May 6, 2004

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Mizzou will travel to Lubbock, Texas this weekend for the first of two back-to-back Big 12 Conference road trips. The Tigers will open up a three-game set with Texas Tech at 6:30 p.m. on Friday at Dan Law Field. Game two of the series will begin at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday and the final game is set for 1 p.m. on Sunday. Mizzou is coming off a series win over then-No. 1 ranked Texas last weekend at Taylor Stadium in Columbia. With three weeks to go in the regular season, MU is 27-17-1 on the year and 6-11 in the Big 12 Conference. Texas Tech enters the weekend with a 31-13 overall record and is 11-6 in the Big 12. The Red Raiders are coming off a sweep of Kansas last weekend and have won their last six. They are ranked as high as No. 25 in the latest polls.

Last Time Out
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Mizzou recorded its first series win over Texas since 1998 with two victories over then-No. 1 ranked Texas last weekend at Taylor Stadium. The Tigers took the first two games of the series behind the starting pitching of Danny Hill and Garrett Broshuis. In Friday's series opener, Missouri took the early lead by putting a run on the board in the first inning. Senior Cody Ehlers put the game away with a two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth, his team-leading 13th homer of the year, giving the Tigers the 4-1 win. Hill allowed just one run on five hits and struck out five in seven innings of work. In his last four starts, Hill has allowed just three earned runs and has an ERA of 0.95. The Tigers clinched the series with an 8-0 win in game two, as Broshuis pitched 8.3 innings of scoreless ball, allowing just four hits and striking out a career-high nine. Missouri recorded its fifth shutout of the year and Broshuis has been on the mound for two of those shutouts. Mark Alexander recorded the final two outs on Saturday, striking out both batters he faced after striking out three of the four batters he faced on Friday night. Texas avoided the sweep with a 16-0 win in Sunday's series finale. All nine batters in the UT lineup had at least one hit and Mizzou could only get three hits off of Texas.

The Red Raiders
Texas Tech has won six straight games and enters the weekend with a 31-13 record and a 11-6 Big 12 Conference mark. The Red Raiders are coming off of a three-game sweep of Kansas last weekend. Prior to that, they took two-of-three from Texas, swept Kansas State and won two of the three games against Oklahoma. TTU leads the Big 12 Conference with a .320 team batting average on the year. Texas Tech holds a 13-9 lead in the all-time series with MU and has won six of the eight matchups in Lubbock. The Red Raiders swept the Tigers two years ago in Lubbock before MU took the two games the teams played last year. Larry Hays is in his 18th year as the TTU head coach and has compiled a record of 686-363.

Bringing Out The Best
After taking two wins over No. 1 Texas last weekend, the Tigers are moved to .500 (4-4) against teams ranked in the top 25. MU also took two victories against Nebraska, which was ranked in the top 15 at the time.

Shutdown Complete
Mizzou picked up its fifth shutout of the season last Saturday in an 8-0 win over Texas, passing the four shutouts it had last year. Junior Garrett Broshuis has been on the mound for two of the shutouts, including last Saturday against the Longhorns. Broshuis went allowed just four hits and struckout nine in 8.3 scoreless innings. Senior Mark Alexander struckout the only two batters he faced to preserve the shutout of top-ranked Texas. Mizzou shutout Saint Louis on April 28 in the annual "Wood Bat Classic" in O'Fallon by a score of 3-0. It was the second straight season MU has recorded a shutout of SLU in the wooden bat game. On March 28, Broshuis recorded the first complete game shutout of his career with a 12-0 seven-inning win over Kansas State. He gave up just two hits and struck out seven to get his sixth win of the year. In each of the first two shutouts this season, junior Erik Dessau started on the mound and Alexander 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.

Broshuis Brushes Opponents Away
Junior Garrett Broshuis was named the Big 12 Conference Co-Pitcher of the Week on Tuesday after he won his seventh game of the year last Saturday over No. 1 Texas. Broshuis allowed four hits in 8.3 scoreless innings and struck out a career-high nine to remain unbeaten on the year at 7-0. Broshuis allowed three hits through the first four innings, then retired the next 11 batters he faced, including three consecutive 1-2-3 innings. He recorded his first career complete-game shutout on March 28 (albeit a seven-inning game) in MU's 12-0 win over Kansas State. He allowed just two hits and struck out seven to move to 6-0 on the year. His seven wins lead the team and his 68 strikeouts are second best on the Tigers. He has a 2.83 ERA and has allowed just one run in four of his 11 starts to go along with the two shutouts in which he has started. Broshuis turned in his longest outing of the season, going eight-plus innings against Oklahoma, a game in which he left with the score tied and took a no decision.

On the Hill
Senior RHP Danny Hill has been the Tigers' No. 1 starter since the opening day of the season. Hill, who started the season opener, has a 4-3 record and a 3.29 ERA. He has been exceptional in his last four starts, all coming against some of the nation's best teams. Hill has an ERA of 0.95 in his last four outings which have come against Oklahoma, Nebraska, Texas A&M and Texas. He has allowed just three earned runs in 28.1 innings and has 21 strikeouts. However, his record in the four games is just 1-1 with two no decisions, as the Tigers are hitting .222 and have scored just nine runs in those four starts. Last Friday, against No. 1 Texas, Hill allowed just one run on five hits in seven innings. A week before that, he turned in possibly his best outing of the year, but took the loss at Texas A&M. He allowed just one run on three hits in seven innings of work in MU's 1-0 loss. After going 4.2 innings in the opener and pitching 5.0 innings against Coastal Carolina in his second start of the year on Feb. 19, he has gone at least six innings in his last nine starts, including seven seven-inning outings. Hill pitched 7.2 innings, his longest outing of the year, against Nebraska on April 16, allowing just one run on five hits and striking out five. He leads Mizzou with 74 strikeouts on the season and has a team-high 79.1 innings pitched.

Among the Nation's Best
In the latest NCAA statistics, released on Monday, the Mizzou pitching staff's ERA of 3.62 is the 24th best in the nation. Missouri is also ranked No. 24 in fielding percentage with a .972 mark.

Up Next
The Tigers will be in Lawrence, Kan. next weekend for the second of two back-to-back Big 12 Conference road trips. Mizzou and Kansas will open the three-game series at 6 p.m. on Friday. Following the KU series, MU will return to Taylor Stadium to face Southeast Missouri State on May 19 before hosting Oklahoma State for a three-game set starting May 21.