May 5, 2006

MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE at MIZZOU
COLUMBIA, MO
MAY 5-7, 2006

First Pitch:
Friday- 6:30 p.m. / Saturday- 2 p.m. / Sunday- 1 p.m.
Stadium:
Taylor Stadium/Simmons Field (Capacity: 2,200)
Records:
Mizzou: 22-21, 9-12 Big 12 Conference
Mississippi Valley State: 23-27, 18-6 SWAC
Series History:
Missouri and Mississippi Valley State have not met prior to this weekend.
Coaches:
MU- Tim Jamieson (386-283-2/12th year at MU and overall)
MVSU: Doug Shanks (128-164/6th year at MVSU 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: Gametracker on mutigers.com
Live Video: Mizzou All-Access on mutigers.com
On Tap:
at Texas Tech - May 12-14 - Lubbock, Texas
Friday- 6:30 p.m. / Saturday- 2 p.m. / Sunday- 1 p.m.

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LEADING OFF...
Mizzou will step out of the Big 12 Conference this weekend, as Mississippi Valley State visits Taylor Stadium. The three-game set will get underway at 6:30 p.m. on Friday will continue with games at 2 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday. All games can be heard on KTGR 1580-AM in Columbia and on ktgr.com. Live Stats will also be available through Gametracker on mutigers.com and Live Video can be viewed through Mizzou All-Access on mutigers.com. The Tigers have won four of their last five heading into the weekend and stand 22-21 on the season. Mississippi Valley State is 23-27 on the year. This weekend's meetings will be the first ever between the two teams. Last weekend, MU took two-of-three games against Baylor and followed that with a 2-1 win at Missouri State in Springfield on Tuesday. Following the series with MVSU, Missouri will return to the Big 12 Conference with a three-game series at Texas Tech next weekend. The Tigers then take on Illinois in O'Fallon, Mo. on May 17 before concluding the regular season with three games against Texas May 19-21 at Taylor Stadium.

Friday: Nathan Culp (Jr., LHP)
8-4, 2.65 ERA, 85.0 IP, 54 K
Nathan Culp was named the Big 12 Pitcher of the Week last week for the second time this season after a three-hit shutout over Baylor last Friday night. He did not walk a batter, struck out five and allowed just one hit through the first eight innings. He also threw a three-hit shutout against Kansas on March 31 that earned him Big 12 Pitcher of the Week. In that game, he faced the minimum through the first 7.2 innings. Culp is second in the Big 12 Conference with a 2.65 ERA and is tied for second with eight wins on the year. He opened Big 12 Conference play by taking a win over Texas A&M on March 17. Against the Aggies, Culp matched a career-high with eight strikeouts, as he allowed just one unearned run on four hits in 7.2 innings pitched. He has pitched at least seven innings in seven of his 12 starts, including the two complete games and a pair of eight-inning outings.

Saturday: Max Scherzer (Jr., RHP)
4-1, 2.27 ERA, 39.2 IP, 47 K
Max Scherzer returns to the weekend rotation after missing the last three weekends due to injury. He pitched four innings of relief last Sunday against Baylor, striking out six and allowing just one unearned run and recording the win. The victory was the first for Scherzer since March 3 and it was his first win in the Big 12 this season. He has missed a total of six starts this season due to injuries. He was named the Big 12 Pitcher of the Week on Feb. 28 after leading MU to a win over then-No. 1 Florida the previous weekend. Against UF, Scherzer struck out eight and only allowed one run on three hits in seven innings on the mound. He struck out a season-high nine in just five innings against Wisconsin-Milwaukee on March 3. He has allowed more than one run in just two of his eight appearances on the mound this year. Last weekend he recorded his 200th career strikeout at Mizzou. He struck out a school record 131 batters last season, earned the Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Year.

Sunday: Rick Zagone (Fr., LHP)
3-2, 3.22 ERA 36.1 IP, 27 K
Rick Zagone has made seven starts for MU this season, including six in Big 12 Conference play. He recorded a win in his first Big 12 start, against Texas A&M on March 19. In that game, Zagone gave up just two hits in 5.1 scoreless innings of work. Against Oklahoma State on April 23, Zagone allowed just two hits in six innings on the mound and struck out a career-high seven batters. He is 3-2 on the year with a 3.22 ERA and has struck out 27 batters in 36.1 innings on the mound. Last weekend, he pitched five scoreless innings against Baylor, allowing just two hits, striking out three and walking one before handing off to Max Scherzer in the sixth inning.

QUICK HITS
• Junior Nathan Culp threw his second three-hit shutout of the season last Friday night against Baylor and is the only pitcher in the Big 12 to have two shutouts this season. Six pitchers in the conference have one.
• Culp has an ERA of 2.65, which ranks second-best in the Big 12 Conference and his eight wins (8-4 record) is tied for the second most in the conference. He is also ninth in the Big 12 with 54 strikeouts on the season.
• Culp was named the Big 12 Pitcher of the Week on Tuesday. It was the fourth time this season an MU player has been honored by the conference this season. Culp also was the Big 12 Pitcher of the Week on April 4, Junior Max Scherzer was named the Pitcher of the Week on Feb. 28 and sophomore Jacob Priday earned conference Player of the Week on March 14.
• Sophomore Evan Frey leads the Big 12 with a .413 average in conference games. His 33 hits in Big 12 games are second most in the conference and his overall average of .383 ranks sixth.
• Frey has an on-base percentage of .478, which is second best in the Big 12.
• Mizzou's team ERA of 3.31 is second-best in the Big 12 Conference.
• Three Tigers have ERAs in Big 12 games that rank in the top 20 in the conference led by Culp's 3.04 (7th). Freshman David Cales has a mark of 3.09 (8th) and freshman Rick Zagone's conference ERA is 3.77 (14th).
• Junior Max Scherzer recorded his 200th career strikeout last Sunday against Baylor. He has 47 strikeouts on the season and 201 for his career.
• Senior Taylor Parker's next appearance on the mound will be his 100th as a Tiger. With his 25 appearances this season, Parker has pitched in 99 career games at MU, which places him second in the Mizzou record book behind Scott Black (108).
• Parker has recorded four saves in Big 12 play, which places him in a tie for fifth 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 Jacob Priday hit his team-leading eighth home run last Sunday against Baylor, one away from matching his homer total from last season.
• Head Coach Tim Jamieson is just 14 wins away from his 400th career win. His 385 wins ranks third on MU's all-time coaching wins list behind only legendary coaches Gene McArtor (733) and John "Hi" Simmons (481).

SCOUTING MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE
Mississippi Valley State has lost its last five games and six of its last seven heading into the weekend series with Mizzou. The Delta Devils are 23-27 on the year and 18-6 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. On Wednesday, Mississippi Valley State fell to Mississippi State, 21-1. MVSU has put together three five-game winning streaks this season, but opened the year by dropping its first six games. Zach Penprase leads the Delta Devils with a .362 batting average and has eight triples on the year. He also has four doubles, a home run and 35 RBI. As a team, MVSU is hitting .262 and has an ERA of 7.73. The projected starting pitchers for Mississippi Valley State includes Mark Vance, who is slated to start on Saturday and leads the team with a 2.57 ERA. Friday's scheduled starter, Mark Johnston, has a 7.45 ERA, while Sunday projected starter, Brandon Dotson, has an ERA of 9.07. Mississippi Valley State is located in Itta Bend, Miss., approximately two hours north of Jackson, Miss. It is a member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) with an enrollment of 2,300.

MU-MVSU SERIES HISTORY
This weekend will mark the first-ever meetings between Missouri and Mississippi Valley State. MVSU is the ninth team this season which Mizzou has faced for the first time in its history.

LAST TIME OUT
MIZZOU 2, MISSOURI STATE 1
Tuesday, May 2, 2006
Hammons Field - Springfield, Mo.
Despite recording only three hits against Missouri State on Tuesday, Mizzou picked up a win by a score of 2-1 in Springfield. Senior Zane Taylor had two of the Tigers' three hits on the night. Senior Taylor Parker started on the mound for the first time in 2006 and allowed just one run in 3.2 innings of work before handing off to fellow senior Travis Wendte. Wendte pitched the final 5.1 innings, which is his longest stint of his career. He struck out five and did not allow a run on just two hits, earning the win. Mizzou scored a run in each of the first two innings, both unearned runs as the Bears made a pair of errors. Sophomore Evan Frey was hit by the first pitch of the game and moved all the way to third when MSU's Ross Detwiler overthrew first base on a pick off attempt. Frey scored on a sacrifice fly by sophomore Brock Bond to put Missouri on the board first. The Tigers got the leadoff man on again in the second as freshman Kyle Mach drew a walk to open the inning. He scored later in the second on an RBI single Taylor. Taylor's hit was the first for Mizzou on the night. Missouri State opened the bottom of the fourth inning with three-consecutive singles to load the bases. Chris Taylor, who had the first single in the inning scored when Clay Coulter was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Mizzou's game against Illinois State, scheduled for Wednesday in Normal, Ill., was cancelled due to inclement weather. It will not be rescheduled.

ON TAP
The Tigers are back in Big 12 play next weekend with a three-game series at Texas Tech beginning at 6:30 p.m. on Friday in Lubbock. On May 17, Missouri will take on Illinois at T.R. Hughes Ballpark in O'Fallon, Mo. before closing out the regular season with a three-game set against Texas May 19-20 at Taylor Stadium.

CULP SHUTS `EM DOWN
Missouri junior lefty Nathan Culp recorded his second shutout of the season, with a 7-0 win over Baylor last Friday night at Taylor Stadium. Culp is the only pitcher in the Big 12 Conference to throw multiple shutouts this season. He was named Big 12 Pitcher of Week on Tuesday for the second time this season. He struck out seven and gave up just three hits, while walking none last Friday night against Baylor. Culp allowed just one hit through eight innings and the lone baserunner between the fourth and eighth innings reached on an error. It was the second shutout of the season for Culp, who blanked Kansas on March 31 in Lawrence. That was also a three-hit shutout, as he struck out five Jayhawks in that game and was named the Big 12 Conference Co-Pitcher of the Week for that performance. 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. 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.

TGI-PRIDAY
Sophomore Jacob Priday hit his team-best eighth home run last Sunday against Baylor and is just one short of his homer total from last season. The home run on Sunday was a two-run shot in the bottom of the eighth inning that broke a 1-1 tie. Priday had a 14-game hitting streak snapped with an 0-for-4 outing on April 23 against Oklahoma State. The streak was a career long for Priday and is 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.

MAX TRAX
Injuries have forced All-American Max Scherzer to miss five starts this season, including four in Big 12 Conference play. Last Sunday, Scherzer pitched 4.0 innings in relief against Baylor and picked up his first win since a victory over Wisconsin-Milwaukee on March 3. Scherzer struck out six against Baylor, allowing just one unearned run on three hits. His fifth strikeout in the game was the 200th of his career. 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.

SUPER SOPHOMORE
Sophomore Evan Frey is flirting with the .400 mark, as he his hitting .383 heading into this weekend's series with Mississippi Valley State. Frey leads the Big 12 Conference with a .413 average in conference games and is second in the Big 12 with 30 hits in league games this season. Against Southeast Missouri State on April 26, Frey had a career-high four hits to take his average back to the .400 mark. His average leads the team and is sixth best in the Big 12 Conference. He has had a hit in all but six 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.

TAYLOR MADE HITTING
Senior Zane Taylor has had a hit in all but nine games for the Tigers this season and is hitting .313 on the year. 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 27 walks this season, which is tied for sixth best in the Big 12.

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.

DID I CATCH A NINER IN THERE?
In Mizzou's win over Southeast Missouri State on April 26, the Tigers held a 5-3 lead heading into the ninth inning. Nine runs later, MU had blown the game wide open. Missouri scored nine times in the ninth inning, with seven of those runs coming before the first out of the inning was recorded. Below is the play-by-play for MU's half of the ninth:
• Frey singled to left field.
• Bond singled, bunt; Frey advanced to second.
• Taylor tripled to right field, 2 RBI; Bond scored; Frey scored.
• Priday homered, 2 RBI; Taylor scored.
• Chambers doubled, ground-rule.
• Mach walked.
• Lollis homered, 3 RBI; Mach scored; Chambers scored.
• Pietroburgo struck out.
• Arndt walked.
• Frey singled through the right side; Arndt advanced to third.
• Bond singled through the right side, RBI; Frey advanced to second; Arndt scored.
• Bond advanced to second on a wild pitch; Frey advanced to third on a wild pitch.
• Taylor singled, RBI; Bond advanced to third; Frey scored.
• Cales flied out to cf.
• LeBlanc lined out to cf.

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.

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.