 5-5 record in those games.

A Tough Road Ahead
Not that there is ever an easy portion of the Big 12 Conference schedule, but for Mizzou, the stretch of conference games it is in the midst of is definitely not easy. The Tigers face teams ranked in the top 15 in the nation in three consecutive conference series. The Tigers got off to a good start, however, taking two-of-three in its series with No. 15 Nebraska last weekend. After winning the first two games, MU could not record the sweep as the Huskers took Sunday's game 11-10 by scoring three runs in the ninth inning. This weekend, Mizzou will travel to College Station for a three-game series against Texas A&M, which is ranked as high as No. 14 in the latest polls. Following that, Texas, which is ranked No. 1 in all four polls, will be at Taylor Stadium for a series beginning on April 30.

Among the Nation's Best
In the latest NCAA statistics, released on Monday, the Mizzou pitching staff's ERA of 3.66 is the 27th best in the nation. Missouri is also ranked No. 21 in fielding percentage with a .972 mark.

The Hits Keep on Coming
Five Tigers have had double-digit hitting streaks during the season. Sophomore RF James Boone had a 16-game streak snapped against Oklahoma. That streak matches the streak of senior DH Lee Laskowski, who had a 16-game hitting streak snapped on March 28 against Kansas State. The 16-game streaks are the longest of the year for MU. Senior 1B Cody Ehlers had a 15-game hitting streak at one point during the year and fellow senior Ryan Rallo had hits in 14 straight games earlier this season. Sophomore 2B Zane Taylor had a 13-game hitting streak snapped last weekend against Oklahoma and had an eight-game streak earlier in the season.

Checking the Record Books
A trio of MU seniors are making their way up the charts in the Mizzou Baseball record books. Cody Ehlers is currently tied for fourth place all-time in career doubles at MU with 48. He has 15 doubles this season, marking the third straight year he has had at least 15 doubles. Ehlers is also seventh on the career home runs lists with 31 heading into Tuesday. His 12 home runs this season is a career best for Ehlers, who had nine in each of the previous two years. Ehlers is also fifth in career extra base hits (83) and seventh in career RBI (164). Fellow senior Ryan Rallo is also climbing the career home runs chart. He enters the Nebraska series 11th with 25 career homers and has tied his career high with nine this season. Relief pitcher Mark Alexander has recorded five saves this season and is in a tie for 10th for saves in a season at Missouri. He is in a tie with current teammate Travis Wendte who had five saves as a freshman in 2002.