May 18, 2004

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Mizzou will host Southeast Missouri State on Wednesday for the first of four games at Taylor Stadium this week to conclude the regular season. The Tigers enter Wednesday's game with a 30-20-1 overall record and are 9-14 in the Big 12 Conference. Southeast Missouri State is .500 on the season, with a 24-24 record. The two teams met earlier in the season in Cape Girardeau, Mo. with Missouri taking a 6-3 win. MU has won the last three games against Southeast Missouri State and holds an 18-6 lead in the all-time series. Following Wednesday's game, the Tigers will host Oklahoma State in the final three-game weekend series of the regular season. Game one of the series will get underway at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Next week, MU will head to Arlington, Texas for the Big 12 Conference Tournament. This year's tournament will be held at Ameriquest Field (formerly The Ballpark in Arlington). The Tigers clinched a spot in the conference tournament with its win over Kansas last Saturday.

Last Time Out
LAWRENCE Kan.-- Mizzou clinched a spot in the Big 12 Conference Tournament after its win over Kansas last Saturday. The Tigers defeated KU 2-1 in the second game of the three-game set in Lawrence. Junior Garrett Broshuis remained unbeaten on the season, allowing just one run in seven innings to move to 8-0 on the year. Senior Mark Alexander picked up his ninth save of the year pitching the final two innings of the win. However, Saturday's game was the lone victory of the weekend for Mizzou. Kansas took the series opener by a score of 11-6 and won the final game of the weekend 4-3. The Tigers had won eight straight over KU before the weekend and the series loss was the first for MU in three weeks.

Flashback
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (March 24)-- 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 March 24. Southeast Missouri 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 bullpen, MU did not allow another run in the game. Mizzou finally got on the board with a four-run sixth inning on two hits and with help from Southeast Missouri State. Senior Cody Ehlers led off the inning by reaching on an error by the centerfielder and advancing all the way to third base. He would score on an RBI single by sophomore James Boone. MU 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 innings, as Boone walked to lead off the eighth and scored on a single by sophomore 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 runs, all earned, on six hits. He struck out six and walked two. Junior Dustin Braud, sophomore Taylor Parker and senior Mark Alexander kept the Indians scoreless in the final four innings.

Now Appearing
Senior Mark Alexander was named the Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Week on May 11 after he appeared in all three of Mizzou's games against Texas Tech, taking a win in one and a save in another. Alexander leads the team with 27 appearances on the year and is tied for the Big 12 lead with nine saves on the year. Against Texas Tech, Alexander did not allow a hit and struck out six in 3.2 innings pitched in the three games. He took the win in relief on Saturday, pitching the final 2.1 innings, striking out five of the nine batters he faced, including the last four. He recorded his eighth save of the year on Sunday, pitching the ninth inning of the Tigers' 3-1 win. Alexander made an appearance in each of Missouri's two wins against Texas. On Friday, he retired all four batters he faced, three with strikeouts, for his seventh save of the year. He then struck out both batters he faced in Saturday's game, to preserve the 8-0 shutout. He has appeared in nine of MU's last 13 games, allowing no runs and recording four saves during that stretch. His nine saves this season place him in a tie for second in saves in a season in Missouri history. The record is 12 saves by Ryan Stegall in 2000.

Broshuis Brushes Opponents Away
Junior Garrett Broshuis was named the Big 12 Conference Co-Pitcher of the Week on May 4 after he won his seventh game of the year the previous weekend 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 8-0. His eight wins lead the team and is fifth most in the Big 12 Conference. Last week, he was named Academic All-District VII for the second straight season. 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 eight wins lead the team and his 72 strikeouts are second best on the Tigers. He has a 2.70 ERA and has allowed just one run in five of his 13 starts to go along with the two shutouts in which he has started.

The Hits Keep on Coming
Sophomore Trevor Helms has become the sixth Tiger this season to put together a double-digit game hitting streak. Heading into Wednesday, Helms has an 11-game streak in tact, joining five other MU hitters who have reached double digits in consecutive games with a hit. Sophomore James Boone had a 16-game streak snapped against Oklahoma. That streak matches the streak of senior 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 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 Zane Taylor had a 13-game hitting streak snapped against Oklahoma and had an eight-game streak earlier in the season.

Lee Leads the Way
Senior Lee Laskowski has taken over as the team's leading hitter with a .352 batting average on the year and has a .386 average in Big 12 play. He has 19 multi-hit games this season and has driven in at least two runs in 12 games. He is third on the team in RBI (34) and home runs (7). Last weekend, he had two hits in each of the three games against Kansas, finishing the week 6-for-12 (.500). Laskowski had a 16-game hitting streak snapped on March 28 against Kansas State, which is tied for the longest of the season for any Tiger and is the longest of Laskowski's career. During the 16-games streak, he hit .391, with five doubles, two triples and five home runs. He drove in 19 runs and scored 10 times. He was hampered by injuries and finished with just two home runs last year, but 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.

Close Calls
Missouri has had its share of close games this season, as 16 of its 51 games have been one-run games and nine more have been decided by two runs. Mizzou is 8-8 in one-run games and has a 4-5 record in the two-run decisions.

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 in a tie for second in career doubles at MU with 51. He needs six more to become the all-time leader in doubles at Mizzou, passing Ryan Fry's 56. Ehlers is tied for sixth on the career home runs lists with 32 heading into the week. His 13 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 (87) and sixth in career RBI (170). Fellow senior Ryan Rallo is also climbing the career home runs chart. He is 11th with 25 career homers and has tied his career high with nine this season. Relief pitcher Mark Alexander has recorded nine saves this season and is in a tie for second for saves in a season at Missouri.