March 14, 2007

FIRST PITCH
Mizzou will put its seven-game winning streak on the line as the Tigers will play five games in five days at Taylor Stadium. The homestand will begin with a matchup with Saint Louis University at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday before Western Illinois visits Taylor Stadium at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. This weekend, Missouri will host Cleveland State for a three-game series, opening at 6:30 p.m. on Friday.

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QUICK HITS
- Mizzou enters Wednesday matchup with SLU on a season-best seven-game winning streak and has won eight of its last nine games.
- The 7-game winning streak is the longest for the Tigers since a 15-game streak in 2005. In 2006, the longest winning streak was six games. - Missouri leads the Big 12 Conference with a 2.21 ERA heading into this week.
- Sophomore Aaron Crow's 2.03 ERA in seventh best in the Big 12, while freshman Kyle Gibson is ranked 16th with a 2.84 ERA.
- Mizzou picked up back-to-back 11-0 shutouts against Youngstown State on March 4 and has three shutouts on the season.
- The two wins over YSU on March 4 marked the first doubleheader sweep for MU since Feb. 17, 2006 against Louisiana-Monroe.
- Freshman Kyle Gibson picked up his third save of the season by pitching the final 3.2 innings of the Tigers' win over Dallas Baptist last Saturday.
- The Tigers have swept both of its three-game series this season. They opened the year with a sweep over Florida International and took three wins over Youngstown State on March 4.
- Sophomore Kyle Mach recorded the first 4-hit game for Missouri on the year, with a 4-for-5 outing against Texas State on March 10.
- 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 BILLIKENS
After playing its first 14 games of the season on the road, Saint Louis opened its home schedule with a 5-2 loss to Bradley on Tuesday. The Billikens are just 1-13 on the season. Their lone win came against New Mexico, taking a 5-2 win at the Aggie Baseball Classic in College Station, Texas. SLU was picked to finish second in the Atlantic 10 after winning the conference title last season.

SCOUTING THE LEATHERNECKS
Western Illinois concludes its season opening road trip with Thursday's game against Missouri. WIU will come to Columbia after a quick two-game series against Oklahoma State on Tuesday-Wednesday. The Leathernecks are coming off a school-best 32-win season in 2006, its first non-losing season since 1995. Thursday's projected starter, Quinn Leath, was 21st in the nation with a 2.06 ERA in 2006, earning a spot on the All-Mid-Con First Team.

SERIES HISTORY
The Tigers are no strangers to either SLU or Western Illinois. Mizzou and Saint Louis have met 87 times before this week's matchup, with the Tigers holding a 70-17 lead in the series. MU defeated the Billikens twice last season, taking a 16-0 win at Taylor Stadium and a 4-0 win in the "Wood Bat Classic" in O'Fallon, Mo. Mizzou has won the last five meetings. The two teams had met once a year at T.R. Hughes Ballpark in O'Fallon in the annual "Wood Bat Classic" the past seven seasons, but are not scheduled to meet in O'Fallon this year. Missouri last faced Western Illinois in 2004, sweeping a two-game set by scores of 2-1 and 8-2. The Tigers hold an 18-4 lead in the series with the Leathernecks and have won the last four in the series, with the last WIU win coming during the 2002 season.

LAST TIME OUT
Missouri extended its winning streak to seven games by taking two wins last Saturday in Dallas. The Tigers scored 25 runs in the two games, defeating Texas State 14-4 before taking a 11-7 win over Dallas Baptist. Sophomore Kyle Mach had a career-best 4-for-5 game to lead Mizzou to victory over Texas State. Three Tigers drove in three runs, including junior Brock Bond who had three RBI on no hits. He was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, had a sacrifice fly and drove in a run as he grounded out. Freshman Trevor Coleman's three RBI all came on a three-run home run in the eighth inning. Sophomore Aaron Crow picked up the win over the Bobcats to improve to 3-0. In game two, Mizzou used a pair of three-run innings to get past Dallas Baptist. The Tigers scored three times in the top of the fourth inning, then put up another three-spot in the sixth. Bond was 3-for-3 and drove in five runs in the nightcap and senior John McKee connected for his third home run of the season. Freshman Greg Folgia pitched three innings of relief and earned the win, his second of the season. Another freshman, Kyle Gibson, pitched the final 3.2 innings and earned his third save of the year.

FRESHMEN MAKE IMPACT
The 2007 freshman class has quickly made an impact on the Tigers. On the mound, freshman Kyle Gibson's 2.84 ERA is the 16th best mark in the Big 12 Conference. He has three of MU's five saves on the year and has struck out 27 batters in 25.1 innings on the mound. Another freshman, Greg Folgia, is second on the squad with eight appearances on the mound. Included among the eight appearances is one start against Louisiana-Monroe in which he was perfect through the first four innings of play. Freshman Ryan Allen has not allowed an earned run in eight innings of work this season. He has stuck out eight in his four appearances. Trevor Coleman and Aaron Senne are two freshmen that have found their way into the Tigers' lineup. Coleman leads the team with a .371 batting average. He has started 10 games for the Tigers, splitting time at catcher with junior Dan Pietroburgo. Senne has started 17 of Mizzou's 18 games this season in the outfield. He hit is first home run of his Tiger career in the series opener against Youngstown State on March 2.

TIGER PITCHING SHUTS DOWN OPPONENTS
Through its first 18 games of the 2007 season, Mizzou has a 2.21 ERA, which leads the Big 12 Conference. Opponents are hitting .237 off the Tigers, which is fourth best in the league and MU's 2.17 walks per nine innings average is the second best in the Big 12. Sophomore Aaron Crow is seventh among Big 12 pitchers with a 2.03 ERA, while freshman Kyle Gibson is 16th (2.84). The Tigers have already recorded three shutouts on the season, including a pair of 11-0 wins in a doubleheader sweep of Youngstown State on March 4. In the second game of the doubleheader, YSU managed just one hit off of Mizzou pitchers. The season's first shutout was a 5-0 win over Navy on Feb. 25, when senior Stephan Holst, sophomore Ryan Gargano and freshman Ryan Allen each pitched three scoreless innings and did not allow a hit until two outs into the eighth inning.

JAMIESON JOINS THE 400-WIN CLUB
Missouri's win in the season opener marked the 400th career victory for MU Head Coach Tim Jamieson. He enters the weekend with a 412-295-2 record in his 13th season at the helm. Jamieson joins legendary Mizzou coaches Gene McArtor (733 wins) and John "Hi" Simmons (481 wins) as the only coaches in MU history to reach the 400-win mark. McArtor and Simmons both have their numbers retired at MU and are members of the Missouri Athletics Hall of Fame. Jamieson took over as head coach of the Tigers in 1995. During his tenure, Missouri has recorded at least 30 wins 10 times and has made five trips to the NCAA Tournament, including the last four. Last year he took the Tigers to the first Super Regional in school history. He has coached five players to All-America honors and eight to Freshman All-America recognition.

TIGERS EIGHTH IN BIG 12 POLL
Missouri was picked eighth in the Big 12 Coaches' Preseason Poll. Texas was the pick to win the conference, garnering seven of the 10 first place votes and 79 total points. Oklahoma State was second with 70 points and two first-place votes. Two seasons ago, Mizzou was picked eighth in the preseason poll and finished the year fourth.

MIZZOU-TTU SERIES FINALE TO BE TELEVISED
The third game of the Missouri and Texas Tech series on April 29 will be broadcast on Metro Sports and Fox Sports Midwest.

UP NEXT
The Tigers host five games in five days at Taylor Stadium starting with Wednesday's game with Saint Louis. The homestand will continues against Western Illinois (March 15 at 6:30 p.m.) before Mizzou opens a three-game series against Cleveland State at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Next weekend, Missouri will open Big 12 Conference play, traveling to Lincoln, Neb. for a three-game series with the Cornhuskers.