May 10, 2006

MIZZOU atTEXAS TECH
LUBBOCK, TEXAS
MAY 12-14, 2006

First Pitch:
Friday- 6:30 p.m. / Saturday- 2 p.m. / Sunday- 1 p.m.
Stadium:
Dan Law Field (Capacity: 5,050)
Records:
Mizzou: 25-21, 9-12 Big 12 Conference
Texas Tech: 28-20-1, 6-13-1 Big 12 Conference
Last Year:
MU took 2-of-3 in Columbia, then def. TTU in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament.
Coaches:
MU- Tim Jamieson (389-283-2/12th year at MU and overall)
TTU- Larry Hayes (758-416-3/20th year at TTU; 1,463-797-4/36th 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: Gametrackeron mutigers.com
For more information: mutigers.com
On Tap:
vs. Illinois, May 17 in O'Fallon, Mo.
vs. Texas, May 19-21 at Taylor Stadium
at Big 12 Tournament, May 24-28 in Oklahoma City, Okla.

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LEADING OFF...
After a series sweep over Mississippi Valley State last weekend, in which Mizzou outscored MVSU 50-4, the Tigers return to Big 12 Conference play with a three-game series at Texas Tech this weekend. Game one of the weekend set is at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. The teams will then meet at 2 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday. All three 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. With two weeks left in the regular season, there is still much to be determined before the Big 12 Tournament. Missouri is currently in sixth place with a 9-12 record in the Big 12 and just one game behind Baylor for fifth place. Texas Tech is 6-13 in the conference and in eighth place in the standings. The Tigers have won five-consecutive games, their longest winning streak of the season, and seven of their last eight. Following the series with TTU, Mizzou will take on Illinois in O'Fallon, Mo. on Wednesday before hosting Texas for a three-game series at Taylor Stadium to conclude the regular season. The Big 12 Tournament will take place May 24-28 at Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City, Okla.

Friday: Nathan Culp (Jr., LHP)
9-4, 2.57 ERA, 91.0 IP, 59 K
Nathan Culp is tied for the lead in the Big 12 with nine wins on the season and his 2.57 ERA is second best in the conference. He was named the Big 12 Pitcher of the Week on May 2 for the second time this season after a three-hit shutout over Baylor. He did not walk a batter, struck out five and allowed just one hit through the first eight innings against BU. He also threw a three-hit shutout against Kansas on March 31 that also earned him Big 12 Pitcher of the Week. In that game, he faced the minimum through the first 7.2 innings. Culp opened Big 12 Conference play by taking a win over Texas A&M on March 17. Against the Aggies, he 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 13 starts, including the two complete games and a pair of eight-inning outings.

Saturday: Max Scherzer (Jr., RHP)
5-1, 2.36 ERA, 45.2 IP, 54 K
Max Scherzer returned to the weekend rotation last Saturday after missing three weeks due to injury. He struck out seven in six innings on the mound against Mississippi Valley State. Scherzer pitched four innings of relief on April 30 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. On April 30, 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)
4-2, 3.05 ERA 41.1 IP, 30 K
Rick Zagone has made eight starts for MU this season, including seven 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 4-2 on the year with a 3.05 ERA and has struck out 30 batters in 41.1 innings on the mound. He pitched five scoreless innings against Baylor two weeks ago, allowing just two hits, striking out three and walking one before handing off to Max Scherzer in the sixth inning. He followed that with five innings against Mississippi Valley State last Sunday allowing just one run on one hit and claiming his fourth win of the year.

QUICK HITS
• Mizzou's team ERA of 3.24 is second best in the Big 12 Conference and 13th best nationally.
• Missouri outscored Mississippi Valley State 50-4 in last weekend's three-game series in Columbia.
• The Tigers have won five-straight games, their longest winning steak of the season, heading into the weekend and have scored in double digits in the last three games.
• Junior Hunter Mense had seven RBI against Mississippi Valley State last Sunday. He is the first Tiger to do that since Brad Flanders did it against Coastal Carolina in February of 2004.
• Junior Nathan Culp threw his second three-hit shutout of the season on April 28 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 2.57, which ranks second-best in the Big 12 Conference and his nine wins (9-4 record) is tied for the lead in the conference. He is also eighth in the Big 12 with 59 strikeouts on the season.
• Culp was named the Big 12 Pitcher of the Week on May 2. 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 tied for second most in the conference.
• Frey has an on-base percentage of .491, which is second best in the Big 12 and his .379 average ranks fourth in the conference.
• Sophomore Jacob Priday hit his team-leading 10th home run last Sunday against Mississippi Valley State, one more than his homer total from last season. He had two home runs in the series with MVSU, hitting one on Friday also.
• Four Tigers have ERAs in Big 12 games that rank in the top 20 in the conference led by Culp's 3.04 (6th). A trio of freshman - David Cales (3.09/7th), Rick Zagone (3.77/13th) and Aaron Crow (4.86/20th) are also among the league leaders in conference ERA.
• Junior Max Scherzer recorded his 200th career strikeout against Baylor on April 30. He has 54 strikeouts on the season and 208 for his career.
• Senior Taylor Parker's made his 100th appearance on the mound as a Tiger last Sunday. With 100 career appearances at MU, Parker is 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 fourth 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.
• Head Coach Tim Jamieson is just 11 wins away from his 400th career win. His 389 wins ranks third on MU's all-time coaching wins list behind only legendary coaches Gene McArtor (733) and John "Hi" Simmons (481).

SCOUTING TEXAS TECH
This weekend's series with Missouri, will be the first Big 12 games for Texas Tech in two weeks after taking last weekend off for finals. The Red Raiders enter the series having lost six-straight conference games for the first time in school history and are 1-7-1 in their last three Big 12 series. Texas Tech is 28-20-1 overall and is eighth in the Big 12 with a 6-13-1 conference record. It is coming off a win over New Mexico on Wednesday. Heading into the weekend, Texas Tech would qualify for the Big 12 Tournament, which takes the top eight teams. The Red Raiders have a game and a half lead over Kansas State, who takes on 10th place Texas A&M this weekend. Freshman pitcher Miles Morgan, Friday night's projected starter, is just nine strikeouts away from moving into the Top 10 on the single-season strikeout list at Tech. TTU Head Coach Larry Hays is in his 36th season as a head coach, spending the last 20 in Lubbock. Earlier this season he moved into third on the all-time career wins list in college baseball. He currently has a record of 1,463-797-4.

MU-TTU SERIES HISTORY
Mizzou leads the all-time series with the Red Raiders, 17-14, including taking three of the four games played last season.

LAST YEAR VS. TTU
Last year's series between the Tigers and Red Raiders in Columbia opened with one of wildest games in Mizzou history. Max Scherzer pitched the first seven innings of a combined no-hitter in a 25-0 blowout victory for Missouri. Scherzer struck out a career-high 14 as the Tigers recorded the first no-hitter at MU since 1981. Seventeen of the 25 runs scored by the Tigers came in the second inning as they sent 22 batters to the plate. (More info on this game below.) Mizzou won its 15-straight game by taking a 7-2 win in the second game of the series. Nathan Culp pitched seven innings, allowing just two hits and striking out seven to move to 5-0 on the year. The Tigers scored three runs in the first, which turned out to be enough to get the win. Hunter Mense, Jacob Priday and Zane Taylor each at two hits. In the series finale, Texas Tech scored a run in each of the final three inning to come from behind and take a 5-3 win. Mense was 4-for-4 in the game, with a double and a run scored. MU and Texas Tech met again in the Big 12 Tournament, with MU taking a 10-1 win to advance to the tournament semifinals. Scherzer started and allowed just one run on three hits in 6.2 innings pitched and became the new Missouri strikeouts record holder as he struck out eight in the game. Missouri scored three in the first inning and added three more runs in the third inning and held the Red Raiders to just three hits on the night.

NO APRIL FOOLS JOKE
It seemed fitting that the series opener last year between Mizzou and Texas Tech took place on April Fools Day. Unfortunately for the Red Raiders, the 25-0 game was no April Fools joke. Missouri recorded a combined no-hitter in the game, the first no-hitter at MU since 1981. Max Scherzer pitched the first seven inning of the game, striking out a career-high 14 batters. He struck out the side in order in three of the seven innings he pitched. Meanwhile, the Tigers were having no trouble getting hits and scoring runs. Seventeen of the 25 MU runs came in the second inning on just six hits. Texas Tech walked eight and hit four batters, had three balks and committed an error in the inning. The first Tiger to the plate grounded out. Following that, the next 17 all reached safely and all would score in the inning. Ten straight batters were either walked or hit by a pitch and a total of 22 Tigers went to the plate. The four hit batters, eight walks and 17 runs scored in one inning were all Big 12 Conference records.

LAST TIME OUT
Missouri recorded its first three-game series sweep at home this season taking three wins over Mississippi Valley State last weekend. The Tigers dominated the series, outscoring the Delta Devils 50-4 in the series. Senior Derek Chambers drove in five runs and junior Nathan Culp recorded his Big 12 leading ninth win of the season in the series opener last Friday. Senior Zane Taylor and freshman Ryan Lollis each had three-hit performances in the 12-1 victory. In the second inning of game two, the Tigers plated 11 runs on their way to a 19-2 blowout win. Junior Max Scherzer made his first weekend start since April 8 and struck out seven in six innings on the mound and moved to 5-1 on the season. Mizzou concluded the sweep with another dominating performance on Sunday, taking a 19-1 win. Four Tiger pitchers combined to hold MVSU to just one hit in the game and junior Hunter Mense was 4-for-5 with a pair of doubles, a triple and seven RBI.

ON TAP
Next Wednesday, Missouri will take on Illinois at T.R. Hughes Ballpark in O'Fallon, Mo. at 6:30 p.m. before closing out the regular season with a three-game set against Texas May 19-20 at Taylor Stadium. That series will get underway at 6:30 p.m. on Friday.

DOMINATING THE DEVILS
Mizzou picked up its first home series sweep of the season last weekend against Mississippi Valley State. The Tigers outscored MVSU 50-4 in the three games, scoring in double figures and holding the Delta Devils to two or fewer runs in each game. As a team, Missouri hit .427, while holding Mississippi Valley to a .126 mark. The Tigers hit six home runs over the weekend and out-hit the Devils 50-11. The Tigers' pitching staff had an ERA of 1.33 over the weekend, while MVSU's team ERA was 17.62. The MU bullpen did not allow a run in 10 innings pitched, allowing just two hits.

CULP SHUTS `EM DOWN
Missouri junior lefty Nathan Culp recorded his second shutout of the season, with a 7-0 win over Baylor on April 28 at Taylor Stadium. Culp is the only pitcher in the Big 12 Conference to throw multiple shutouts this season. He earned his second Big 12 Pitcher of Week honor following that performance. He struck out seven and gave up just three hits, while walking none 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. He is tied for the league lead with nine wins (9-4) on the season and his 2.57 ERA is second best in the conference.

TGI-PRIDAY
Sophomore Jacob Priday hit his team-best 10th home run last Sunday against Mississippi Valley State, which moved him past his mark of nine homers last season. He had a pair of home runs in the MVSU series, hitting one on Friday night also. His 10 home runs is tied for sixth most in the Big 12. 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 Saturday, Scherzer made his first weekend start since April 8. He struck out seven in six innings pitched against Mississippi Valley State, taking the win to improve to 5-1 on the season. The previous weekend, he 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 was also been named to the preseason watch list 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 preseason 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 .379 heading into this weekend's series with Texas Tech. Frey leads the Big 12 Conference with a .413 average in conference games and is tied for second in the Big 12 with 33 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 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 10 games for the Tigers this season and is hitting .333 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.