March 9, 2007

MIZZOU VS. TEXAS STATE & DALLAS BAPTIST

First Pitch:
Saturday vs. Texas State, 3:30 p.m.
Saturday vs. Dallas Baptist, 7 p.m.
Series History: MU is 2-0 vs. Texas State and has never faced Dallas Baptist
Stadium: Patriot Field
Capacity: 1,500
Radio: KTGR 1580-AM
Live Audio: KTGR.com
Live Stats: www.dbu.edu/athletics

MISSOURI TIGERS
Overall Record: 11-5
Big 12 Conference Record: 0-0
Last 10/Last 5: 6-4/5-0
Streak: Won 5
Head Coach: Tim Jamieson
Career Record: 410-295-2 (13th year)
Record at MU: 410-295-2 (13th year)
Website: mutigers.com

TEXAS STATE
Overall Record: 12-6
Last 10/5: 6-4/4-1
Streak: Lost 1
Head Coach: Ty Harrington (241-191/8th year at Texas State and overall)

DALLAS BAPTIST
Overall Record: 8-7
Last 10/5: 5-5/3-2
Streak: Lost 1
Head Coach: Eric Newman (73-53/3rd year at DBU and overall)

COMPLETE GAMENOTES
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FIRST PITCH
After completing a perfect 5-0 homestand, Missouri will travel to Dallas for a pair of games on Saturday. The Tigers will take on Texas State at 3:30 p.m. and Dallas Baptist at 7 p.m. Both games will take place on Saturday at Patriot Stadium on the Dallas Baptist campus. Saturday's games were a late addition to the schedule, filling the Tigers only open weekend during the season. After its trip to Dallas, Mizzou will return to Taylor Stadium to play five games in five days beginning on Wed. March 14 against Saint Louis at 6:30 p.m.

QUICK HITS
- Missouri leads the Big 12 Conference with a 2.25 ERA heading into the weekend.
- The Tigers' current five-game winning streak is their longest since winning six straight from May 17-26, 2006.
- Sophomore Aaron Crow's 1.11 ERA in second best in the Big 12, while sophomore Rick Zagone (15th) and freshman Kyle Gibson (16th) are also in the top 20.
- Freshman Kyle Gibson picked up his second save of the season, pitching the final two innings of MU's win over ULM on Wednesday.
- Mizzou picked up back-to-back 11-0 shutouts against Youngstown State last Sunday and has three shutouts on the season.
- The two wins over YSU last Sunday marked the first doubleheader sweep for MU since Feb. 17, 2006 against Louisiana-Monroe.
- The Tigers have swept both of its three-game series this season. They opened the year with a sweep over Florida International and last weekend took three wins over Youngstown State.
- Junior Evan Frey had three stolen bases against Navy on Feb. 25, one short of a school record. The Tigers stole eight bases as a team against Navy.
- Senior Stephan Holst pitched three perfect innings against Navy on Feb. 25 in his first appearance since injuring his arm in March of 2006.
- Sophomore Aaron Crow was named the Most Outstanding Pitcher at the Coca-Cola Spring Training Classic in Surprise, Ariz. Feb. 16-18. Crow did not allow an earned run on two hits in MU's victory over Gonzaga.

SCOUTING THE BOBCATS
Texas State is 12-6 and coming off a 6-4 loss to Baylor on Tuesday. The Bobcats began the season 8-2, before dropping three straight. They have since won four of their last five. Sophomore Kyle Gembler is slated to get the start against the Tigers. Gembler was named the Southland Conference Pitcher of the Year last week after picking up a victory over Notre Dame, when he allowed just two hits in six innings in the 6-0 win. Texas State was picked tied for first with Texas- Arlington in the Southland Conference Preseason Coaches Poll.

SCOUTING THE PATRIOTS
Dallas Baptist has won three of its last four games and enters the weekend with an 8-7 record, after a 9-6 loss to Sam Houston State on Tuesday. The Patriots are hitting .270 as a team and have six players with averages over .300. Victor Black, a freshman righthander, is scheduled to start against Missouri. He is 2-0 on the season and has 32 strikeouts in 30.2 innings pitched.

SERIES HISTORY
Saturday's matchup between Missouri and Dallas Baptist will be the first-ever meeting between the two programs. The Tigers have faced Texas State twice before, winning both meetings. Missouri met Texas State (then Southwest Texas State) in the 1970 and 1971 seasons, taking a 15-6 win in the first contest before picking up a 2-0 win in 1971.

LAST TIME OUT
Mizzou capped off a 5-0 homestand with a sweep of the two-game series against Louisiana-Monroe. The Tigers defeated ULM 5-4 on Tuesday night, getting an RBI single from sophomore Ryan Lollis in the bottom of the seventh inning to push across the winning run. Freshman Greg Folgia started his first game as a Tiger and was perfect through the first four innings. Sophomore Brant Combs picked up his first career win, pitching the final 2.2 innings without allowing a hit or run. MU concluded the sweep with a 4-2 win on Wednesday. A three-run double by sophomore Kyle Mach in the bottom of the first inning gave the Tigers the lead and again strong pitching carried Mizzou to the win. Senior Stephan Holst allowed just one earned run on three hits in four innings on the mound in his second start back from injury. Sophomore transfer Scooter Hicks made his first appearance at MU, allowing just one hit in three scoreless inning to take the victory. Freshman Kyle Gibson recorded his second save of the season, as he did not allow a hit in two scoreless innings to close out the victory.