2005 Mizzou Baseball Season Preview
2/22/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 22, 2005
Coming off its first back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 24 years, the Mizzou Baseball team will look to make it three in a row in 2005. Last year, the Tigers were 38-23-1, advancing to the NCAA Regionals after finishing as runners-up at the Big 12 Tournament. Gone are five position starters and three pitchers from that squad. However, Mizzou has reloaded and is ready to take on all comers. Head Coach Tim Jamieson enters his 11th season at the helm of the Tigers after becoming the third coach in school history to record 300 wins last season. He has led Mizzou to eight 30-win seasons since taking over as the MU skipper in 1995.
PITCHERS
Among the returners on the mound for MU is sophomore Nathan Culp. Last season, Culp started 11 games and became part of the weekend rotation by the end of the season. He was named All-Big 12 Honorable Mention after winning four games and had a 4.44 ERA.
Another sophomore, Max Scherzer, will look for a spot in the weekend rotation. He started twice and appeared in 13 games last season. Scherzer struck out 23 batters in 20 innings of work in 2004.
Junior Nick Admire returns for his third season at Mizzou. He was 4-3 last year and had a team-best 2.12 ERA. He has appeared in 29 games in his two seasons and has a career ERA of 3.93.
Junior Erik Dessau was 6-4 in 2004 in his first season at Missouri. He opened the year by winning his first three starts and finished with a 3.76 ERA.
Junior Taylor Parker was second on the team in appearances last year with 28. He had two saves and struck out 39 batters in 36.1 innings pitched and will be one of the leaders of the Tiger bullpen this year.
Following Parker in appearances in 2004 was Dustin Braud, who will be a senior this season. He came out of the bullpen in 23 of MU's games last year, picking up wins in two of his relief appearances.
Sophomore Michael Cole struck out 20 batters in 16.1 innings of work as a freshman last year for the Tigers.
Junior Travis Wendte will look to return to the field after sitting out last season recovering from arm surgery. Wendte's eight saves in his first two seasons with the Tigers is the third most in MU history.
Junior Abel Newton could be classified as both a returner and a newcomer this season. After playing for Mizzou in 2002, Newton played at Arkansas-Fort Smith before returning to the Tigers this season. He pitched in 16 games for Missouri in 2002 and was a freshman All-Big 12 selection.
Senior Bryan Rider missed the 2004 season while recovering from arm surgery after transferring to MU prior to last year.
Senior Meade Hedricks will also be looking for his first appearance on the mound for MU after joining the team last season.
Among the newcomers to the Mizzou pitching staff is junior Doug Mathis, a transfer from Central Arizona College, where he was 13-3 and had an ERA of 1.35.
Andrew Johnston, a 6-5 junior, transfers to Missouri after two seasons at Jefferson College, where he compiled a record of 4-2.
Freshmen Brant Combs and Bret Harvel will also join the Tigers this year and look for a spot on the pitching staff.
CATCHERS
Senior Cosme Caballero is the lone Tiger catcher with experience for Mizzou. Caballero started 30 of the 35 games he played in last year, splitting time at catcher and third base. He had seven doubles and had a nine-game hitting streak in 2004.
Dan Pietroburgo redshirted for Mizzou last year and will look to get his first playing time in 2005.
Juniors Stephen Spaugh and J.C. Field have both transferred to Missouri this season. Spaugh had a .358 batting average with three home runs and 38 RBI for Panola College last season, while Field hit .333 for Pima Community College last season and was named to the All-Conference and All-Region teams.
Freshman Scott Dunwoody is a local product from Rock Bridge High School in Columbia and will join MU as a catcher this season.
INFIELD
Juniors Zane Taylor and Trevor Helms and sophomore Gary Arndt will lead the returners in the Mizzou infield.
Taylor has played second base, shortstop and third base for MU in his two seasons at Missouri. He has started 87 games and played in 98 since arriving at Missouri in 2003.
In his first full season since recovering from an injury, Helms hit .330 last season with two home runs, three triples and five doubles. He has a .311 batting average in his two seasons with the Tigers.
Arndt started 46 games for MU as a freshman in 2004 and led the team in assists on the year with 140.
Sophomore John McKee also returns to the team this year after seeing significant playing time as a freshman in 2004.
McKee played in 19 games last season and had a pair of doubles and a home run.
Sophomore Jeff Zelenovich transfers to Missouri from Johnson County Community College, where he hit .369 with 10 home runs and 59 RBI in 2004.
Also transferring to MU are juniors Derek Chambers and Greg O'Neill.
O'Neill helped lead Warton County Junior College to the Region XIV South Conference Championship last year, while Chambers hit .385 with seven home runs last year at Arkansas- Fort Smith.
Three freshmen, Coby Arzola, Bill Disselhoff and John Kruse will join the Tigers in the infield.
OUTFIELD
Junior James Boone is the Tigers' leading returning hitter. He hit .332 and was named to the Big 12 Conference Honorable Mention squad in 2004.
Junior Tyler Williams has played in 93 games in his two seasons for Missouri, starting 57 times.
Sophomore Hunter Mense can play in the outfield or the infield and could also see time on the mound for Missouri. Last season he played in 32 games, starting 14 times.
After missing the 2004 season due to injury, junior Tyrone Roberson will look to get back on the field this year.
Junior Bryson LeBlanc is a speedy player that will join the Tigers in the outfield this season. He hit .351 and stole 19 bases for Delgado Community College before coming to Missouri.
Andy Swayze is a junior transfer who hit .407 for Lamar Community College last season with six home runs and 64 RBI.
Jacob Priday, Evan Frey and Matt Wulfers will join Mizzou as freshmen this season and look to get time in the outfield for the Tigers. Priday is also likely to see time at catcher for Mizzou.
SCHEDULE
As is the case each year, the winter weather of Missouri will send the Tigers on the road for the first three weeks of the season.
Mizzou will travel to Phoenix, Ariz. for its season-opening tournament, as it participates in the Oakland A's Spring Training Tournament. Northwestern, Portland and Oregon State will be on the schedule for the Tigers in Arizona.
The following week, the Tigers will be in Rock Hill, S.C. for the Griffin/Pontiac Challenge hosted by Winthrop. Joining MU and Winthrop at the tournament will be Gardner-Webb and Akron.
The final early-season tournament for MU will be the Easton/USA Challenge in Millington, Tenn., a tournament the Tigers won in 2004. Mizzou will face Navy, Indiana State and Memphis.
Missouri will then open up play at Taylor Stadium with a 10-game homestand, starting with a three-game series with Eastern Michigan March 4-6. Youngstown State and North Dakota State will be in Columbia for three-game sets and the Tigers will face Illinois State twice, once at home and once on the road, before opening up Big 12 play.
Mizzou will open up conference play with a trip to Manhattan, Kan. to face Kansas State March 25-27. The first home Big 12 series will be the following week, April 1-3, as Texas Tech will visit Taylor Stadium.
Also visiting Columbia in 2005 will be Texas A&M (April 8-10), Oklahoma (April 22-24) and Kansas (May 13-15). The Tigers will be on the road against Oklahoma State (April 15-17), Texas (April 29-May 1), Nebraska (May 6-8) and Baylor (May 20-22).
The Tigers also have home-and-home matchups with Southeast Missouri State and Southwest Missouri State.
Missouri will play at T.R. Hughes Ballpark in O'Fallon, Mo. three times in 2005, highlighted by the annual "Wood Bat Classic" against Saint Louis on April 20. On May 17, MU will face Southern Illinois in O'Fallon before taking on Illinois the following night at T.R. Hughes.
The Big 12 Conference Tournament returns to Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City, Okla. this season from May 25-29.
Six teams (Texas, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Youngstown State) on MU's schedule qualified for the NCAA Tournament in 2004.
