March 6, 2007

MIZZOU VS. LOUISIANA-MONROE

First Pitch:
Game 1: Tuesday, March 6, 6:30 p.m.
Game 2: Wednesday, March 7, 4 p.m.
Series History: MU leads 3-0
Last Meeting: MU swept doubleheader in 2006 by scores of 5-1 and 11-0
Stadium: Taylor Stadium/Simmons Field
Capacity: 2,200
Radio: KTGR 1580-AM
Live Audio: KTGR.com
Live Video: All-Access on mutigers.com
Live Gametracker: mutigers.com

MISSOURI TIGERS
Overall Record: 9-5
Big 12 Conference Record: 0-0
Last 10/Last 5: 6-4/4-1
Streak: Won 3
Head Coach: Tim Jamieson
Career Record: 408-295-2 (13th year)
Record at MU: 408-295-2 (13th year)
Website: mutigers.com

LOUISIANA-MONROE WARHAWKS
Overall Record: 8-2
Sun Belt Conference Record: 0-0
Last 10/5: 8-2/4-1
Streak: Won 3
Head Coach: Jeff Schexnaider
Career Record: 26-26 (2nd year)
Record at ULM: 26-26 (2nd year)
Website: ulmathletics.com

MIZZOU BASEBALL GAMENOTES
Download Free Acrobat Reader

FIRST PITCH
Missouri will continue its season opening homestand with a pair of midweek games against Louisiana-Monroe on Tuesday and Wednesday at Taylor Stadium. The two-game series will get underway at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, with game two starting at 4 p.m. on Wednesday. The Tigers are coming off a three-game sweep over Youngstown State last weekend to improve to 9-5 on the year. Louisiana-Monroe enters the week with an 8-2 record. Mizzou and ULM met twice last season in Monroe, La. with the Tiger taking wins in both games by scores of 5-1 and 11-0.

QUICK HITS
- Missouri leads the Big 12 Conference with a 2.43 ERA heading into the week.
- 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.
- Sophomore Aaron Crow's 1.11 ERA in second best in the Big 12, while sophomore Rick Zagone (16th) and freshman Kyle Gibson (19th) are also in the top 20.
- 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 WARHAWKS
Louisiana-Monroe is 8-2 on the season, marking the team's best start since the 2001 season, when it also started 8-2. That year, ULM collected 36 wins on the year. The Warhawks swept a pair of midweek games against McNeese State and Louisiana College last week and did not play this past weekend. The scheduled starters for this week are freshman righthander Kye Wilson and senior lefty Daniel Roberts. Wilson picked up a win in relief in ULM's second game of the season and has struck out eight in 4.2 innings pitched. Roberts will be making is first start of the season on Wednesday. He has seven career starts, but holds an 0-5 record in those starts. He has pitched just one inning this season, allowing a hit and striking out one.

SERIES HISTORY
Mizzou and Louisiana-Monroe have three previous meetings, with the Tigers taking wins in all three. In 2003, the Tigers defeated Louisiana-Monroe 13-10 at the Holiday Inn/ULM Classic in Monroe. Last year, the two teams were scheduled to play a three-game series in Monroe, but due to inclement weather, only two games were played. The scheduled was adjusted to play a doubleheader on Friday, with MU taking a 5-1 and an 11-0 win over ULM. The finale of the series was cancelled.

LAST TIME OUT
The Tigers picked up their second three-game sweep of the year by taking three wins over Youngstown State last weekend in their home opening series of the season. Senior John McKee drove in five runs in the opener to lead Mizzou to a 10-5 win over the Penguins. Sophomore Rick Zagone struck out four in 6.2 innings on the mound and earned his second win of the season, while freshman Greg Folgia retired all seven batters he faced to pick up his first save as a Tiger. Snow and cold temperatures caused Saturday's game to be postponed, setting up a Sunday doubleheader. MU took a pair of 11-0 shutout win to sweep its first doubleheader since taking two wins against Louisiana-Monroe last February. Four Tigers drove in at least two runs and sophomore Aaron Crow improved to 2-0 with seven shutout innings pitched in game one. Four Mizzou pitchers combined to allow just one hit to YSU in the final game of the weekend and sophomore Kyle Mach had three hits, including his first home run of the season.

TIGER PITCHING SHUTS DOWN OPPONENTS
Through its first 14 games of the 2007 season, Mizzou has a 2.43 ERA, which leads the Big 12 Conference. Opponents are hitting .230 off the Tigers, which is third best in the league and MU's 2.21 walks per nine innings average is the second best in the Big 12. Sophomore Aaron Crow is second among Big 12 pitchers with a 1.11 ERA, while sophomore Rick Zagone is 16th (2.70) and freshman Kyle Gibson is 19th (3.20). The Tigers have already recorded three shutouts on the season, including a pair of 11-0 wins in a doubleheader sweep of Youngstown State last Sunday. 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.

MIZZOU PUT RUNS ON THE BOARD LATE
Of Missouri's 90 runs scored on the season half have come between the sixth and eighth innings and 50 runs have crossed the plate for the Tigers between the sixth and ninth innings. However, the Tigers have been outscored 6-0 in extra innings so far this season.