April 1, 2005

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Click Here for radio broadcast of Friday and Sunday's games

Click Here for radio broadcast of Saturday's game
**Note: Due to a scheduling conflict, KTGR Radio will not air Saturday's game. Above is a link to the Texas Tech broadcast for Saturday's game. Friday and Sunday's game will be aired on KTGR.

The No. 24 ranked Mizzou Baseball team will host Texas Tech for a three-game series this weekend at Taylor Stadium. The series begins with game one at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. The second game of the series will be at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday with the finale at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

LAST YEAR VS. THE RED RAIDERS
The Tigers took two-our-of-three from Texas Tech when the two teams met last year in Lubbock, Texas. After dropping the series opener, MU had to comeback in each of the next two games to defeat Tech and take the series victory. In the opener, Missouri took a four-run lead into the bottom of the sixth inning, but the Red Raiders scored seven runs in the next three innings to take a 7-5 win. MU pitcher Danny Hill carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning, but left after seven innings, allowing five runs on seven hits. The Tigers evened the series by taking game two by a score of 5-3. It was Mizzou's first Big 12 road victory of the season. With the game tied at three, MU scored a run in the eighth on an RBI single by Jeremy Hernandez and added a run in the ninth with a solo home run by Lee Laskowski. Mizzou would take the series win with a 3-1 victory in the finale of the weekend. With two outs in the top of the ninth and the score tied at three, Trevor Helms tripled to the wall in right to drive in a pair of runs to give MU the lead. Mark Alexander then retired the Red Raiders in the bottom of the inning to secure the win.

STREAKING
With its win over Saint Louis University on Wednesday, Mizzou extended its winning streak to 13 games. It is the longest streak for the Tigers since they won 13 straight in 2003. Prior to that the longest winning streak was 16, set by the 1985 team. The 13-game streak is the longest by any team in the Big 12 Conference this season.

TIGERS TAKE EARLY LEAD IN BIG 12
Missouri's 3-0 start to the Big 12 Conference season is its best since 1998. That year MU opened the conference schedule by sweeping Kansas State, just as it did this season. The Tigers would fall to 3-1 in the Big 12 with a 9-2 loss to Texas A&M. They have never been 4-0 in the conference since the start of the Big 12 in 1997.

AT THE POLLS
Mizzou has climbed into the latest National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association Top 35, coming in at No. 24. The Tigers have been receiving votes in the poll for the past three weeks, but this is their first ranking of the season. This weekend's opponent, Texas Tech is ranked No. 30 in the NCBWA poll and is 25th in the USA Today/ESPN Top 25.

LIGHTING UP THE SCOREBOARD
Missouri has outscored its opponents 276-76 this season and has recorded double-digits in runs in 16 of its 25 games. That includes a stretch of nine straight games with at least 10 runs from March 6-March 20. The Tigers are averaging over 11 runs a game, while holding its opponents to just over three runs per outing. Earlier this year, MU outscored North Dakota State 55-4 in a four-game series and the previous week, it swept a three-games series from Youngstown State by a combined score of 42-2. If MU was to maintain its current scoring pace, it would finish the regular season with 618 runs. The school record for runs in a season is 573, set in 1998.

ZEROS ACROSS THE BOARD
Hidden behind the high scoring offense the Tigers have had this season, is some impressive pitching outings for Mizzou this season. MU has a 2.22 ERA heading into this Wednesday, which leads the Big 12 Conference. All three of Mizzou's probable starters for the weekend are in the top 15 in the Big 12 Conference in ERA, led by sophomore Max Scherzer with a Big 12 best 1.21 ERA. Sophomore Nathan Culp has a 1.89 ERA which ranked 10th in the conference and junior Doug Mathis is 13th with a 2.20 ERA. The Tigers have already recorded five shutouts this season. They had five all of last season. MU had stretch of 26 innings of shutout ball from March 14 (vs. Youngstown State) to March 19 (vs. North Dakota State). Earlier this season the Tigers put together 23-innings of not allowing a run.

BEHIND THE STREAK
To say that the Tigers have been dominate during the current 13-game winning streak would be an understatement. Over the past 13 games, MU has outscored its opponents 132-23. It has hit .317, while holding the opponents to a .188 batting average. Mizzou's slugging percentage is .446 and its on-base percentage is .482. Opponents are slugging .237 with a .274 on-base percentage. The MU pitchers' ERA is 1.75 during the streak, as compared to 10.12 for the opposition. While Tiger pitchers have thrown just two wild pitches in the 12 games, their opponents have had 23.

STAT TRACKS
In the Big 12 Conference statistic, Mizzou ranked first in ERA as MU pitchers have a combined 2.22 ERA heading into the weekend. Sophomore Max Scherzer has a league best 1.21 ERA and sophomore Nathan Culp's 1.89 ERA is 10th best in the conference. Scherzer is tied for fourth in the conference with five wins on the season and is third in strikeouts with 54. Junior Taylor Parker has three saves on the year, which is tied for fifth most in the Big 12 Conference. At the plate, the Tigers are fifth in the league with a .313 batting average and lead the Big 12 with 276 runs scored on the year. Sophomore Hunter Mense is eighth in the conference standings with a .395 batting average, while junior James Boone is hitting .379, which is 11th best in the Big 12. Three Tigers are in the top five in runs scored led by junior Derek Chambers with 36, third most in the conference. Mense has scored 35 runs (4th) and sophomore John McKee has 34 runs scored (5th). Boone is second in the Big 12 with 45 RBI on the year, two spots ahead of freshman Jacob Priday who has 32.

HITS KEEP ON COMING
Junior Derek Chambers carries a 10-game hitting streak into the weekend series with Texas Tech. Chambers has also had a pair of five-game hitting streaks already this season. Sophomore Hunter Mense has a four-game hitting streak in tact, while junior Zane Taylor and sophomore John McKee have three-game streaks on the line. The longest hitting streak of the season for the Tigers was Junior James Boone's 12-game streak earlier this month.