Mizzou Opens Big 12 Play in College Station
3/15/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 15, 2006
MIZZOU AT TEXAS A&M
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS
MARCH 17-19 2006
First Pitches: Friday- 7 p.m. / Saturday- 7 p.m. / Sunday- 1 p.m.
Stadium: Olsen Field (7,053)
Records: Mizzou: 10-7; Texas A&M: 14-6
Rankings: MU and A&M are not ranked this week.
Series History: Texas A&M leads the all-time series 29-21
Last Year: Mizzou swept the Aggies in Columbia by scores of 2-1, 7-3, 8-3.
Coaches: MU- Tim Jamieson (374-269-2/12th year at MU and overall)
A&M- Rob Childress (14-6/1st year at A&M 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
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LEADING OFF...
The Big 12 Conference season begins this weekend as the Tigers travel to College Station, Texas for a three-game series with Texas A&M. The series will get underway at 7 p.m. on Friday at Olsen Field and continues with games at 7 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday.
Mizzou is 10-7 on the season after dropping two of three in last weekend's series with Purdue. That series concluded the Tigers' eight-game homestand, in which MU was 5-3, to open the home schedule.
Texas A&M enters the weekend 14-6 under first-year Head Coach Rob Childress. The Aggies defeated Illinois 11-1 on Monday after dropping its previous four games.
Missouri sophomore Jacob Priday was named the Big 12 Conference Player of the Week on Tuesday after he hit .533 with two home runs and 11 RBI in the four games last week. It is the first time he has earned the honor and he is the second Tiger to claim a Big 12 award this season, after Max Scherzer was named the Big 12 Pitcher of the Week on Feb. 28.
Next week, Mizzou will travel to Normal, Ill. for a Wednesday matchup with Illinois State before returning to Taylor Stadium for a three-game set with Kansas State, beginning at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, March 24.
QUICK HITS
• Missouri scored a season-high 22 runs in the second game of the Purdue series, the most it has scored since a 25-0 win over Texas Tech on 4/1/05.
• Sophomore Jacob Priday was named the Big 12 Conference Player of the Week on Tuesday after hitting .533 with a home run and 11 RBI in the four games last week.
• Priday drove in six runs in the middle game of the three-game series with Purdue, becoming the first Tiger to do that since James Boone at last year's Big 12 Tournament.
• Sophomore Evan Frey has a five-game hitting streak in tact heading into the weekend, while senior Zane Taylor and junior Hunter Mense have four-game streaks on the line.
• With his seven appearances this season, senior Taylor Parker has pitched in 81 games as a Tiger, which places him in a tie for second in the Mizzou record books with Bunky Moeller. Scott Black holds the record with 108 appearances on the mound.
• Junior Gary Arndt hit his first career grand slam against SLU on March 7. It was the first grand slam by a Tiger since James Boone hit one against Eastern Michigan last March.
• Junior John McKee had three-straight games with four RBI from March 1-4. He was 6-for-10, with three doubles, six runs scored and 12 RBI in those three games.
• Heading into the weekend, the Tigers have outscored their opponents 144-70.
• Missouri's 2.76 ERA is the fourth best in the Big 12 Conference.
• Junior Max Scherzer was named the Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Week on Feb. 28, marking the third time he has earned that honor.
• Mizzou's win over then-No. 1 Florida on Feb. 24 was the Tigers' first win over a No 1 ranked team since an 8-0 defeat of then-No. 1 Texas on 5/1/04.
• The Tigers went 21.1 innings to open the season before allowing their first earned run of the year.
SCOUTING THE AGGIES
First-year Head Coach Rob Childress has Texas A&M at 14-6 entering the series with Missouri this weekend. The Aggies opened the year by winning their first 10 games, before dropping six of their last 10 games.
The Aggies scheduled starter on Friday night is Kyle Nicholson, who has not lost this season (3-0) in five starts. Saturday's slated pitcher is Austin Creps, who enters with a 0.79 ERA in five starts this season, which is second best in the Big 12. The Aggies team ERA of 2.19 leads the conference.
Junior Parker Dalton leads the team with a .321 batting average and senior John Infante is hitting .303 heading into the weekend.
After spending the past eight years as assistant coach at Nebraska, Childress took over a Texas A&M team that finished ninth in the Big 12 last season, but returns six starters and seven pitchers this year.
SERIES HISTORY
Texas A&M leads the all-time series with Mizzou, 29-21. However, the Tigers have won the last three meetings, as they swept the Aggies last season in Columbia.
Missouri opened last year's series with a 2-1 win, as Gary Arndt singled in the bottom of the ninth to drive home the game-winning run. Max Scherzer allowed just one run on three hits and struck out nine in the game.
Nathan Culp improved to 6-0 with a win in game two of the series, allowing just three runs on nine hits.
Tigers finished off the sweep with an 8-3 win in the series finale, as Jacob Priday homered twice in the victory.
The first meeting between the two teams came in 1966, as Missouri defeated Texas A&M, 4-3.
ON TAP
The Tigers will face Illinois State in Normal, Ill. next Wednesday, before returning to Taylor Stadium for the conference home opening series against Kansas State, March 24-26. Game one against KSU is 6:30 p.m. the 24th.
LAST TIME OUT
Missouri dropped two of three in last weekend's series with Purdue to finish an 8-game homestand.
After a 7-0 loss in the series opener, the Tigers rebounded with a 22-2 win in game two. The game had to be completed on Sunday after play was suspended on Saturday in the bottom of the fourth inning due to inclement weather.
Sophomore Jacob Priday was responsible for driving in six of the season-high 22 runs for Mizzou, as he finished 3-for-4. Freshman David Cales added three hits and five RBI in the game.
Purdue took the series finale 8-6 to take the series victory. Priday hit his second home run of the season in the game and had three RBI.
For the weekend, Priday hit .417 with a homer and nine runs batted in.
TIGERS STARTERS VS. TEXAS A&M
Mizzou junior Max Scherzer and Nathan Culp will be making their second-career starts against the Aggies this weekend.
Scherzer went eight innings against Texas A&M last April in Columbia, allowing just one run on three hits and striking out nine batters. He did not get the decision, however, since the Tigers won the game 2-1 with a game-winning base hit by Gary Arndt in the bottom of the ninth.
Culp is 1-0 against A&M, taking a victory last April. He allowed three runs in five innings to claim the win.
Freshman Aaron Crow, who is slated to start on Sunday, will be making his first appearance against the Aggies this weekend.
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
The excitement level on Friday nights this season will be high as junior Max Scherzer will take the mound on Fridays again this season.
Scherzer made his first appearance under the Taylor Stadium lights on Feb. 3. He struck out nine batters in five innings pitched and recorded the win, 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 semifinalist 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.
TAYLOR MADE HITTING
Senior Zane Taylor had an 11-game hitting streak snapped with an 0-for-3 outing in the series finale against Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Taylor leads the Tigers with a .419 batting average this season. 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.
He was 4-for-5 and scored three runs in Mizzou's win over Florida.
Taylor's career long hitting streak was a 13-game streak coming in 2004.
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.
For the first time this season Missouri is not ranked this week in any of the four major polls.
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.
TGI-PRIDAY
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 Tuesday, 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 last 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.
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.
OPPONENTS FIND IT DIFFICULT 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 Southern 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.
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).
FOR OPENERS
Mizzou loss to East Tennessee State on Feb. 9 snapping 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. That game was called after six innings due to poor weather conditions with no score.
A LOOK AT THE 2006 SCHEDULE
The 2006 Mizzou Baseball schedule features matchups with four of the eight teams that advanced to Omaha for the 2005 College World Series and both of the teams from the 2005 National Championship series.
As usual, the Big 12 Conference will be one of the top conferences nationwide. Mizzou will open up the conference portion of the schedule with a trip to College Station, Texas for a series with Texas A&M.
Next weekend, Kansas State will visit Taylor Stadium for MU's Big 12 home opening series. The Tigers will host Nebraska on April 7-9. The last time the Cornhuskers visited Columbia, Mizzou took two of three in the series.
Oklahoma State, who Missouri swept the last time it visited Taylor Stadium, will be in town on April 21-23 and Baylor will be in Columbia on April 28-30.
The Tigers close out the regular season with a three-game series at home against defending national champion Texas.
The Midwest Ford Dealers Border Showdown will continue when the Tigers head to Lawrence, Kan. on March 31-April 2 to take on Kansas. Missouri also has Big 12 Conference road trips to Oklahoma (April 14-16) and Texas Tech (May 12-14).
The Tigers will play two wood bat games, taking on Saint Louis (April 19) and Illinois (May 17) in O'Fallon, Mo.
Mizzou will also participate the Best of the Midwest Tournament in Kansas City on April 25-26.
The Big 12 Conference Tournament is back at Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City for the second-consecutive year. This year, the Big 12 Tournament will adopt a new format, which will involve pool play for the first four days of the tournament with the winners of the two pools playing for the Conference Championship on Sunday, May 28.
The NCAA Tournament begins on June 2 and concludes with the College World Series June 16-24 in Omaha, Neb.
WHAT'S RETURNING
Mizzou is loaded with experience in 2006, as all but one position starter, its top two pitchers and three of its most experienced relief pitchers return for the Tigers.
Only All-Big 12 selection James Boone is gone from Missouri's starting lineup of 2005.
The infield of senior Derek Chambers (1B), senior Trevor Helms (2B), junior Gary Arndt (SS) and junior John McKee (3B) remains in tact from
Junior Hunter Mense will anchor the outfield, returning for his third season with Mizzou after hitting .327 last year.
Senior Zane Taylor has been a valuable asset to Missouri because of his ability to play numerous positions. He has played third base, shortstop and second base during his first three seasons and will move to the outfield in 2006.
Jacob Priday, who was a Freshman All-American last season, returns for his sophomore campaign where he will likely split time between the outfield and catcher.
J.C. Field had the most starts of any Tiger behind the plate last year and is back for his senior season.
Senior Bryson LeBlanc and sophomores Evan Frey and Dan Pietroburgo saw their first playing time as a Tiger last year and add more experience to this Mizzou squad.
On the mound, MU has one of the top 1-2 combinations as the front of its rotation with juniors Max Scherzer and Nathan Culp.
Scherzer was the Big 12 Pitcher of the Year in 2005 and is a preseason first team All-America selection. He led the conference in strikeouts with a school record 131 K's in 2005.
Culp tied Scherzer with a team-best nine wins a year ago and was a second team All-Big 12 Conference selection. He tied for the team lead with 16 starts last year, compiling a record of 9-2 for a .818 winning percentage.
Three seniors add a wealth of experience to the Tigers pitching staff.
Taylor Parker, Nick Admire and Travis Wendte have made a combined 179 appearances for Missouri.
Parker was second on the team last year with 28 appearances and earned All-Big 12 second team honors.
Admire has started in 13 of his 47 career appearances, recording six wins for the Tigers over the past three years.
Wendte, who missed the 2004 season due to injury, is in his fifth year at Missouri. His 14 career saves, eight of which came in his freshman campaign, is tied for third most in Mizzou history.
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.
KTGR, MIZZOU BASEBALL RENEW RADIO AGREEMENT
The University of Missouri and the Zimmer Radio Group have extended their partnership that will keep Mizzou Baseball on Zimmer through 2009.
Mizzou Sports Properties, the multi-media rights holder of the University of Missouri Department of Athletics, announced a four-year renewal of the radio rights agreement for Tiger Baseball.
All of Mizzou's regular season and postseason games will air on KTGR 1580 in Columbia. In addition, a majority of the games will be simulcast on KWOS-AM 950 in Jefferson City and KFAL-AM 900 in Fulton.
Tex Little will return for his 16th season of calling Tiger Baseball
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.
Ddozens 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.
