Feb. 15, 2006

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First Pitches: Friday- 3 p.m. (DH) / Saturday: 3 p.m.
Stadium: Indian Field (Capacity: 3,000)
Records: Mizzou: 2-2
Louisiana-Monroe: 0-4
Rankings: MU: Baseball America-No. 12, Collegiate Baseball- No. 20, NCBWA- No. 24, Coaches'Poll- No. 13. ULM is not ranked. Series History: MU leads all-time series with ULM, 1-0
Last Meeting: MU def. ULM, 13-10, in Monore, La. in 2003
Coaches: MU- Tim Jamieson (366-264-2/12th year at MU and overall)
ULM- Brad Holland (150-142/6th year at ULM and overall)
Radio: KTGR 1580-AM, flagship. Also on 900-AM in Fulton and 950-AM in Jefferson City
Live Audio: KTGR.com
Live Stats: N/A
For more information: mutigers.com
On Tap: Pepsi Baseball Classic -- Feb. 24-26 -- Gainesville, Fla.

LEADING OFF...
After opening the 2006 season 2-2 at the Buccaneer Classic in Charleston, S.C. last weekend, Mizzou will travel to Monroe, La. this weekend for a three-game series against the University of Louisiana-Monroe. The Indians are 0-4 heading into the weekend series. The Tigers and Indians have faced once before, with MU taking a 13-10 win at the 2003 ULM Classic in Monroe. The Tigers are 2-2 after the first weekend of the 2006 season, defeating Charleston Southern and Kennesaw State, while dropping contests to East Tennessee State and Washington State in Charleston. Mizzou remains in the top 25 in all major college baseball polls, with a No. 12 ranking by Baseball America being the highest. Collegiate Baseball has MU at No. 20 and the NCBWA ranks the Tigers No. 24. Next week, Missouri travels to Gainesville, Fla. for the Pepsi Baseball Classic at the University of Florida. The Tigers will open up the Classic against host, Florida at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, before facing Wake Forest at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday and Ohio State at 9 a.m. on Sunday.

SCOUTING THE INDIANS
Louisiana-Monroe is 0-4 entering the three-game set this weekend after falling to Louisiana-Lafayette on Tuesday by a score of 8-2. The Indians were swept by Texas Tech to open the season, before having their three-game series against Arkansas State cancelled because of snow in the Jonesboro, Ark. area. This weekend marks the home opening series for Louisiana-Monroe. Brad Holland is in his sixth season as the head coach at ULM, compiling a record of 150-142. Last season, the Indians were 26-29 and finished ninth in the Southland Conference with a league record of 9-18.

OPPONENTS HAVE HARD TIME EARNING RUNS
Missouri went the first 21.1 innings of the season without allowing an earned run. All three runs allowed to East Tennessee in the season opener and the four runs given up the next day to Charleston were all unearned runs. The first earned run of the season allowed by the Mizzou pitching staff was the first run scored by Kennesaw State in the fourth inning of Saturday's game.

MIZZOU IN THE POLLS
The Tigers are in the top 25 in all four major college baseball polls, with the Baseball America ranking of No. 12 being the highest. They are No. 13 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches' Poll, No. 20 the Collegiate Baseball Top 40 and No. 24 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association Poll. Mizzou received its highest ever preseason ranking, when Baseball America picked the Tigers No. 10 in its poll. It marked only the second time MU had appeared in the preseason poll and the first since it was No. 19 in 1983. Missouri was No. 21 in the final Baseball America poll last year.

TIGERS SELECTED THIRD IN BIG 12 PRESEASON POLL
The Big 12 Conference Baseball Coaches have selected Missouri to finish third in the conference this season, according to the preseason poll. The Tigers received 66 points, including one first-place vote. Texas (56-16 in 2005), the defending National Champion, has been selected to win the conference crown, garnering 79 total points in voting with nine points for first place, eight for second, seven for third, etc. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own teams. Nebraska (57-15) was No. 2 in the balloting with 70 points and one first place vote. Missouri (40-23), ranked in the top 15 in the pre-2006 national polls, was selected as the third team with 66 points and one first-place vote. Baylor (46-24) nailed down the fourth spot while Oklahoma (35-26) was fifth. Oklahoma State (34-25) nabbed sixth position, and Texas A&M (30-25-1) pulled up in seventh. Kansas (36-28) and Texas Tech (34-25) tied for eighth while Kansas State (30-25) was 10th.

FOR OPENERS
Mizzou loss to East Tennessee State last Thursday snapped a three-game winning streak for the Tigers in season openers. Missouri is 7-3-1 under Head Coach Tim Jamieson in season openers. Included in that stretch was a 0-0 tie against San Jose State in 2001. The game was called after six innings due to poor weather conditions with no score.

LAST TIME OUT
Missouri was 2-2 in last weekend's season opening Buccaneer Classic in Charleston, S.C. The Tigers opened the weekend with a 3-2 loss to East Tennessee State, as they did not record a hit until the sixth inning and finished with just four hits. Mizzou responded with a 12-4 win against tournament host Charleston Southern on day two of the Classic. The Tigers scored six runs in the top of the third inning, all unearned to take command of the game, as junior Nathan Culp picked up his first win of the year, allowing just four unearned runs in 6.0 innings of work. The Tigers made it two in a row with a 5-3 defeat of Kennesaw State on Saturday, scoring two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to take the victory. Washington State defeated MU on Sunday, 9-3, to send the Tigers home with a 2-2 record. Mizzou got on the board first with a run in the top of the first, but WSU responded with two in the bottom half of the first and later added six in the bottom of the fourth to take control of the game.

NEWCOMERS IMPRESSIVE IN DEBUTS
Several Tigers made their collegiate debuts at last weekend's Buccaneer Classic. One of the more impressive first weekends was that of freshman David Cales, who made two appearances on the mound, retiring all nine batters he faced and striking out three in 3.1 innings of work. Another freshman making his debut on the mound was Aaron Crow, who started against Kennesaw State, pitching six innings and striking out seven batters. Sophomore transfer John Thies pitched two innings and redshirt freshman Brant Combs pitched one inning. Each did not allow an earned run. Another freshman, Rick Zagone, pitched in two of the four games of the weekend, allowing just one run in 4.1 innings on the mound and striking out three. Also making his first collegiate appearance was sophomore transfer Brock Bond, who played in all four games, starting twice, and recording three hits.