May 3, 2005

A week after Southwest Missouri State defeated Mizzou, 2-1, in Springfield, Mo., the two teams meet again in Columbia. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday night.

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MU-SMS: A WEEK EARLIER
Southwest Missouri State leads the season series 1-0 with Mizzou after taking a 2-1 victory over the Tigers last Tuesday in Springfield. The Tigers were held to a season low three hits on the night. SMS scored in the bottom of the first inning when Adam Pummill, who led off the inning with a double and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, scored on a ground out by Jacob Hilgendorf. The Bears threatened to add to the lead, but had base runners thrown out at home twice by MU outfielders. Sophomore leftfielder Hunter Mense threw out Kirk McConnell in the third inning and freshman centerfielder Evan Frey threw out Pummill in the fifth inning. Mizzou tied the game in the top of the sixth inning as junior Trevor Helms walked to lead off the inning and advanced to third on back-to-back hit batters. He then scored MU's first run of the game on a wild pitch. The lead was quickly reclaimed by SMS as it scored a run in the bottom of the sixth when Nolan Keane scored a run on a Tiger error.

AT THE POLLS
The Tigers are ranked in all four national polls, with a No. 17 ranking in Baseball America being the highest. The National Baseball Writers' Association has MU at No. 18, Collegiate Baseball ranks the Tigers No. 21 and the USA Today/ESPN Top 25 has Missouri at No. 25. MU has been ranked as high as No. 13 in both the Baseball America poll and the Collegiate Baseball poll, its highest ranking since it reach the 13th spot in 1981.

STAT TRACKS
Mizzou's pitching staff ranks third in the Big 12 Conference with a 2.67 ERA led by sophomore Max Scherzer, who leads the Big 12 with a 1.36 ERA on the year. All three of MU's probable weekend starters are among the top 25 in the conference in ERA. Scherzer also leads the Big 12 Conference with 98 strikeouts. His 12.14 K's per game average is nearly two strikeouts more per game ahead of second place. He also leads the league with an opponents' batting average of just .141. Sophomore Hunter Mense is fourth in the conference with a batting average of .378. Junior James Boone is ninth (.357). Boone has 63 runs batted in, which is second in the Big 12, one spot ahead of Priday's 52 RBI. The Tigers are second the Big 12 in runs scored with 394 and have three players in the top 10 in runs scored led by sophomore's John McKee's 50, which is tied for third best in the Big 12. Junior Derek Chambers is sixth with 47 runs scored and Mense is tied for seventh with 46. McKee is second in walks (43) and is fifth in on base percentage (.495). Boone is fourth with a .492 on base percentage and Mense is sixth with a .485 mark.

HITS KEEP ON COMING
The longest hitting streak of the season for the Tigers was junior James Boone's 12-game streak in March. Junior Derek Chambers had a 10-game hitting streak earlier in the year. Heading into the Tuesday, Chambers has the longest current streak, having reached safely in the last three games.