April 18, 2006

MIZZOU vs SAINT LOUIS
WOOD BAT CLASSIC
O'FALLON, MO
APRIL 19, 2006

First Pitch: 6:30 p.m.
Stadium: T.R. Hughes Ballpark
Records: Mizzou: 16-18, 6-9 Big 12
Saint Louis: 19-15, 8-4 Atlantic 10
Series History: Mizzou leads 69-17
Last Meeting: MU def. SLU, 16-0 on March 10 in Columbia.
Coaches: MU- Tim Jamieson (380-280-2/12th year at MU and overall)
SLU- Bob Hughes (332-584-1/18th year at SLU 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: Gametrackeron mutigers.com
For more information: mutigers.com

On Tap: vs. Oklahoma State
April 21-23 -- Taylor Stadium
Friday- 6:30 p.m. / Saturday- 2 p.m. / Sunday- 1 p.m.

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LEADING OFF...
For the seventh-consecutive season, Missouri and Saint Louis will meet on Wednesday at T.R. Hughes Ballpark. The game can be heard on KTGR 1580-AM in Columbia or at KTGR.com. Live Stats will be available through Gametracker on mutigers.com. Mizzou has won each of the six previous wood-bat meetings with SLU, including a 13-4 win last season. The Tigers defeated the Billikens in Columbia in the first meeting this season between the two teams by a score of 16-0. MU has won the last four games with the Billikens and lead the all-time series 69-17. Missouri enters Wednesday's contest with a 16-18 record, while the Billikens are 19-15. MU is coming off a series with Oklahoma which the Sooners swept, extending the Tigers' losing streak to nine games. Saint Louis took two-of-three from Xavier last weekend to win its fourth conference series of the season. The Tigers will return to Taylor Stadium this weekend for a Big 12 Conference series with Oklahoma State, getting underway at 6:30 p.m. on Friday.

QUICK HITS
• Sophomore Evan Frey is fifth in the Big 12 Conference with a .394 batting average. Frey's on-base percentage of .455 is tenth best in the conference.

• Sophomore Jacob Priday has an 11-game hitting streak in tact heading into Wednesday. The streak is a career high for Priday and matches the longest streak by a Tiger this season.

• Mizzou's team ERA of 3.87 is fifth-best in the Big 12 Conference.

• Freshman David Cales' ERA of 2.60 ranks fifth in the Big 12. Opponents are hitting just .191 against Cales, which is third best in the conference.

• Junior Nathan Culp has an ERA of 3.04, which is ninth best in the Big 12 Conference. Culp is also tied for third in the conference in wins (six) and is seventh in innings pitched (68.0).

• Senior Taylor Parker has recorded four saves in Big 12 play, which is tied for the lead in the conference. His five saves overall this year already places him in a tie for 11th in the Mizzou record books for saves in a season.

• Senior Zane Taylor recorded his 200th career hit with an RBI single against SEMO last Wednesday. He is second on the team with a .345 batting average.

• With his 19 appearances this season, senior Taylor Parker has pitched in 93 games as a Tiger, which places him second in the Mizzou record books. Scott Black holds the record with 108 appearances on the mound.

• Junior Max Scherzer, who set a school record with 131 strikeouts last season, needs 10 strikeouts to reach the 200 career Ks.

• Junior Nathan Culp pitched the first shutout of his career in a 3-0 win over Kansas on March 31. It was the first complete game by a Mizzou pitcher since Max Scherzer went the distance against Nebraska last May in Lincoln.

• MU Head Coach Tim Jamieson is 20 wins away from his 400th career-win, with a record of 380-273-2. The 380 wins are the third most in Missouri history.

THE WOOD BAT CLASSIC
Each year the Missouri Baseball team plays at least one game during the season with wood bats in place of the normal collegiate aluminum versions. This season, the Tigers will continue the annual tradition which Head Coach Tim Jamieson started in the mid-1990's. The logic was that every player that will move on to play professional ball will need to adjust to the bat, the collegiate summer leagues utilize the wood bat, and the fans have enjoyed the novelty the bats have brought. The Tigers have gone as far as to commemorate the occasions with souvenir wood-bat giveaways. Missouri will take on Saint Louis at T.R. Hughes Ballpark in the St. Louis suburb of O'Fallon, Mo., on Wednesday. The Tigers will also face Illinois in a Wood Bat Game in O'Fallon on May 17. This season's wood-bat game against Saint Louis marks the seventh straight year that the Tigers and Billikens have squared off under the unique circumstances. Mizzou has beaten SLU in each of the six previous meetings.

SCOUTING THE BILLIKENS
Saint Louis claimed two victories over Xavier last weekend to win its fourth-straight Atlantic 10 Conference series. The Billikens closed the weekend with a 6-1 win over Xavier behind 12 strikeouts from junior Ryan Bird, who earned Atlantic 10 Co-Pitcher of the Week honors after that performance. SLU enters Wednesday's game with a 19-15 record and an 8-4 mark in the Atlantic 10. This season is the first for Saint Louis in the A-10 and the Billikens are currently fifth in the league, having won all four of their weekend series. The Billikens are hitting .288 as a team and their pitching staff has an ERA of 4.49 prior to Wednesday's game. Bob Hughes is in his 18th season as the head coach at Saint Louis, compiling a record of 332-584-1 at the helm of the Billikens.

MU-SLU SERIES HISTORY
Mizzou holds a 69-17 lead in the all-time series with Saint Louis, including a 16-0 win earlier this season in Columbia. The Tigers have won each of the last four meetings with the Billikens, with the last SLU win coming in 2004 in Columbia. MU has won all six of the previous "Wood Bat Classic" games played at T.R. Hughes Ballpark. Last season, the Tigers took a 13-4 win in the annual game played in O'Fallon.

LAST MEETING VS. SLU
Missouri recorded its second shutout of the 2006 season with a 16-0 win over Saint Louis on March 7 at Taylor Stadium. The Tigers scored in all but two innings and pounded out 16 hits, while holding the Billikens to just five. After scoring two runs in the bottom of the first, Mizzou put up five runs on just one hit in he second inning. MU drew five walks, had one batter hit by a pitch and was aided by a SLU error. The lone hit in the inning was from senior Zane Taylor, whose single drove in two runs. Taylor was 2-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored. The Tigers would add five more runs in the fourth inning, with the big hit being a grand slam by Gary Arndt. It was Arndt's second home run on the season, the first grand slam of Arndt's career and the first grand slam by a Tiger since James Boone hit one against Eastern Michigan last March. Sophomore Jacob Priday hit his first home run of the season and the 10th of his career in the fifth inning and finished the night 3-for-3 with three runs scored and two RBI. Junior Hunter Mense and sophomore Brock Bond each added two hits for the Tigers . Junior Stephan Holst started for the Tigers and recorded his first win of the season, going 5.2 scoreless innings, allowing just four hits and striking out six.

ON TAP
Mizzou will host Oklahoma State this weekend in the first of three-consecutive home weekend series. Game one against the Cowboys will get underway at 6:30 p.m. on Friday night at Taylor Stadium. The series will continue with games at 2 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday. Next week, the Tigers will take part in the Best of the Midwest Tournament in Kansas City, taking in Creighton at 7 p.m. on Tuesday and Southeast Missouri State at Noon on Wednesday. Missouri returns to Columbia the following weekend for a three-game set with Baylor.

LAST TIME OUT
The Tigers were two outs away from taking two-of-three from Oklahoma last weekend, but instead back-to-back ninth inning rallies gave OU a three-game sweep. The series began with a 6-4 Oklahoma win on Friday night. MU junior Nathan Culp pitched seven innings and four Tigers had two-hit games, but, despite a three-run eighth inning, MU fell short of Oklahoma 6-4 in game one. On Saturday, the Sooners rallied to score six runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to take an 8-6 win. Freshman Aaron Crow allowed just two runs on six hits, striking out five in six innings pitched, taking a no decision. Sunday seemed like deja vu for Missouri, as OU scored three times in the bottom of the ninth to again record a come back win, taking the finale 7-6 to sweep the series.

MIZZOU IN THE POLLS
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.

TGI-PRIDAY
Sophomore Jacob Priday hit his team-leading fourth home run of the season on Sunday at Oklahoma and has an 11-game hitting streak in tact. The 11-game streak is a career long for Priday and matches the longest streak of the season for a Tiger. On Friday, Feb. 24, sophomore Jacob Priday turned in a 5-for-6 performance to help lead Mizzou to a 14-5 win over then-No. 1 Florida. It was Priday's second career five-hit game. Ironically, his second career five-hit game came nearly a year to the day after his first. He was 5-for-6 against Navy on Feb. 25, 2005, driving in four runs and scoring four times. On Feb. 24, 2006, Priday was again 5-for-6, driving in three runs and scoring twice. For the weekend at the Pepsi Baseball Classic, Priday was 7-for-12 (.583), with three doubles and four RBI, earning him a spot on the All-Tournament Team. On March 14, Priday was named the Big 12 Conference Player of the Week, after he hit .533 with two home runs and 11 RBI in the four games the previous week. Priday was 3-for-4 and drove in a career-high six runs in the Tigers 22-2 win over Purdue in the second game of the three-game series.

SUPER SOPHOMORE
Sophomore Evan Frey leads the Tigers with a .394 batting average, which is fifth best in the Big 12 Conference. He has had a hit in all but four games in which he has played this season. He had an 11-game hitting streak snapped, as he went 0-for-2 against SEMO on March 29. During the streak, Frey hit .463, drove in nine runs, had two triples and a double. He had five multi-hit games during the streak, including four games in which he had three hits. The 11-game hitting streak is a career best for Frey and ties the longest streak by a Tigers this season. He currently has a four-game streak in tact.

TAYLOR MADE HITTING
Senior Zane Taylor has had a hit in all but six games for the Tigers this season and is hitting .331 on the year. He recorded his 200th hit as a Tiger in last Wednesday's game with Southeast Missouri State. Taylor had an 11-game hitting streak snapped with an 0-for-3 outing in the series finale against Wisconsin-Milwaukee on March 5. His career-long hitting streak was a 13-game streak coming in 2004. After opening the year with a 0-3 outing in the season opener against East Tennessee State, Taylor had a hit in each of the next 11 games, including eight games in which he has had multiple hits. Taylor is also tied for 6th place in the Big 12 Conference with 25 walks on year.

CULP SHUTS DOWN JAYHAWKS
Missouri junior lefty Nathan Culp was named the Big 12 Conference Co-Pitcher of the Week on April 4 after he pitched a complete-game three-hit shutout against Kansas the previous Friday. Culp faced the minimum through 7.2 innings, as the only two baserunners to reach up to that point were erased on double plays. He struck out five and walked just one, picking up his team-leading sixth win of the season, which is second most in the Big 12. Culp did record a seven-inning shutout over North Dakota State in 2005 in a game that was called after seven innings due to a run rule in effect. This year, Culp has walked just seven batters in 68.0 innings pitched and has 40 strikeouts. His next win will be the 20th of his career, as he currently stands 19-9 as a Tiger.

MAX TRAX
Injuries have forced All-American Max Scherzer to miss four starts this season, including two in Big 12 Conference play. In his first appearance of the year under the Taylor Stadium lights, he struck out nine batters in five innings pitched and recorded the win against UW-Milwaukee, his third in as many starts. Scherzer was named the Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Week on Feb. 28 after leading the Tigers to a victory over No. 1 Florida on Feb. 24. In the win against Florida, he struck out eight in seven innings, allowing just one run on only three hits to record his second victory in a many starts. Scherzer, who was the Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Year and a second team All-American last year has already begun to receive honors this year. Scherzer was named a first team preseason All-American by all major collegiate baseball publications. He has also been named to the watch lists for the Roger Clemens Award, which is awarded to the nation's top pitcher. Scherzer was one of 10 semifinalists for the Clemens Awards in 2005. Scherzer is also on the Wallace Award watch list, which recognizes the nation's top player and is another award he was a semifinalists for last season. Last season, he led the Big 12 with 131 strikeouts and a 1.82 ERA. The 131 strikeouts is a new school record, passing John Dettmer's 127 K's in 1991. He spent last summer with Team USA, where he had pitches clocked as high as 99 miles per hour.

MENSE NAMED TO PRESEASON ALL-AMERICAN TEAMS
Junior Hunter Mense was named to preseason All-American teams by Baseball America and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association. He also was named to the watch list for the Wallace Award, which is given to the nation's top college baseball player. Last year, he was a second team All-Big 12 Conference selection after hitting .327 on the year, which was second best on the team. Mense was also second on the squad in runs scored (62) and stolen bases (10) and was third in hits (67) and slugging percentage (.473).

TAKING DOWN NO. 1
Mizzou defeated No. 1 Florida on Feb. 24 in Gainesville, Fla. 14-5, knocking off a No. 1 team for the first time since it defeated then-No. 1 Texas, 8-0 on May 1, 2004. The win over Texas was actually the second-straight victory over UT for the Tigers, who recorded a 4-1 win the night before. In the win over the Gators, Missouri pounded out a season-high 22 hits, the most since it recorded 26 hits against Navy (2/25/05). Sophomore Jacob Priday was 5-for-6 against UF, and the top two in the Tiger lineup (Trevor Helms and Zane Taylor) were a combined 8-for-11. Helms 4-for-6 and Taylor finished 4-for-5. Junior Max Scherzer kept Florida in check all night, striking out eight in seven innings pitched. He allowed one run on just three hits to the top-ranked Gators. Mizzou led 14-1 before UF scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth and added a pair of runs in the ninth inning.

MIZZOU WELL REPRESENTED ON TEAM USA
Mizzou Head Coach Tim Jamieson was selected to serve as an assistant coach on the USA Baseball National Team last summer and was joined by two of his Tiger players. Juniors Max Scherzer and Hunter Mense were also selected to the squad, marking the first Team USA selections for MU since 1991. The National Team went 16-4 over the summer, playing games in Japan and Taiwan, along with hosting teams from around the world stateside. Scherzer made four appearances, including two starts, and was 2-1 for Team USA with a 2.70 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 20 innings of work. Mense made the team after a very impressive showing at the trials. He played in 17 games for Team USA, hitting .259 with a home run, two triples and two doubles.

KINSLER DEBUTS RANGERS
Former Missouri Tiger Ian Kinsler made his first major league appearance on opening day this season with the Texas Rangers. Kinsler, who played at Missouri in 2003 and hit .325 for the Tigers, has been named the starting second baseman for the Rangers. His first career major league hit came off Curt Schilling of the Boston Red Sox on opening day. He homered last Thursday against Detroit and as of Tuesday, was hitting .450. Kinsler was a 17th round draft pick by Texas in 2003.

TIGERS ARE THREE FOR THREE
Mizzou is one of just two teams in the Big 12 Conference that has advanced to the NCAA Tournament in each of the last three seasons. Texas, the defending National Champions, is the only other team out of the powerful Big 12 Conference to reach the postseason in the last three years.

TIGERS SELECTED THIRD IN THE BIG 12 PRESEASON POLL
The Big 12 Conference Baseball Coaches 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.

HE STOOD TALL
He Stood Tall is the story of former Mizzou coach John "Hi" Simmons as told by the men who knew him best. Dozens of players from the 1930s to the 1960s share their stories about their former coach in the recently released book. There are also chapters dedicated to Simmons' theories about the game, his colorful vocabulary and his enduring legacy at the University. To order the book, visit mutigers.com or call 913-219-0338. The book can also be purchased at the Tiger Team Store. All proceeds from the book sales will go the Tiger Bullpen, benefiting Mizzou Baseball.

ALL-ACCESS
Video webcast for all Mizzou Baseball home games in 2006 will be available at mutigers.com as part of the new All-Access. New to mutigers.com this year, All-Access is the Tiger fans home to live and archived games for Mizzou Athletics, along with coaches' shows, press conferences and much more. For more information, visit mutigers.com and click on the All-Access icon.