April 6, 2005

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The Mizzou baseball team, which is ranked as high as No. 19 by ollegiate Baseball, will battle in-state rival Southeast Missouri State at 6 p.m. on Wednesday in Cape Girardeau, Mo.

APRIL FOOLS
Last Friday was April Fools Day and although Mizzou's 25-0 win over Texas Tech may have seemed like an April Fools joke, it was all too real for the Red Raiders. Seventeen of the 25 runs for MU were scored in the second inning on just six hits. The Red Raiders walked eight batters, hit four, had three balks and committed an error in the inning. The first Tiger to the plate grounded out to second. Following that, the next 17 batters all reached safely and all would score in the inning. Ten straight MU batters were either walked or hit by a pitch and a total of 22 men went to the plate for Mizzou in the second inning. The four hit batters, eight walks and 17 runs scored set new Big 12 Conference records for the most in a single inning.

NO-NO
Not only did the Tigers put 25 runs on the board against Texas Tech last Friday, but sophomores Max Scherzer and Michael Cole combined to throw the first no-hitter at Mizzou since 1981. Scherzer struck out a career-high 14 in seven inning pitched to record his sixth win in as many starts. He struck out the side in order in three of the seven innings. Cole pitched the final two innings, striking out four more Red Raiders. Of the 27 outs that the Tigers recorded, 18 were by strikeouts. Scherzer was named the Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Week and Collegiate Baseball Newspaper named Scherzer and Cole among the National Players of the Week for their accomplishment last Friday. The no-hitter was the ninth in school history and the first since Jim Maddock no-hit Nebraska in May of 1981. The last combined no-hitter at MU also came in 1981, when Dave Spreckels and Bob Baker no-hit Iowa.

AT THE POLLS
The Tigers have climbed into three of the four national baseball polls and are receiving votes in the other poll. The highest ranking for Missouri is in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper poll, which has the Tigers at No. 19. The latest National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association Top 35 ranked MU No. 20 and Baseball America has Missouri No 23. Mizzou is receiving votes in the USA Today/ESPN Top 25.

STREAKING
Missouri's loss to Texas Tech last Sunday was its first since Eastern Michigan knocked off the Tigers 7-6 on March 5. The 15-game winning streak from March 6-March 30 was the longest for Mizzou since it won 16 straight in 1985. The longest winning streak in school history was 18 games set by the 1964 team.

BIG START TO THE BIG 12
Mizzou won its first five Big 12 games this year, which is the best start to its conference season since the Big 12 was started in 1997. Mizzou had been 3-0 in league play twice before but had never won its first four conference games. Its current 5-1 Big 12 Conference mark puts MU in a tie for first place in the Big 12 standings with Nebraska.

LIGHTING UP THE SCOREBOARD
Missouri has outscored its opponents 311-83 this season and has recorded double-digits in runs in 17 of its 28 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 under three runs per outing. Mizzou has scored 25 runs twice this season, recording a 25-2 win over Navy on Feb. 25 and a 25-0 win over Texas Tech on April 1. 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 622 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 2.16 ERA heading into this Wednesday, which is second best in the Big 12 Conference. All three of Mizzou's probable starters for the weekend are in the top 10 in the Big 12 Conference in ERA, led by sophomore Max Scherzer, with a Big 12 best 1.02 ERA. Junior Doug Mathis has a 1.82 ERA, which is fifth best in the league and sophomore Nathan Culp is seventh in the Big 12 with a 2.01 ERA. The Tigers have already recorded six shutouts this season. They had five all of last year. Among the six shutouts was the first no-hitter at MU since 1981, when Scherzer and sophomore Michael Cole combined to no-hit Texas Tech on April 1. 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.

STAT TRACKS
In the Big 12 Conference statistics, Mizzou ranks second in ERA as MU pitchers have a combined 2.16 ERA and trail only Nebraska, who has a 2.15 mark. The Tigers have the league leader in ERA (sophomore Max Scherzer with a 1.02 ERA) and the league leading hitter (sophomore Hunter Mense with a .435 batting average). Joining Scherzer are junior Doug Mathis, whose 1.82 ERA is fifth best, and sophomore Nathan Culp, who has a 2.01 ERA, which ranks seventh in the Big 12. Scherzer also leads the conference in strikeouts with 68 and opponents' batting average as opponentes are hitting just .134 off of him. At the plate, junior James Boone is three spots behind Mense, coming in fourth in the Big 12 with a .398 batting average. Freshman Jacob Priday is 15th (.357) and sophomore John McKee is 23rd (.344). The Tigers lead the Big 12 with 311 runs scored on the year and have five players in the top 10 in the conference standings in runs scored led by Mense, who is second with 41. McKee is third (40), junior Derek Chambers is fourth (39), Boone is tied for sixth (35) and Priday is tied for ninth (32). Boone also has a Big 12 leading 53 RBI and is second in the conference with four triples on the season.

BEHIND THE STREAK
During Mizzou's 15-game winning streak from March 6-March 30, the Tigers outscored its opponents 157-25. They had a .316 batting average, while holding their opponents to a .176 mark. MU had a slugging percentage of .442 and an on-base percentage of .481, compared to its opponents' .226 slugging percentage and .264 on-base percentage. Missouri's ERA over the 15 games was just 1.65, while the opponents' ERA was 10.73. Opposing pitchers walked 143 batters, hit 43 and had 24 wild pitches. MU walked 42, hit 14 and had just two wild pitches during the streak.