April 25, 2006

BEST OF THE MIDWEST TOURNAMENT
KANSAS CITY, KAN.
APRIL 25-26, 2006
First Pitch:
Tuesday vs. Creighton- 7 p.m.
Wednesday vs. SE Missouri State- Noon
Complete Tournament Schedule below
Stadium:
Community America Ballpark (Home of the Kansas City T-Bones)
Records:
Mizzou: 18-20, 7-11 Big 12 Conference
Creighton: 22-14, 7-8 Missouri Valley Conference
SEMO: 15-22, 6-9 Ohio Valley Conference
Series History:
MU leads series with Creighton 6-2, and leads series with SEMO, 20-9
Coaches:
MU- Tim Jamieson (382-282-2/12th year at MU and overall)
Creighton- Ed Servais (95-55/3rd year at CU; 287-137-1/12th year overall)
SEMO- Mark Hogan- 347-277/12 year at SEMO; 724-543/25th year overall)
Radio:
KTGR 1580-AM, flagship;
Also on 900-AM in Fulton and 950-AM in Jefferson City
Live Audio: KTGR.com
Live Stats: Gametracker on mutigers.com
For more information: mutigers.com
On Tap:
vs. Baylor - April 28-30
Taylor Stadium
Friday- 6:30 p.m. / Saturday- 2 p.m. / Sunday- 1 p.m.

Complete Release in PDF Format
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LEADING OFF...
Mizzou travels to Kansas City this week to take part in the Best of the Midwest Tournament. The Tigers will join five other area teams in the two-day event held at the Community America Ballpark, home of the Kansas City T-Bones. The Tigers will play a pair of games in Kansas City, taking on Creighton at 7 p.m. on Tuesday before facing Southeast Missouri State at Noon on Wednesday. Both games can be heard on KTGR 1580-AM in Columbia and at ktgr.com. Live stats will also be available online though Gametracekr on mutigers.com. Missouri enters the tournament with an 18-20 record and is 7-11 in the Big 12 Conference after Oklahoma State took two of three from the Tigers last weekend in Columbia. Creighton is 22-14 on the year and is coming off a series with Evansville in which it dropped two of the three games on the weekend. Southeast Missouri State is 15-22 on the year. The Redhawks also dropped two of three in its weekend series with Austin Peay. Tuesday's game begins a stretch of 10 games in 13 days for the Tigers. Following their trip to Kansas City, Mizzou will return to Taylor Stadium to host a three-game series with Baylor. That series will get underway at 6:30 p.m. on Friday.

QUICK HITS
• Sophomore Jacob Priday had a 14-game hitting streak snapped last Sunday against Oklahoma State. The streak was a career best for Priday and is the longest streak by a Tiger this season. • Sophomore Evan Frey leads the Big 12 with 30 hits in conference games. His .429 batting average in Big 12 games is second best in the league and his overall average of .385 is sixth best. • Mizzou's team ERA of 3.68 is third-best in the Big 12 Conference. • Freshman David Cales' ERA of 3.22 in conference games ranks eighth in the Big 12. Conference opponents are hitting just .215 against Cales, which ranks third in the league. • Junior Nathan Culp has an ERA of 2.96, which is fifth best in the Big 12 Conference. Culp is also tied for second in the Big 12 in wins (seven) and is fourth in innings pitched (76.0). • Senior Taylor Parker has recorded four saves in Big 12 play, which places him in a tie for third in the conference. His five saves overall this year places him in a tie for 11th in the Mizzou record books for saves in a season. • Sophomore Brock Bond hit his first career home run in last Friday's win over Oklahoma State. Bond is eighth in the Big 12 with an on-base percentage of .451. Bond's .344 average in Big 12 games ranks 18th in the league. • 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 is one of just four pitchers that have recorded a shutout in a Big 12 Conference game this season. • With his 22 appearances this season, senior Taylor Parker has pitched in 96 games as a Tiger, which places him second in the Mizzou record books. Scott Black holds the record with 108 appearances on the mound. Parker leads the Big 12 with 13 appearances in Big 12 games this season. • Three Tigers have earned Big 12 honors during the 2006 season. Junior Max Scherzer was named the Big 12 Pitcher of the Week after a win over then-No. 1 Florida on Feb. 24. Sophomore Jacob Priday was selected Big 12 Player of the Week on March 14 after hitting .533 in the previous week's four games and junior Nathan Culp earned Big 12 Co-Pitcher of the Week on April 4 after a three-hit complete game shutout over Kansas.

BEST OF THE MIDWEST TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Tuesday, April 25
3 p.m. Kansas vs. Southeast Missouri State
7 p.m. Missouri vs. Creighton

Wednesday, April 26
Noon Missouri vs. Southeast Missouri State
3 p.m. Kansas vs. Creighton
7 p.m. Kansas State vs. Missouri State

SCOUTING THE BLUEJAYS
Creighton has lost four of its last five and seven of its last nine, including two of three against Evansville last weekend to stand 22-14 on the year. After dropping the opener to Evansville last weekend, the Bluejays won game two 13-3 before falling in the finale. Zach Daegas is hitting .391 on the season to lead the team. He also has a team best nine home runs and 37 RBI. Six Bluejay players have a batting average of .300 or better and CU is hitting .295 as a team. Creighton also has four players with at least 30 RBI on the year. The Bluejay pitching staff has a team ERA of 3.51 on the season. Creighton's probable starter for Tuesday's game, Jeff Daneff, has made just two appearances on the season, pitching 3.0 innings for the Bluejays.

SCOUTING THE REDHAWKS
Southeast Missouri State dropped its series with Austin Peay last week, falling in two of the three games over the weekend. The Redhawks won the middle game of the series, 8-4 but dropped the series opener and finale. SEMO is 15-22 on the season and has won three of its last five games. Southeast also has two wins over Missouri this year, taking a 3-2 win in Cape Girardeau in March, before claiming a 9-5 win earlier this month in Columbia. The Redhawks are currently ninth in the Ohio Valley Conference with a 6-9 league record. Levi Olsen leads SEMO with a .367 batting average on the season. Andrew Johnson follows Olsen with a .341 average and leads the team with four home runs. The Redhawks are hitting .254 as a team and have a team ERA of 5.05.

ON TAP
This week's games at the Best of the Midwest Tournament are the first of 10 games in 13 days for Mizzou. After the two games in Kansas City, the Tigers return to Taylor Stadium for a three-game series with Baylor beginning at 6:30 p.m. on Friday night and continuing with games at 2 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday. Next week, Mizzou will again play a pair of midweek contests, traveling to Springfield, Mo. on Tuesday for a 7 p.m. game against Missouri State followed by a Wednesday afternoon matchup with Illinois State in a game that was rescheduled after the March 22 meeting was rained out. Missouri will then host Mississippi Valley State in a three-game non-conference series May 5-7.

LAST TIME OUT
Missouri dropped two of the three games in last weekend's series with Oklahoma State. The Tigers opened the series with a 9-2 win over the Cowboys on Friday night. Junior Nathan Culp recorded his team-leading seventh win of the season, allowing just two runs on six hits and striking out seven in eight innings pitched. Sophomore Brock Bond was 2-for-2 with three RBI and three runs scored and had his first career home run on Friday. Senior Zane Taylor drove in four runs and finished 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles. Freshman Aaron Crow pitched seven innings in Saturday's game, striking out five and allowing just three runs to OSU. However, MU was held scoreless, recording just five hits and grounding into five double plays in the game, taking the 4-0 loss. On Sunday, freshman Rick Zagone struck out a career-high seven batters in six innings on the mound. He allowed just two runs on six hits, but took the loss as the Tigers managed just two runs. Trailing 3-1 in the eighth inning, MU had the bases loaded with no outs, but scored just one run, falling to the Cowboys 3-2.

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 had his 14-game hitting streak snapped with an 0-for-4 outing on Sunday against Oklahoma State. The streak was a career long for Priday and was the longest streak by a Tiger this season. Zane Taylor and Evan Frey each had 11-game streaks this year. 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 .385 batting average, which is sixth best in the Big 12 Conference. He has had a hit in all but five games in which he has played this season. Frey leads the Big 12 Conference with 30 hits in conference games 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.

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 week. Culp faced the minimum through 7.2 innings against KU, 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 third 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 nine batters in 76.0 innings pitched and has 40 strikeouts. He recorded his 20th career win with the victory over Oklahoma State last Friday.

TAYLOR MADE HITTING
Senior Zane Taylor has had a hit in all but eight games for the Tigers this season and is hitting .322 on the year. Last Friday against Oklahoma State, he was 3-for-5 with a career-high four runs batted in. He recorded his 200th hit as a Tiger against Southeast Missouri State on April 12. 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 also has drawn 26 walks this season, which is tied for sixth best in the Big 12.

MAX TRAX
Injuries have forced All-American Max Scherzer to miss four starts this season, including four 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.

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.

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, was named the starting second baseman for the Rangers at the start of the year. His first career major league hit came off Curt Schilling of the Boston Red Sox on opening day and he homered against Detroit on April 6. He dislocated his left thumb in the Rangers' game on April 11, sliding into second base on an attempted steal and is currently on the 15-day disabled list. Kinsler was a 17th round draft pick by Texas in 2003.

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.