May 12, 2005
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No. 20 Mizzou can clinch the Border Showdown Cup with this weekend's three-game series against Kansas. The series, which is the final home series of the year for MU, will get underway at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Game two of the series is at 2 p.m. on Saturday with the final game of the weekend set getting underway at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
MU-KU: LAST YEAR
Mizzou had an eight-game winning streak against Kansas snapped as the Jayhawks took the opening game of last year's series in Lawrence, Kan. by a score of 11-6. With the score tied at three, KU broke the game open with a five-run fourth inning. Missouri scored three runs in the eighth inning, but fell short in the series opener.
The Tigers evened the series and recorded its 30th win of the season with a 2-1 win over KU in the second game of the weekend. Garrett Broshuis remained unbeaten on the year, moving to 8-0 after allowing just one run on seven hits in seven innings. The Jayhawks led 1-0 before Mizzou scored two runs in the eighth inning on a RBI single by Tyler Williams and a sacrifice fly by Cody Ehlers.
Kansas took a 4-3 win in the series finale to hand Missouri its first conference series loss in three weeks. Mizzou pulled within one run, putting a run across the plate in the eighth and had the tying and winning runs in scoring position in the ninth, but was unable to get the runs home.
BORDER SHOWDOWN
Mizzou and Kansas will continue the Border Showdown presented by Midwest Ford Dealers with this weekends series in Columbia. Missouri leads this year's all-sports series by a score of 20.0 to 14.5 heading into the weekend. Each of the three games between MU and KU this weekend are worth one point each.
The Tigers can clinch the Border Showdown cup with one win this weekend.
MU won the cup in the inaugural year of the series, with a dominating 32 to 8.5 score. Last year, the Jayhawks evened the series with a 21.5 to 18.5 win to claim the cup.
HONOR ROLL
With the final month of the regular season upon us, the watch lists for several postseason awards have begun to surface.
Sophomore Max Scherzer has been named to the watch list for the Xanthus Dick Howser Award, the Golden Spikes Award, the Clemons Award and Wallace Award.
Junior James Boone joined Scherzer on the Howser Watch List. Scherzer and Boone are two of 64 on the Howser Watch List. The winner will be announced during the College World Series on June 17.
Scherzer is among 40 named to the Golden Spikes Award Watch List. That award will be handed out in July and the Wallace Award will be handed out on June 16 in Omaha. The Clemons Award is also awarded in June.
SCHERZER INVITED TO NATIONAL TEAM TRIALS
Sophomore pitcher Max Scherzer has accepted an invitation from USA Baseball to attend the 2005 National Team Trials, which will be held June 27-30 in Raleigh, North Carolina. Scherzer is among the first 13 invitees to the team tryouts.
The USA Baseball National Team will be selected from a pool of 36 players, of which 23 have yet to be determined. The official 20-man roster will be announced on July 1.
Scherzer, a native of Chesterfield, Mo., leads the Big 12 Conference with a 1.32 ERA and his 107 strikeouts is also a conference best. He is 7-2 on the season, including a combined no-hitter against Texas Tech on April 1. His 107 strikeouts this season already have moved him into sixth place in season strikeouts at Mizzou.
The 2005 USA Baseball National Team will participate in the 34th annual USA vs. Japan Collegiate Championship Series in Japan, July 8-2 and a Friendship Series vs. Taiwan in Chinese Taipei, July 15-19 prior to returning home to play six exhibition games at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, July 22-24 and July 29-31. USA Baseball will announce a full National Team game schedule at a later date.
STAT TRACKS, PART I
Following last weekend, Missouri had the sixth best ERA in the nation and the seventh best runs per game average, according to stats released on Tuesday by the NCAA.
The Tigers are ranked 12th in the national statistics with 0.44 triples per game.
Individually, junior James Boone is second in the nation with an average of 1.54 RBI per game, while freshman Jacob Priday is 30th with 1.18 RBI per game.
Sophomore John McKee ranks seventh in hit by pitches with 21 and is ninth with 46 walks on the season.
On the mound, sophomore Max Scherzer has a 1.32 ERA, which is the fifth best mark in the nation. His 11.8 strikeouts per game average is 14th best in the national standings and his 107 strikeouts is sixth most in the nation.
STAT TRACKS, PART II
Mizzou's pitching staff ranks third in the Big 12 Conference with a 2.82 ERA led by sophomore Max Scherzer, who leads the Big 12 with a 1.32 ERA on the year.
Scherzer also leads the Big 12 Conference with 107 strikeouts. His 11.79 K's per game average more than one strikeout more per game ahead of second place. He also leads the league with an opponents' batting average of just .141.
Junior James Boone is ninth in the Big 12 with a .357 batting average and sophomore Hunter Mense ranks 11th with a .349 average.
Boone has 63 runs batted in, which is second in the Big 12, two spots ahead of Priday who has 53 RBI.
The Tigers lead the Big 12 in runs scored with 412 and have three players in the top 10 in runs scored led by sophomore's John McKee's 52, which is fourth best in the Big 12. Mense is tied for sixth with 49 run scored and junior Derek Chambers' 48 runs is eighth most in the conference.
McKee is second in walks (46) and is fifth in on base percentage (.468), one spot behind Boone who has a .492 on base percentage.
AT THE POLLS
The Tigers are ranked No. 20 ranking in Baseball America being and No. 21 by the National Baseball Writers' Association. The Tigers fell out of the USA Today/ESPN Coaches' poll and the Collegiate Baseball poll.
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.
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 weekend, Chambers has the longest current streak, having reached safely in the last seven games.
TO THE MAX
Sophomore Max Scherzer added a complete game to his resume last week, as he went the distance against Nebraska to move to 7-2 on the season. Scherzer struck out nine and allowed just one run on four hits in the victory over the Huskers.
He not only leads the Big 12 Conference, but is sixth in the nation with a 1.32 ERA. Included in the seven victories is a combined no-hitter on April 1 against Texas Tech, in which he went seven innings and struck out a career-high 14 batters.
Scherzer leads the Big 12 with 107 strikeouts on the season. At his current pace, he would finish the regular season with 125 strikeouts. Currently, his 107 strikeouts is tied for fifth most in a season at MU.
John Dettmer's 127 K's in 1991 is the school record at MU. Scherzer's 107 strikeouts already rank sixth best in school history.
Scherzer was named the Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Week and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association National Pitcher of the Week after the no-hitter on April 1. Collegiate Baseball Newspaper also named Scherzer among the National Players of the Week.