May 23, 2007

THE BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP
MU Schedule:
Wednesday: MU vs. Oklahoma, 5 p.m.
Friday: MU vs. Baylor, 4:30 p.m.
Saturday: MU vs. Oklahoma State, 5 p.m.
Stadium: Bricktown Ballpark
Capacity: 13,066
Radio: KTGR 1580-AM
Live Audio: KTGR.com
Live Video: big12sports.com
Live Stats: mutigers.com and big12sports.com

Complete Gamenotes
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FIRST PITCH
Missouri enters the Big 12 Tournament on a five-game winning streak after sweeping Oklahoma State last weekend in Stillwater. MU is the No 2 seed in the tournament and will open the conference tournament against seventh-seeded Oklahoma on Wednesday, before taking on sixth-seeded Baylor on Friday and third-seeded Oklahoma State on Saturday in pool play. The winner of the two pools will meet in the Big 12 Championship game on Sunday.

QUICK HITS
- With Mizzou's three victories over Oklahoma State last weekend, MU finished the regular season with 39 wins. The season win total is tied for eighth most in MU history.
- Missouri has won five straight games, 11 of its last 13 and 14 of its last 17 games including series wins over Baylor, Texas Tech, Texas, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.
- The Tigers won a series for the 11 time in 12 tries this year, after sweeping Oklahoma State last weekend. Missouri won eight of its nine Big 12 series and was a perfect 6-0 in road three-games series this year.
- MU recorded its first series win at Oklahoma State last weekend since 1981 and its first-ever sweep in Stillwater.
- The Tigers finished with an 18-4 regular season home record.
- Sophomore Aaron Crow's 2.62 ERA is sixth best in the Big 12.
- Missouri's team ERA of 3.96 ranks third in the Big 12 Conference.
- Junior Jacob Priday is hitting .414 over the last 17 games.
During that span, he has seven home runs, three triples and six doubles and has driven in 28 runs.
- Priday has three triples in Big 12 Conference games this season, which is tied for the league lead. His 32 RBI in Big 12 games ranks second.
- Junior Evan Frey leads the team with a .347 batting average, which ranks 12th in the Big 12. He recorded MU's first five-hit game of the season in the series finale with Baylor. Frey is hitting .357 in Big 12 games, which is ninth 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 and Brock Bond have each been hit-by-a-pitch 23 times, tying the school record, which was set by McKee in 2005.
- Freshman Trevor Coleman has walked 22 times in conference games, which is second in the Big 12.
- 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.
- Mizzou had two players (Jacob Priday and Aaron Senne) record a six-RBI game in its series against Oklahoma. Priday did it in Friday's series opener, while Senne did it in the finale on Sunday.

MU VS. ITS DIVISION
Missouri was 7-2 this season against the other three teams in its division. MU won all three series, including two on the road and a sweep of Oklahoma State in Stillwater.

LAST YEAR AT THE BIG 12 TOURNAMENT
Missouri was 2-1 at the 2006 Big 12 Tournament in the first year of the new pool-play format. The Tigers opened the tournament with a 9-5 win over Oklahoma State as Nathan Culp recorded his 11th win of the season. The win was Mizzou's fifth straight and its 30th of the season. Jacob Priday was 3-for-5 with a pair of runs scored and five other Tigers had two-hit games. In the Tigers' second game of the tournament, J.C. Field hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning that gave MU an 11-0 lead over Oklahoma, ending the game as the tournament's run rule was in effect. The win extended the winning streak to six. The home run for Field was his third of the year and capped off a five-RBI game. The Tigers scored five in the first inning against the Sooners and Max Scherzer pitched all seven innings, allowing no runs on four hits to take the win. The run at the Big 12 Championships ended as the Tigers fell to Kansas 4-3. An unearned run in the bottom of the eighth inning gave KU the lead and eventual win. Missouri had rallied from three runs down, scoring two runs in the seventh and one in the eighth to tie the game before the Jayhawks scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth.

MU RECORDS BEST BIG 12 FINISH
The Tigers' second-place finish in the Big 12 Conference is their best in the 11 years of the Big 12. Their previous best finish was fourth place in 2003 and 2005. The second place showing is the best league finish for Mizzou since it won the Big Eight Conference regular season title in 1996.

COMPILING THE WINS
Mizzou's 39 wins on the year is tied for the 12th most in school history. The school record is 46 set by the 1976 squad.

TIGERS SET RECORD FOR WINS IN THE BIG 12
Mizzou set a new high this season with 19 wins in Big 12 Conference games. The Tigers finished the year 19-8 in the league. The previous high 17 wins in 1998, the second year of the Big 12 Conference. At that time, Iowa State still had a baseball program, meaning teams played 30 conference games as opposed to the 27 that are now on the schedule each year. The most ever conference victories for a MU team came in 1996, when the Tigers were 20-8 in the final season of the Big Eight Conference.

TAKING THE SERIES
With its series win at Oklahoma State last weekend, Missouri capped off another series victory, its 11th series win in 12 tries this year. The Tigers won eight of its nine Big 12 series this year and were a perfect 5-0 in road series in the conference and won all six of its road series overall.

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.

2K WINS
After its three victories in Oklahoma State, Mizzou has now won 1,994 games in its history, putting it six wins away from becoming the 36th program in the NCAA to reach the 2000-win mark. Mizzou is 1,994-1,278-20 in 113 years of baseball.

TIGERS TURN UP THE OFFENSE
In the last 16 games, Mizzou has a team batting average of .296 and has hit 22 home runs. The Tigers have five triples and 34 doubles during that stretch and have scored 128 runs. That is an average of eight runs per game. MU is 13-3 during that span.

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 inning, 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 .347 batting average, which is 12th 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.

TAKING A HIT
Senior John McKee and junior Brock Bond have both tied the record for hit-by-pitches in a season that McKee had set in 2005. McKee and Bond have each been hit by 23 pitches this year.

DRIVING `EM IN
MU has had three players record six-RBI games this season. The first was Ryan Lollis, who did it against Florida International on Feb. 10, in the Tigers' second game of the season. Two Tigers put up a 6-RBI game in the three-game series against Oklahoma. 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.

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, Texas and Oklahoma State.

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 .321 and has raised his season average to .308, 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.

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 leads the team with 25 appearances and has seven saves on the season. In addition to the seven saves, he has seven wins, compiling a 7-3 record. Another freshman, Greg Folgia, is second on the squad with 22 appearances on the mound. Among the 22 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 .295 is fourth best on the squad and his eight home runs is second on the team. Aaron Senne is hitting .277 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 438-304-2 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.

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
The selections for the NCAA Tournament will be announced on Monday, May 28 live on ESPN at 11:30 a.m.. The NCAA Regionals will be played June 1-4.