April 23, 2004
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Missouri will take the road in the Big 12 Conference for just the second time this season, traveling to College Station, Texas to face Texas A&M this weekend. Game one of the three-game set will get underway at 7 p.m. on Friday. The Tigers enter the weekend with a 24-14-1 overall record and are 4-8 in the Big 12 this season. Texas A&M is 31-12 on the year and has a conference record of 7-8. The Aggies hold a 27-18-1 lead in the all-time series with Mizzou and last year took two-of-three in Columbia. The last time the two teams met in College Station, in 2002, MU won the series with two wins in the three-game series. Following this weekend, Missouri will prepare for the annual "Wood Bat Classic" against Saint Louis on Wednesday in O'Fallon, Mo. The Tigers will host Texas next weekend.
Last Time Out
COLUMBIA, Mo.-- Six days after Mizzou defeated SMS 5-4, the Tigers fell to the Bears by the same score on Tuesday at Taylor Stadium. A rain delay of more than two hours in the bottom of the eighth inning, put the time of the game at 5 hours and 14 minutes, as the final out was recorded at 11:47 p.m. .
Mizzou got on the board first with a run in the bottom of the second inning as senior Jeremy Hernandez scored on a sacrifice fly by junior Cosme Caballero.
The Bears took the lead in the third inning, scoring four of their five runs in the inning to take a 4-1 lead.
Freshman John McKee tied the game at four with a three-run home run in the bottom of the fifth inning on what was the first hit of McKee's career. He entered the game with just three at-bats on the year. McKee was 2-for-4 in the game.
SMS took the lead in the top of the seventh inning as Jake Manning drew a bases loaded walk, forcing in Toby Gardenhire for the go-ahead run.
With two outs in the bottom of the eighth, senior Ryan Rallo walked and advanced to third on a single by sophomore James Boone. At that point, with senior Cody Ehlers at the plate, the game was delayed as heavy rains entered the Columbia area.
The game was delayed for 2 hours and 10 minutes before the rain let up, allowing both teams to take the field at 11:34 p.m. to finish off the final inning and a half with Mizzou unable to get a run across the plate.
The 5-4 outcome was the 13th one-run game of the season for the Tigers, who drop to 8-5 in those games.
The Texas A&M Aggies
Texas A&M enters the weekend with a 31-12 overall record and a 7-8 Big 12 Conference mark. The Aggies are ranked in three of the four major polls with the highest being No. 14 in the Sports Weekly/ESPN Top 25.
The Aggies have lost three straight heading into the series with Missouri. After taking game one of the series against Oklahoma last weekend, they dropped the next two to the Sooners and then fell to Texas-Arlington by a score of 5-4 on Tuesday.
Texas A&M holds a 27-18-1 lead in the all-time series with Mizzou. Last year the Aggies took two of the three games against MU in Columbia.
Close Calls
Missouri has had its share of close games this season, as 13 of its 39 games have been one-run games and six more have been decided by two runs. Mizzou is 8-5 in one-run games and has a 2-4 record in the two-run decisions.
Six of the Tigers' last eight games have been decided by one run, including Wednesday's 5-4 defeat to SMS which came just six days after MU recorded a 5-4 win over SMS.
Two games last 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. This weekend's series against Texas A&M is the second of three straight conference opponents that is ranked in the top 15 in the nation.
The Tigers got off to a good start 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.
The Aggies are 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 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 the weekend. 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 Texas A&M 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.