May 21, 2004

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Missouri will conclude its regular season with this weekend's three-games series with Oklahoma State. The Tigers hold a 31-20-1 overall record and are 9-14 in the Big 12 Conference, while OSU is 33-19 on the year and 15-8 in the conference. The three-game set will open up at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. The eight members of MU's senior class will be honored prior to Saturday's 2 p.m. first pitch. Missouri is coming off a 12-11 win in 13 innings against in-state rival Southeast Missouri State on Wednesday. After this weekend's series, Mizzou will travel to Arlington, Texas for the Big 12 Conference Tournament. MU will either be the seventh or the eighth seed in next week's tournament. The Tigers are currently in eight place, but are just a half game behind Nebraska for seventh.

Last Time Out
COLUMBIA, Mo.-- In its seventh extra-inning game of the season, Mizzou defeated Southeast Missouri State 12-11 in 13 innings at Taylor Stadium on Wednesday. The 13-inning contest is the longest of the season for the Tigers, passing their 12-inning win over Wake Forest on March 12. With the score tied at 11 and the bases loaded in the bottom of the 13th inning, senior Lee Laskowski singled up the middle, driving in senior Kyle Johnson for the game-winning run. Laskowski entered the at-bat as the lone Tiger in the starting lineup without a hit in the game. Mizzou had to comeback twice to prevent a SEMO win. Trailing 10-9 in the bottom of the ninth, sophomore James Boone doubled to center, advanced to third on an error by the Southeast second baseman and would score on a sacrifice bunt by junior Bo Davis, tying the score at 10 and sending the game into extra innings. Southeast Missouri would take an 11-10 lead in the top of the 12th as Ernie Bracamonte singled to drive in Bo Jenkins. Once again, the Tigers were able to tie the score and extend the game with a run of their own in the bottom of the inning. Sophomore Trevor Helms led off the inning with a double and advanced to third on a sacrifice fly by sophomore Tyler Williams. He would then score on a single by senior Ryan Rallo. Then in the bottom of the 13th, Johnson reached after being hit by a pitch and moved to second when Davis singled. Helms followed with a single to load the bases and Laskowski stepped in and sent the game-winning single into centerfield. Rallo and Helms each had four-hit games. Helms, who added two walks to reach base a total of six times on Wednesday, extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a 4-for-6 game. Mizzou moved to 4-2-1 in extra inning games and is 7-5 in games decided in the final at-bat.

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 the weekend, Helms has an 12-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.

Helms Fills In Nicely
Since taking over at second base for the injured Zane Taylor, sophomore Trevor Helms has put together an 12-game hitting streak and has improved his batting average to a team-best .366 for the year. Last Wednesday, Helms reached base six times as he had four hits and walked twice. He had a pair of doubles, scored three runs and stole two bases. That was the second time in 10 days that Helms had a 4-hit game. On May 9, against Texas Tech, Helms was 4-for-5 with his biggest hit of the afternoon being a two-run triple in the top of the ninth inning driving in what proved to be the game-winning runs. During the 12-game hitting streak, Helms is hitting .468 with 22 hits (five for extra bases) and six RBI. He hit his first career homer in the "Wood Bat Classic" against Saint Louis on April 28. He has a .638 slugging percentage, a .537 on base percentage and is 4-for-4 in stolen bases during the 12-game streak.

Lee Leads the Way
Senior Lee Laskowski has used a .386 batting average in Big 12 Conference games to raise his overall average to .352. He has 19 multi-hit games this season and has driven in at least two runs in 13 games. He is also third on the team in RBI (35) 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). He followed that by driving in the game-winning run against SEMO on Wednesday with a single in the 13th inning. 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.

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 52. He needs five more to become the all-time leader at Mizzou, passing Ryan Fry's 56. Ehlers is sixth on the career home runs lists with 33 heading into the weekend. His 14 home runs this season is a career best for Ehlers, who had nine in each of the previous two years. Ehlers is also tied for fourth in career extra-base hits (89) and is fourth in career RBI (173). Fellow senior Ryan Rallo is also climbing the career home runs chart. He is 11th with 26 career homers and has a career-high 10 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.

An A for Ehlers
Mizzou senior 1B Cody Ehlers leads the Tigers in nearly every offensive category and has started all but one game at first base this season. He has a .349 batting average and leads the team in home runs (14), RBI (55), runs scored (43), hits (68), doubles (19) and total bases (131). He hit the game-winning home run for MU on April 14 against SMS, a solo shot with two outs in the top of the tenth inning. He finished 3-for-5 with the homer and a pair of doubles in the win over SMS. Ehlers has had more than one hit in 21 of the 51 games he has played in this year and has had at least three hits in seven games this year. He is currently second in career doubles at Missouri (52), tied for fourth in extra base hits (89), fourth in RBI (173) and sixth in home runs (33).

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.

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 4-4 record and a 4.03 ERA. He was exceptional during a five-start stretch from April 9 to May 7. Hill had an ERA of 1.78 in those five outings which came against Oklahoma, Nebraska, Texas A&M, Texas and Texas Tech. He allowed just seven earned runs in 25.1 innings and had 24 strikeouts. However, his record in the five games was just 1-1 with three no decisions, as opposing pitchers held MU batters to just a .239 batting average. 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 to the Aggies. 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 11 of his last 12 starts, including eight 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 78 strikeouts on the season and has a team-high 90.1 innings pitched.

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 28 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 10 of MU's last 14 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.

Among the Nation's Best
In the latest NCAA statistics, released on Monday, the Mizzou pitching staff's ERA of 3.67 is the 25th best in the nation. Missouri is also ranked No. 30 in fielding percentage with a .971 mark. Mark Alexander is tied for 18th in the nation with nine saves on the year.

Shutdown Complete
Mizzou picked up its fifth shutout of the season with an 8-0 win over Texas on May 1, passing the four shutouts it had last year. Junior Garrett Broshuis has been on the mound for two of the shutouts, including against the Longhorns when he 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.

Hello Rallo
Senior Ryan Rallo has a .296 average after he went 4-for-7 with three RBI and two runs scored against Southeast Missouri State on Wednesday. He set a new career high by hitting his 10th home run of the season against SEMO. He leads the Tigers and is second in the Big 12 Conference with 36 walks on the year. In MU's three-games series with Nebraska, Rallo hit .636 with seven hits, six runs, a .727 slugging percentage and a .714 on base percentage. Rallo had three home runs in two days in the Tigers' series with Baylor earlier this month and is second on the team with nine homers on the year. He homered twice in MU's 12-4 win over Baylor on April 2, driving in four runs in the game. The following day, he connected for his ninth homer of the year. Rallo had a 14-game hitting streak snapped at the Easton/USA Challenge in Millington, Tenn. against Memphis. During the streak, Rallo had a .353 batting average, five home runs, four doubles and 18 RBI. The streak was snapped as Rallo was 0-for-1, with four walks, against Memphis.

Up Next
Missouri will take part in the 2004 Big 12 Conference Tournament next week in Arlington, Texas. First round play will begin on Wednesday at Ameriquest Field (formerly The Ballpark in Arlington). Mizzou enters the Oklahoma State series in eighth place, but is just a half game out of seventh. If the Tigers are the No. 7 seed, they would play at 1 p.m. on Wednesday. If they are the No. 8 seed, their first round game would be at 8 p.m. on Wednesday.