April 20, 2007
Leading the Big 12 Conference for the first time in over five years, the Missouri softball team will host fifth-ranked Texas A&M in a two-game home series beginning Saturday, April 21, at 2 p.m., with first pitch of game two set for Noon, Sunday, April 22. Live stats for both games will be available through Missouri's athletics website (www.mutigers.com), with All-Access coverage provided for the Sunday afternoon game.
After sweeping Kansas last Wednesday in Lawrence, the Tigers improved to 8-1 in league play (89 percent winning percentage), jumping ahead of seventh-ranked Baylor, who stands at 9-2 with an 82 percent winning percentage. Missouri started the 2007 campaign picked to finish eighth in the annual Big 12 Coaches Preseason Poll and was unranked nationally. Over the past two weeks, Missouri has been receiving votes in the ESPN.com/USA Softball national poll.
Missouri's meeting with the Aggies will mark the Tiger's fourth top-five ranked opponent of the campaign. Last weekend at home, the Tigers managed to split a two-game series with second-ranked Oklahoma after winning game one, 5-1, and improved to 13-5 on University Field.
Down 29-18 in the all-time series with the Aggies, Missouri is 3-2 in their past five meetings, most recently securing a 5-3 victory over A&M in the quarter-finals of the 2006 Big 12 Tournament. In 2005, Missouri held off the Aggies in back-to-back home games on University Field, with both wins decided by one run.
With only eight games remaining in regular season play, the Tigers are looking to continue their winning ways in order to earn a top seed to the Big 12 Championships, May 10-12, in Oklahoma City, Okla. Six of Missouri's eight remaining games will be played at home on University Field, with only two contested on the road (vs. Baylor, April 28-29).
Of Missouri's remaining regular season opponents, Texas A&M is ranked fifth, while Baylor stands at No. 7 in the nation after suffering two losses to No. 4 Oklahoma this past week. Iowa State, Missouri's final mid-week opponent of the year, and Nebraska remain unranked.
Junior pitcher Jen Bruck made her eighth Big 12 start of the year April 18 in game one against Kansas. Claiming seven of Missouiri's eight conference wins, Bruck stands seventh in the league (Big 12 games only) with a 1.25 ERA. Freshman Jana Hainey, who threw her first complete game of the season in game two against Kansas, leads the pack with a 0.00 ERA and 1-0 record.