Feb. 23, 2005
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FIRST PITCH
The Tigers will take part in the Service Academy Spring Classic this weekend at USA Stadium in Millington, Tenn. They will get underway in the tournament at 10 a.m. on Friday against Navy.
Last year the Tigers traveled to Millington for the Easton/USA Challenge and took the tournament title with a 4-0 record. The picked up wins over Wake Forest, Indiana State, Memphis and Tennessee-Martin. Head Coach Tim Jamieson picked up his 300th career win with the victory over Memphis last March.
Mizzou is 4-1 on the 2005 season after recording wins in three of its four games last week in Rock Hill, S.C.
Three Tigers (junior James Boone, sophomore Hunter Mense and sophomore John McKee) have had at least one hit in each of Missouri's first five games, heading into this weekend's tournament.
Mizzou has reached double digits in runs scored in its last three games prior to the trip to Millington.
Next week, MU will open up its home schedule with a three-game series with Eastern Michigan. The series will begin at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Saturday's game is at 2 p.m. and Sunday series finale will begin at Noon. The series with EMU will kick off a 10-game homestand for the Tigers.
MILLINGTON: MU'S TITLETOWN Mizzou claimed championship honors at the 2004 Easton/USA Challenge held in Millington, Tenn. last March. The Tigers opened up the tournament with a 12-inning win over Wake Forest, as Hunter Mense's double in the 12th drove in the game-winning run. MU followed that with a 7-6 win over Indiana State later that same day, as Nick Admire picked up his first win of the season. On day two of the tournament, the Tigers took a third-straight one-run win, coming from behind to defeat Memphis 3-2. The win was the 300th-career win for Head Coach Tim Jamieson, making him the third coach in MU history to reach the milestone. The final day of last year's Easton/USA Challenge saw Missouri down Tennessee-Martin by a score of 7-3, handing the Tigers the tournament title.
HITS KEEP ON COMING Three Tigers have had hits in each of the first five games of the season to carry hitting streaks into this weekend. Junior James Boone has a seven game hitting streak in tact, dating back to the final two games of the 2004 season. Sophomore Hunter Mense has had a hit in each of the first five games and has a six-game hitting streak dating back to last season. Mense opened the year with two hits in each of the first three games. Another sophomore, John McKee also has recorded at least on hit in all five of Mizzou's games this season. Junior Derek Chambers has a four-game hitting streak on the line heading into the weekend and juniors Trevor Helms and Bryson LeBlanc have two-game hitting streaks in tact.
LIGHTING UP THE SCOREBOARD Missouri has scored in double digits in each of its last three games prior to this weekend. The Tigers recorded wins over Gardner-Webb (12-9), Winthrop (10-3) and Akron (11-0) last weekend in Rock Hill, S.C. The last time MU had three-straight double-digits scoring outings came in March of 2003, when it had a win over Illinois State (16-11), and two wins over Kansas (11-7 and 14-8). The last time Mizzou had four-consecutive games with run totals in double digits came in 2002, when it had six-straight games with at least 10 runs scored from April 14-26.
TIGERS WIN TOURNAMENT AT THE ROCK The Tigers won the Griffin Pontiac Challenge in Rock Hill, S.C. by going 3-0 in the tournament. Mizzou's game against Winthrop on Thursday, in which the Tigers lost 7-4, was not part of the weekend's tournament. MU defeated Gardner-Webb on Friday in the first day of the tournament. On Saturday, the Tigers won the rematch with Winthrop before closing out the weekend by defeating Akron. It was Mizzou's first tournament title since it won the Easton/USA Challenge last March.
ZEROS ACCROSS THE BOARD Last Sunday's 11-0 victory over Akron, was the Tigers' first shutout since it defeated Texas 8-0 last May in Columbia. MU had five shutouts during the 2004 season. The 11-run margin of victory over Akron was the largest win in a shutout for the Tigers since defeating Kansas State 12-0 on March 28, 2004.