May 15, 2007

MIZZOU vs. ILLINOIS
First Pitch: Tuesday, May 15, 6:30 p.m.
Series History: Illinois leads series 10-9
Last Meeting: MU def. UI, 14-2 in May 17, 2006 in O'Fallon, Mo.
Stadium: GCS Stadium, Sauget, Ill.
Capacity: 6,000
Radio: KTGR 1580-AM
Live Audio: KTGR.com
Live Stats: Gametracker on mutigers.com

MISSOURI TIGERS
Overall Record: 35-14
Big 12 Conference Record: 16-8
Last 10/Last 5: 7-3/3-2
Streak: Won 1
Head Coach: Tim Jamieson
Career Record: 434-304-2 (13th year)
Record at MU: 434-304-2 (13th year)
Website: mutigers.com

ILLINOIS FIGHTING ILLINI
Overall Record: 28-22
Big Ten Conference Record: 14-12
Last 10/Last 5: 8-2/4-1
Streak: Won 4
Head Coach: Dan Hartleb
Career Record: 57-51 (2nd year)
Record at UI: 57-51 (2nd year)
Website: fightingillini.com

COMPLETE GAMENOTES
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FIRST PITCH
Missouri will take on Illinois at GCS Stadium in Sauget, Ill. on Tuesday in a wood bat game. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. MU has played at least one game with wood bats in each of the past eight seasons. The Tigers enter the final week of the regular season with a 35-14 record and are tied for second place in the Big 12 Conference with a 16-8 league record. Illinois is 28-22 on the year and 14-12 in the Big Ten.

QUICK HITS
- The Tigers are ranked in the four major national polls, with a No. 17 ranking in Collegiate Baseball's Top 30 being the highest. They are No. 19 in the Baseball America and USA Today/ESPN Coaches' polls and are No. 20 in the NCBWA Top 30.
- Mizzou's 35 wins on the year matches its win total from all of last season and is tied for the 17th most wins all-time by a MU team.
- Missouri has won seven of its last nine and 10 of its last 13 games, including series wins over Baylor, Texas Tech, Texas and Oklahoma.
- The Tigers won a series for the 10 time in 11 tries this year, taking two-of-three from Oklahoma last weekend. Missouri has won seven of its eight Big 12 series and is a perfect 5-0 in road series this year.
- Junior Jacob Priday is hitting .434 over the last 13 games. During that span, he has six home runs, three triples and six doubles and has driven in 22 runs.
- Priday had a string of 10-consecutive hits from April 27-May 11 that went for extra bases.
- Priday has three triples in Big 12 Conference games this season, which leads the league. His 28 RBI in Big 12 games ranks fourth.
- Sophomore Aaron Crow's 2.53 ERA is fourth best in the Big 12 Conference.
- The Tigers finished with an 18-4 regular season home record.
- Mizzou had two players (Jacob Priday and Aaron Senne) record a six-RBI game in last week's series against Oklahoma. Priday did it in Friday's series opener, while Senne did it in the finale on Sunday.
- Missouri's team ERA of 3.98 ranks fourth in the Big 12 Conference.
- Freshman Trevor Coleman has walked 21 times in conference games, which is second in the Big 12.
- Junior Evan Frey leads the team with a .346 batting average, which ranks 13th in the Big 12. He recorded MU's first five-hit game of the season in the series finale with Baylor. Frey is hitting .343 in Big 12 games, which is 12th best in the conference.
- Frey has five triples on the season, which is tied for second in the Big 12. One more would put him in the top 10 in the MU record books for triples in a season.
- Senior John McKee has been hit by 21 pitches this year and is two shy of tying the MU record for HBPs in a year, which he set in 2005. Junior Brock Bond has been hit by a pitch 19 times this season.
- 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.

THE RACE FOR THE TITLE
Heading into the final week of Big 12 regular season, Mizzou finds itself in the middle of the race for the conference championship. Texas leads the Big 12 with an 18-6 league record, while MU is tied with Oklahoma State for second with 16-8 marks. Texas will face Texas A&M this weekend, while Missouri and Oklahoma State face off in Stillwater. If Texas and Missouri finish tied, MU would hold the tiebreaker. Here are the scenarios for Mizzou to overtake Texas for the conference title:
- MU goes 3-0 vs. OSU: Mizzou would get a share of the Big 12 title if Texas loses at least two games against Texas A&M. If Texas is swept, MU wins Big 12 title outright.
- MU goes 2-1 vs. OSU: Mizzou would get a share of the Big 12 title if Texas is swept by Texas A&M.
- MU losses two or more to OSU: Mizzou could not catch Texas.

SCOUTING THE ILLINI
Illinois is coming off a four-game sweep of Big Ten Conference foe Indiana last weekend and has won six of its last seven games. The Illini are 28-22 on the season and 14-12 in the Big Ten. They are in sixth place in the Big Ten standings. In the weekend sweep of Indiana, the Illinois pitchers had an ERA of 1.41 with an .217 opponent batting average as it outscored the Hoosiers 21-9. On the season, the Illinois pitching staff has a 6.15 ERA, while the Illini are hitting .327, which is third best in the Big Ten Conference.

SERIES HISTORY
Illinois leads the all-time series with Mizzou by a slim 10-9 margin. Last year, the Tigers took a 14-2 win over UI and Missouri has won the last two meetings with the Illini.

LAST YEAR VS. ILLINOIS
Mizzou snapped a three-game losing skid with a 14-2 win over Illinois last season at T.R. Hughes Ballpark in O'Fallon, Mo. Hunter Mense drove in four runs, going 4-for-5 and Gary Arndt was 3-for-5, driving in three and scoring three times. Missouri jumped on the Illini early with a six-run bottom of the first, as the Tigers batted around in the inning, sending 10 batters to the plate. With MU already holding a 3-0 lead, Arndt connected for his fourth home run of the season with a three-run shot with one out in the first. Mense also had an RBI hit, knocking in two runs on a one-out single in the inning. The Tigers put two more runs on the board as J.C. Field drove in a pair of runs with a single in the third inning. Field drove in another run with a bases loaded single as part of a four-run bottom of the fifth inning. The first five batters to the plate in the fifth reached safely including Evan Frey who drove in two runs with a single. Mense drove in two more runs with a single with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning. Illinois scored its first run of the game in the sixth inning as Mike Rhode singled to drive in Kyle Hudson for an unearned run as an error aided the Illini in the inning. UI added a second run in the eighth inning as Trevor Huisinga scored on a sacrifice hit. Huisinga reached on an error, making both runs on the night scored by the Illini unearned. Nathan Culp pitched the first two innings, facing the minimum and was credited with the win, improving to 10-5 on the year. Culp threw just 20 pitches, 17 of which were for strikes. He did not throw a ball until his 14th pitch of the game.

LAST TIME OUT
Mizzou won its seventh series in eight Big 12 Conference weekends this year by taking two-of-three over Oklahoma last weekend in Columbia. Junior Jacob Priday led the Tigers in the series opener, recording a 4-for-4 performance with two home runs and six RBI. Priday homered in the first and fifth innings and added an RBI singles in the third and sixth innings. It was the second time this season he has hit two home runs in a game. Mizzou fell to OU in game two, as the Sooners held the Tigers to just five hits to even the series. Two of the Tigers' five hits came from sophomore Ryan Lollis, who had singles in the first and fifth innings. Missouri claimed the series after taking game three by a 10-8 score on Sunday. Freshman Aaron Senne drove in six runs, finishing just a single short of hitting for the cycle. He was 3-for-4 with a home run in the second inning, adding a double in the fourth and a triple in the seventh inning.

2K WINS
After two more victories last weekend, Mizzou has now won 1,990 games in its history, putting it 10 win away from becoming the 36th program in the NCAA to reach the 2000-win mark. Mizzou is 1,990-1,278-20 in 113 years of baseball.

WINNING THE CLOSE ONES
Missouri has been involved in 12 one-run ball games this season and has a record of 11-1 in those games. Eleven games this season have been decided in the final inning, with MU taking wins in six of those games. The Tigers were just 5-11 in one-run games last year and were 3-4 in game decided in the final inning.

PRIDAY GOES FOR EXTRAS
Junior Jacob Priday's had 10-straight hits from April 27-May 11 that went for extra-bases. During that stretch, Priday had five home runs, two triples and three doubles. He was named the Co-Big 12 Conference Player of the Week on April 30 after he hit .545 (6-for-11) in the Tigers' three-game sweep of Texas Tech. Priday 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. In the series at Texas, Priday doubled and homered in the series opener, as he went 2-for-4 with two RBI on Friday. After going hitless on Saturday, Priday tripled in Sunday's series finale. He opened the three-game set with Oklahoma last weekend by hitting a home run in the bottom of the first inning. Priday singled in the third snapping his string of 10-straight extra base hits, but hit a home run in his next at bat.

DEEP FREY'D
Junior Evan Frey leads the Tigers with a .346 batting average, which is 13th best in the Big 12 Conference. He 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.

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, Texas A&M and Texas.

TAKING A HIT
Senior John McKee has been hit by 21 pitches this season and is two away from tying the school record which, McKee set with 23 HBPs as a sophomore in 2005. Junior Brock Bond is close behind, as he has been hit by 19 pitches this year.

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 .319 and has raised his season average to .306, which ranks second on the team. He had his second four-hit game of the season when he was 4-for-5 with three RBI against Baylor on April 20. Mach's first four-hit game of the year came against Texas State on March 10.

DRIVING `EM IN
MU sophomore Ryan Lollis leads the team with 45 RBI, which includes a six-RBI game against Florida International on Feb. 10. Lollis also has six 3-RBI games and 10 total multi-RBI performances. Two Tigers put up a 6-RBI game last weekend. Junior Jacob Priday drove in six in a 4-for-4 performance with two home runs in the series opener against Oklahoma. Freshman Aaron Senne was 3-for-4 with six RBI as he fell just a single shy of hitting for the cycle in Sunday's finale against OU.

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 24 appearances and has seven saves on the season. In addition to the seven saves, he has six wins, compiling a 6-3 record. Another freshman, Greg Folgia, is tied for second on the squad with 19 appearances on the mound. Among the 19 appearances are five starts including one against Louisiana-Monroe in which he was perfect through the first four innings of play. Trevor Coleman's average of .288 is fifth best on the squad and his eight home runs is tied for the team lead. Aaron Senne is hitting .283 and 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 434-304-2 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.

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.

ON THE AIR
Once again, KTGR 1580-AM will be the radio home of the Tigers. All of Mizzou's regular season and postseason games will air on KTGR 1580-AM in Columbia. The games can also be heard online at KTGR.com.

UP NEXT
Mizzou will conclude the regular season with a three-game series against Oklahoma State this weekend in Stillwater, Okla. The Big 12 Conference Tournament will be played May 23-27 in Oklahoma City, Okla.