May 27, 2004
ARLINGTON, Texas.-- - Nearly six hours after the first pitch of the game, Mizzou finished off an impressive 12-1 win over Baylor in seven innings. The game was delayed twice because of heavy rain for a total of 3:38 and ended after seven innings due to the conference run rule.
The win extends Mizzou's win streak to six games, matching its season long.
Senior Danny Hill recorded the complete-game shutout to take the victory. He allowed just one run on five hits and struck out nine.
Missouri (36-20-1) jumped out to an early lead, scoring a pair of runs in the top of the first inning. Sophomore Trevor Helms led off with a single and would score on a single by senior Lee Laskowski, who finished 4-for-5 on the night with three RBI and three runs scored. Sophomore James Boone would also single to drive in Laskowski.
Mizzou then put five runs on the board in the second inning, highlighted by a grand slam from senior Cody Ehlers. It was his 16th home run of the season and the 35th of his career, moving him into a tie for fourth all-time on MU's career homer lists. The grand slam is the second of the season and is the first grand slam in the Big 12 Tournament since 2002.
The only thing that was able to slow down the Tigers bats was a heavy rain fall, which began while Missouri was still batting in its half of the second, causing a 3:10 rain delay. The delay was the longest rain delay in Big 12 Conference Tournament history.
Less than a half hour after the resumption of play, the rain returned, causing a second delay, this time lasting twenty-eight minutes. In between rain delays, the Tigers put three more runs across the plate, getting RBI-singles from seniors Jeremy Hernandez and Laskowski to make it a 10-0 lead when the second delay took place.
Baylor scored a run in the bottom of the fifth, but Missouri answered with a run in the top of the sixth and added another in the top of the seventh.
Hill struck out four straight batters for the final two outs of the third inning and the first two outs of the fourth, tying a Big 12 Tournament record for consecutive strike outs.
The win gives Mizzou its first ever 2-0 start at the Big 12 Tournament. It also marks a bit of revenge as last year, Baylor defeated MU 11-0 in a seven-inning run-rule win at the Big 12 Tournament.
The Tigers are now off on Friday and next will take the field at 10 a.m. on Saturday to face the winner of Friday's Baylor/Oklahoma game. Saturday's game will shown on Fox Sports Net. The ZRG Radio Network (1580 KTGR in Columbia) will also have the game with Tex Little and Luke Cassis providing the commentary. The broadcasts can be heard online www.KTGR.com. Live Gametracker is available at www.mutigers.com.