May 8, 2004
Third in the Big 12 Conference, the Missouri softball team will take on 2004 regular season Champion No. 13 Nebraska in a two-game series beginning Saturday, May 8 at 2 p.m., and wrapping up Sunday, May 9, at 1 p.m., at Bowlin Stadium in Lincoln, Neb.
Currently 11-4 in the League, Missouri split its most recent weekend series with Texas Tech and enters Saturday's competition with a 24-23 overall record. Nebraska, named Big 12 Conference Champions on Monday, holds a 14-1 record, with Texas A&M in second place at 13-3. Missouri held onto third for the sixth consecutive week, followed by Baylor in fourth at 11-6.
Entering Saturday's game, Nebraska holds a 42-25 all-time series lead, the secone largest lead any team has over the Tigers. Oklahoma State has the largest margin of victories with 30.
Last meetgin at home in Columbia for the April 26 and 27, two-game series, the Tigers and Cornhuskers split, with Missouri holding on for a 2-0 shutout in the final game. The win at University Field set the Tigers off on an 11 game home winning streak that just came to a close with the 1-0 loss to Texas Tech on May 1.
Fans should expect to see a strong pitchers dual this weekend. Missouri junior Erin Kalka and Nebraska senior Peaches James stand tied in Big 12 Conference action with a .92 ERA and vary only slighly in other individual pitching stats. Tossing eight more innings than Kalka, James owns a 13-1 Conference record to Kalka's 11-4. As a team, Nebraska leads the Big 12 Conference recording a .86 ERA, with Missouri trailing only slightly in second with a .88.
2004 marks the second consecutive year that Missouri has closed out its regular season agaist Nebraska. Similar to last season, the Tigers and Huskers will enter the Big 12 Conference Softball Championships as the No 3 and No. 1 seed respectively.