April 19, 2007

MIZZOU at BAYLOR

First Pitch:
Friday, April 20, 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, April 21, 6:30 p.m.
Sunday, April 22, 1 p.m.

Series History: Baylor leads 24-16-1
Last Meeting: MU took 2-of-3 in Columbia
Stadium: Baylor Ballpark
Capacity: 5,000
Radio: KTGR 1580-AM
Live Audio: KTGR.com
Live Stats: Gametracker on mutigers.com

MISSOURI TIGERS
Overall Record: 26-11
Big 12 Conference Record: 7-5
Last 10/Last 5: 6-4/3-2
Streak: Won 1
Head Coach: Tim Jamieson
Career Record: 425-301-2 (13th year)
Record at MU: 425-301-2 (13th year)
Website: mutigers.com

BAYLOR BEARS
Overall Record: 21-17
Big 12 Conference Record: 6-9
Last 10/Last 5: 5-5/3-2
Streak: Won 1
Head Coach: Steve Smith
Career Record: 476-301-1 (13th year)
Record at BU: 476-301-1 (13th year)
Website: baylorbears.com

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FIRST PITCH
Missouri travels to Waco, Texas this weekend for a three-game series with Baylor. The series will begin at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, with games to follow at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday. The Tigers are 26-11 on the year and are in third place in the Big 12 Conference with a 7-5 league record. Baylor enters the weekend series with a 21-17 record and a 6-9 conference mark.

QUICK HITS
- Missouri was handed its first series loss of 2007 last week by dropping two-of-three games to Texas A&M. The Tigers had won their first six three-game series of the season, including sweeps in the first three.
- Sophomore Aaron Crow recorded his second career complete game against Texas A&M last Saturday. He allowed just three unearned runs on three hits, but took the loss.
- Crow is one of four Tigers ranked in the top 20 of the ERA rankings in the Big 12. Crow's 2.55 ERA is fourth best in the conference, while freshman Kyle Gibson (3.02) is 10th, sophomore Rick Zagone (3.92) is 16th and freshman Greg Folgia (4.19) is 20th.
- Missouri's team ERA of 3.62 ranks third in the Big 12 Conference.
- Zagone was named Co-National Pitcher of the Week and Co-Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Week last week after recording a one-hit shutout on April 7 at Kansas State to improve to 6-0 on the season. His six wins rank fifth in the conference.
- Zagone's shutout was the first in a Big 12 game this season. There have been eight complete games in Big 12 games this year, with two recorded by Zagone.
- Gibson picked up his sixth save of the season on Tuesday against Missouri State, fifth most in the Big 12. The six saves puts him in a tie for ninth for saves in a season at MU.
- Opponents are hitting just .210 off of Gibson, which ranks fifth in the Big 12.
- In MU's four games during the week of March 26-April 1, junior Evan Frey hit .550 with two home runs and nine RBI. Frey is tied for fifth in the Big 12 Conference with 39 runs scored on the year.
- Mizzou is 20-6 in its last 26 games. Included in that stretch is a 14-game winning streak from March 2-23, which was the longest for the Tigers since a 15-game streak in 2005. In 2006, the longest winning streak was six games.

SCOUTING THE BEARS
Baylor stands in eighth place in the Big 12 with a 6-9 conference record and is 21-17 overall on the year. Raynor Campbell leads the Bears with a .337 average, followed by Beamer Weems' .326 average. Weems has a team-best six home runs ad is second on the squad with 35 RBI. He is hitting .417 in Big 12 games, third best in the conference. Baylor took two-of-three from Kansas last weekend to win its second-straight series after opening Big 12 play 2-7, which included being swept by Texas and Oklahoma State. The Bears' midweek contest against Texas-Arlington, scheduled for Tuesday night in Waco, was rained out. BU head coach Steve Smith is in his 13th season leading the Bears and has compiled a 476-301-1 record. Last season, Baylor advanced to the NCAA Regionals, where the beat Arizona State twice, but dropped a pair of games to Rice in the Houston Regional

SERIES HISTORY
Missouri has won four of the last five contests with Baylor, but trails the Bears in the all-time series 24-16-1. Last year, the Tigers took two-of-three from Baylor in Columbia. Mizzou opened last year's series with a 7-0 shutout behind the pitching of Nathan Culp, who recorded a complete game three-hitter, striking out seven. The Bears evened the series with a 5-4 win in game two, scoring a run in the top of the seventh to break a 4-4 tie. Mizzou claimed the series win with a 3-1 victory in Sunday's finale. Jacob Priday's two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning put the go-ahead runs on the board. The Tigers' pitching staff allowed just one earned run in the three games against Baylor last season. Two years ago, the last time the two teams met in Waco, the Tigers dropped the series opener, but took the next two games to win the series on the final weekend of the regular season.

LAST TIME OUT
Missouri picked up a 3-1 win over Missouri State on Tuesday night in Springfield, Mo. Sophomore Ian Berger turned in his longest outing of the season, pitching six scoreless innings and earning the win to improve to 3-1 on the season. He gave up just three hits and struck out five, which is also a season best for Berger. Freshman Kyle Gibson pitched the ninth inning and recorded his sixth save of the year, which places him in a tie for ninth for saves in a season at Mizzou. After five and a half scoreless innings, Mizzou struck first, putting two runs on the board in the top of the sixth. Sophomore Aaron Senne drew a walk and was followed by junior Brock Bond, who singled and advanced to second on an error by the Bears' leftfielder. Senne, who moved to third on Bond's single, scored the game's first run when sophomore Kyle Mach delivered a base hit through the left side. Bond also scored on the play as the MSU shortstop, Tanner Mattson, was called for fielder's interference, obstructing Bond's path to third base. Bond was awarded home, giving the Tigers a 2-0 lead. Senne finished the game 2-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to six games, while Mach was 3-for-4, recording at least three hits in a game for the fourth time this season. Missouri State scored its lone run in the bottom of the eighth inning, as Matt Lawson led off with a double and later scored on a ground out by pinch hitter Shane Elenz. The Tigers added a run in the ninth, as junior Evan Frey doubled and scored on a single by sophomore Ryan Lollis. With the victory, Missouri evens the all-time series with the Bears at 18-18.

ZAGONE EARNS NATIONAL AND CONFERENCE HONORS
Sophomore Rick Zagone earned multiple honors last week, as he was named the NCBWA Co-National Pitcher of the Week on April 10, one day after he earned Co-Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Week. On April 7, Zagone recorded his second complete game in three Big 12 starts this season, as he picked up the win in the Tigers' 3-0 win over Kansas State. Zagone carried a no-hitter into the ninth inning, as a base hit with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning was all that stood between Zagone and a no-hitter. He struck out a career-high 11 batters and remained unbeaten as he improved to 6-0 on the season. The complete game shutout was the first by a Big 12 pitcher in a conference game this season. There have been just five complete games in Big 12 games this season, with Zagone claiming two of the five. The complete game was the second in the last three starts for Zagone who recorded the complete game win against Nebraska on March 24. Zagone now has three career complete games, all three coming away from home. Zagone's three wins in Big 12 play ranks second in the conference and the .226 average for opposing hitters is eight best in the Big 12.

STREAK FREAKS
Junior Evan Frey had the longest hitting streak of the season, recording a hit in eight-straight games from March 2-15. Freshman Trevor Coleman and sophomore Kyle Mach and Ryan Lollis have each had seven-game streaks this season. Freshman Aaron Senne has the longest current hitting streak at six games.

TAKING A HIT
Through the first 36 games, senior John McKee has been hit 16 times and junior Brock Bond has been hit by a pitch 15 times. McKee holds the school record for hit by a pitches in a season, as he took 23 HBPs as a sophomore in 2005.

CLOSING THE DOOR Freshman Kyle Gibson recorded his sixth save of the season on Tuesday against Missouri State. The six saves move him into the top 10 in saves in a season at MU. He is currently tied for ninth with Ryan Stegall (2001) and Justin Stine (1996). The record is 12, set by Stegall in 2000. In addition to the six saves that freshman Kyle Gibson has recorded this season, he also has wins, against Youngstown State, Cleveland State, Nebraska, Kansas and Texas A&M.

DEEP FREY'D
Junior Evan Frey capped off a week from March 26-April 1, in which he hit .550 over four games with a walk-off home run on April 1 to give the Tigers a 10-9 win in the series finale against Kansas. In MU's four games of that week, Frey went 11-of-20, with two home runs and nine RBI. Against Creighton, Frey was 4-for-4, recording the Tigers' second 4-hit game of the season. He opened the series against Kansas with two hits, including a double and two RBI. Frey then drove in five runs in game two against the Jayhawks, going 3-for-6 with a home run. He finished the week by going 2-for-5, with the second hit of the day being the walk-off homer coming with the Tigers trailing by a run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning.

DRIVING `EM IN
Sophomore Ryan Lollis leads the team with 33 RBI on the year. Lollis drove in six runs in the Tigers second game of the season, a win at Florida International. He has had seven multi-RBI games including six games in which he has driven in at least three runs.

TURNING THE CORNER
In the first 13 games of the season, sophomore Kyle Mach had just two hits and was hitting .154. On March 4, in game number 14, Mach was 3-for-4 against Youngstown State, starting what would be a seven-game hitting streak. Since that game, Mach is hitting .330 and has raised his season average to team-leading .324. He had the first four-hit game of the season for the Tigers, going 4-for-5 against Texas State on March 10.

FRESHMEN MAKE IMPACT
The 2007 freshman class has quickly made an impact on the Tigers. On the mound, freshman Kyle Gibson's 3.02 ERA is the 10th best mark in the Big 12 Conference. He leads the team with 17 appearances and has five wins and six saves. Another freshman, Greg Folgia, is third on the squad with 14 appearances on the mound. Among the 14 appearances are five starts including one against Louisiana-Monroe in which he was perfect through the first four innings of play. Freshman Ryan Allen has appeared in nine games and has 14 strikeouts in 13.0 innings. Trevor Coleman and Aaron Senne are two freshmen that have found their way into the Tigers' lineup. Senne's average of .298 and Coleman's .281 mark are fourth and fifth respectively on the team.

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 425-301-2 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.

EX-TIGERS EARN ACCOLADES IN THE MINOR LEAGUES
Former Mizzou standouts Mark Alexander and Cody Ehlers each earned postseason honors for their performances last year in Minor League Baseball. Alexander was named the Los Angeles Dodgers' Branch Rickey Minor League Pitcher of the Year, after compiling 27 saves to lead all Dodger Minor Leaguers for a second-straight season. Alexander was an All-Big 12 Honorable Mention selection in 2004, as he recorded 10 saves, which is second most in a season in Mizzou history. Ehlers, a member of the Tampa Yankees, was voted the Florida State League's Most Valuable Player. He led the FSL in RBI (103) and doubles (35) and was fourth in hits (142). He hit .298 with 18 home runs. As a senior at MU in 2004, Ehlers led the Tigers in nearly every offensive category and was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Big 12 Tournament. For updated stats on former Tigers in professional baseball, visit mutigers.com.

UP NEXT
On Wednesday the Tigers will face Kansas at Kansas City's Kauffman Stadium at 7 p.m. The game will not count as a conference contest. Tickets for the game are $10 and are available through Tickets.com or at Kauffman Stadium. All tickets will be general admission and parking is free. Next weekend, the Tigers will return to Taylor Stadium, hosting Texas Tech in a three-game series opening at 6:30 p.m. on Friday.