May 2, 2007

MIZZOU vs. MISSOURI STATE
First Pitch:Wednesday, May 2, 6:30 p.m.
Series History: Series tied 18-18
Last Meeting: MU def. MSU, 3-1 on April 17 in Springfield, Mo.
Stadium: Taylor Stadium
Capacity: 2,200
Radio: KTGR 1580-AM
Live Audio: KTGR.com
Live Video: All-Access on mutigers.com
Live Stats: Gametracker on mutigers.com

MISSOURI TIGERS
Overall Record: 31-12
Big 12 Conference Record: 12-6
Last 10/Last 5: 7-3/4-1
Streak: Won 3
Head Coach: Tim Jamieson
Career Record: 430-302-2 (13th year)
Record at MU: 430-302-2 (13th year)
Website: mutigers.com

MISSOURI STATE BEARS
Overall Record: 19-24
Missouri Valley Conference Record: 4-11
Last 10/Last 5: 0-10/0-5
Streak: Lost 12
Head Coach: Keith Guttin
Career Record: 860-526 (25th year)
Record at MSU: 860-526 (25th year)
Website: missouristatebears.com

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FIRST PITCH
Missouri will host Missouri State in the final home midweek game of the season. The Tigers are coming off a three-game sweep of Texas Tech last weekend and enter Wednesday's game with a 31-12 overall record. MSU is 19-24 on the year.

QUICK HITS
- The Tigers are ranked in three national polls, with a No. 21 ranking in Collegiate Baseball being the highest.
- Mizzou won a series for the eighth time in nine tries this year, sweeping Texas Tech last weekend. The Tigers have won five of their six Big 12 series.
- The sweep over Texas Tech was MU's fourth this season and first over a Big 12 opponents since the Texas series last May.
- Junior Jacob Priday was named the Co-Big 12 Conference Player of the Week after hitting .545 with three home runs, two doubles and a triple in the three games against TTU. He drove in nine runs over the weekend.
- Mizzou is averaging 9.3 runs per game over the last six games. During that stretch, the Tigers are averaging 11.7 hits and 8.8 RBI per game. - Missouri's team ERA of 3.94 ranks fourth in the Big 12 Conference.
- Freshman Kyle Gibson picked up his seventh save of the season on April 21 against Baylor, fifth most in the Big 12. The seven saves puts him in a tie for seventh for saves in a season at MU.
- Junior Evan Frey leads the team with a .357 batting average, which ranks 11th in the Big 12. He recorded MU's first five-hit game of the season in the series finale with Baylor. Frey is hitting .364 in Big 12 games, which is sixth best in the conference.
- Sophomore Aaron Crow's 2.55 ERA is fifth best in the Big 12 Conference.
- Freshman Aaron Senne is second in the Big 12 with seven doubles in Big 12 Conference games this season.
- Freshman Trevor Coleman has walked 16 times in conference games, which is tied for the league lead.
- Senior John McKee has been hit by a pitch 19 times this season, while sophomore Brock Bond has 17 HBPs. McKee holds the MU record with 23 HBPs in his sophomore season of 2005.
- Sophomore Rick Zagone was named the Big 12 and National Pitcher of the Week after he recorded a one-hit shutout over Kansas State on April 7. He also had a complete game against Nebraska on March 24.

SCOUTING THE BEARS
Missouri State has lost 12-straight games heading into Wednesday's matchup with Mizzou. The Bears are 19-24 on the year and are 4-11 in the Missouri Valley Conference. The Bears were scheduled to play at Saint Louis on Tuesday, but the game was cancelled due to rain. MSU is currently in the midst of an eight-game road trip, which will conclude with a three-game series at Evansville this weekend. As a team, the Bears are hitting .272 on the season, while the pitching staff has a 4.33 ERA. MSU head coach Keith Guttin is in his 25th year with the Bears, compiling a record of 860-526.

SERIES HISTORY
The all-time series between Mizzou and Missouri State is tied at 18 after the Tigers picked up a 3-1 win over the Bears last month. Missouri has won the last two matchups after dropping the previous three games.

EARLIER THIS YEAR
MIZZOU 3, MISSOURI STATE 1
April 17, 2007 -- Springfield, Mo.
Missouri picked up a 3-1 win over Missouri State on April 17 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 year. He gave up just three hits and struck out five, which was also a season best for Berger. Freshman Kyle Gibson pitched the ninth inning and recorded his sixth save of the year. 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.

LAST TIME OUT
Mizzou recorded a sweep of Texas Tech last weekend, its fourth sweep of the season and the first against a Big 12 opponents since the Texas series last May. The Tigers took the series opener by a score of 10-4 as sophomore Aaron Crow picked up his sixth win of the season. MU scored nine runs in the third inning, which included a two-run home run by junior Jacob Priday. MU recorded its 30th win of the season with a 12-7 victory on Saturday. Freshman Greg Folgia did not allow a hit, pitching the final 4.1 innings in relief to earn the win. Mizzou used a pair of four-run inning and added a three-run inning on its way to taking a 2-0 lead in the series. Mizzou completed the sweep with a 6-5 win on Sunday, scoring twice in the bottom of the ninth to take the win. Sophomore Ryan Lollis scored the winning run on a bases loaded wild pitch.

2K WINS
After the three-game sweep last weekend, Mizzou has now won 1,986 games in its history, putting it 14 win away from becoming the 36th program in the NCAA to reach the 2000-win mark. Mizzou is 1,986-1,276-20 in 113 years of baseball.

PRIDAY NAMED BIG 12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Junior Jacob Priday was named the Co-Big 12 Conference Player of the Week on Monday after he hit .545 (6-for-11) in the Tigers' three-game sweep of Texas Tech last weekend. All six of Priday's hits over the weekend were extra-base hits as he drove in nine runs and scored six in the series. Priday connected for a two-run home run in the series opener, then had two hits in game two with an RBI triple in the first inning and a two-run double in the third. He finished the weekend with a two-home run game in the series finale. After he drove in a run with a double in the first, he hit a two-run homer in the third inning. Priday then hit his fifth home run of the season to lead off the sixth inning.

CLOSING THE DOOR
Freshman Kyle Gibson recorded his seventh save of the season on April 21 against Baylor. The seven saves move him into a tie for seventh place for saves in a season at MU. The record is 12, set by Ryan Stegall in 2000. In addition to the seven saves that 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 MU's series with Kansas earlier this year with a walk-off home run to give the Tigers a 10-9 win in the series finale. In MU's four games of that week, Frey went 11-of-20 (.550), with two home runs and nine RBI. Against Creighton, Frey was 4-for-4, recording the Tigers' second four-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. Frey had a career-high five hits, finishing 5-for-5 in the series finale at Baylor. It was the first time a Tiger has had five hits since Jacob Priday did it against Florida on Feb. 24, 2006.

TAKING A HIT
Through 43 games this season, senior John McKee has been hit 19 times and junior Brock Bond has been hit by a pitch 17 times. McKee holds the school record for hit by a pitches in a season, as he took 23 HBPs as a sophomore in 2005.

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 .352 and has raised his season average to .333, which ranks second on the team and 20th in the conference. He had his second four-hit game of the season when he was 4-for-5 with three RBI against Baylor last Friday. Mach's first four-hit game of the year came against Texas State on March 10.

ZAGONE EARNS NATIONAL AND CONFERENCE HONORS
Sophomore Rick Zagone 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.

FRESHMEN MAKE IMPACT
The 2007 freshman class has quickly made an impact on the Tigers. On the mound, freshman Kyle Gibson's lead the team with 21 appearances and has seven saves on the season. In addition to the seven saves, he has five wins, compiling a 5-3 record. Another freshman, Greg Folgia, is third on the squad with 16 appearances on the mound. Among the 16 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 13.1 innings. Trevor Coleman's average of .294 and Aaron Senne's .289 mark rank fourth and sixth respectively on the team. Coleman shares the team lead with five home runs and Senne matched a team best with an eight-game hitting streak from April 7-21.

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 430-302-2 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.

UP NEXT
This weekend, the Tigers will travel to Austin, Texas for a three-game series with Texas, starting at 6 p.m. on Friday. Following the trip to Austin, Mizzou will host Oklahoma at Taylor Stadium May 11-13 before taking on Oklahoma State May 18-20 in Stillwater, Okla. on the final weekend of the regular season.