April 24, 2008

MIZZOU AT TEXAS A&M
APRIL 25-27, 2008 • COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS

First Pitch:
Friday, 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, 2 p.m.
Sunday, 1 p.m.

Series History: A&M leads 32-24-1
Last Year: TAMU took 2-of-3 in Columbia

Stadium: Olson Field
Capacity: 7,053

TV: FSN (Sunday only)
Radio: KTGR 1580-AM
Live Audio: KTGR.com
Live Stats: mutigers.com

MISSOURI TIGERS
Overall Record: 29-11
Big 12 Record: 9-6
Last 5/Last 10: 3-2/7-3
Streak: Lost 1
Rankings: BA: 4/ CB: 11/ NCBWA: 9/ ESPN: 10
Website: mutigers.com
Head Coach: Tim Jamieson
Career Record: 470-319-2 (14th year)
Record at MU: 470-319-2 (14th year)

TEXAS A&M AGGIES
Overall Record: 34-7
Big 12 Record: 15-3
Last 5/Last 10: 4-1/9-1
Streak: Won 4
Rankings: BA: 18/ CB: 8/ NCBWA: 6/ ESPN: 6
Website: aggieathletics.com
Head Coach: Rob Childress
Career Record: 107-56-1 (3rd year)
Record at TAMU: 107-56-1 (3rd year)

COMPLETE GAMENOTES

FIRST PITCH
No. 4 Mizzou will travel to College Station, Texas this weekend for a three-game series with Big 12 Conference leading Texas A&M. The Tigers enter the weekend with a 29-11 overall record and are 9-6 in the Big 12, while Texas A&M is 34-7 on the year and 15-3 in league play. The three-game set will begin at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, with games to follow at 2 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday. Sunday's series finale will be televised by FSN.

MU-TAMU SERIES HISTORY
Texas A&M holds a 32-24-1 lead in the all-time series with Mizzou and took two-of-three from the Tigers last year in Columbia. MU had won seven-straight over the Aggies before last year's series. The first meeting between the two teams came in 1966, when Missouri took a 4-3 win.

LAST TIME OUT
Missouri split two games played at T.R. Hughes Ballpark in O'Fallon, Mo. this week, defeating Eastern Illinois 8-6 on Tuesday, before falling to Southern Illinois by a score of 2-1 on Wednesday. Junior Rick Zagone allowed five runs, three of which were earned, on seven hits in a season-long outing of seven-innings pitched. He struck out six and did not walk a batter, picking up his first victory since last May. Junior Kyle Mach was 2-for-4 on the night with a home run, which capped of a seven-run inning for the Tigers. MU returned to T.R. Hughes on Wednesday, dropping a 2-1 contest to Southern Illinois. With the game tied at one in the eighth inning, SIU's Mark Kelly singled to drive in the go-ahead run. Junior Ian Berger allowed just one run on four hits in six innings pitched.

MIZZOU MOVES UP TO FOURTH IN BASEBALL AMERICA POLL
Mizzou moved up to No. 4 in this week's Baseball America poll, released on Monday. The Tigers climbed to No. 2 in the March 24th poll, its highest ever mark. MU finds itself ranked ninth in NCBWA poll. The Tigers are 10th in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches' poll and are 11th in the Collegiate Baseball's Top 30.

PRIDAY BECOMES MIZZOU'S HOME RUN KING
On April 16, senior Jacob Priday became the career home run record holder at Mizzou. He hit two homers against William Woods to give him 46 for his career, breaking the previous school record of 45 set by Mike Rogers (1984-87). He has 13 home runs on the year, which matches his career best for homers in a season. Priday also moved to the tops of the career RBI list at MU with three against William Woods. He currently has 225 RBI in his career surpassing Ryan Fry's mark of 222 (1995-98). Priday had a record-setting night in the series opener against Texas on April 11. He finished 5-for-5 on the night and broke an MU school record and the Big 12 Conference record with four home runs on the night. The four homers was third most in the history of the NCAA. The record is six, hit by Marshall McDougall of Florida State in 1999. Priday also set a Missouri school record with nine RBI and tied the MU mark with six runs scored. In the three-game series against Texas, Priday hit .583 (7-for-12), with four homers, a double, 11 RBI. He had a slugging percentage of 1.667 for the series. The performance earned him Big 12 Conference and NCBWA National Player of the Week honors. Priday currently leads the team and is sixth in the Big 12 with a .357 batting average. His 13 home runs lead the conference and his 50 RBI are second most in the league. Priday also leads the Big 12 with a .744 slugging percentage.

SOMETHING TO CROW ABOUT
Junior Aaron Crow, a preseason All-American, had a string of 43.0 scoreless innings pitched snapped against Texas on April 11. He allowed five runs in the first inning against UT, after giving up just four runs in his first seven starts of the year. Despite allowing nine runs total against Texas, Crow picked up the win and has won all eight of his starts this season. Crow's scoreless innings streak is believed to have tied for the fourth-longest in NCAA D-I history. The NCAA record for the longest scoreless inning streak is not found in the record books. Below are the longest streaks on record. Crow holds a commanding lead in the Big 12 Conference in strikeouts with 79, which is 13 Ks ahead of second place. On March 14, Crow struck out a career-high 15 batters against Toledo, bettering his previous best of 10 set just two weeks prior against Cal. Only two Toledo batters advanced beyond first base, as Crow allowed seven hits and did not walk a batter. Starting with the final out of the fourth inning and continuing through the eighth inning, Crow struck out 11 of the 15 batters he faced, including striking out the side in the eighth. He threw 107 pitches, 87 of which were strikes. He recorded a second-straight complete-game shutout with a 10-strikeout performance against Baylor on March 21 Crow was selected as the Big 12 Pitcher of the Week and the NCBWA National Pitcher of the Week following that performance. On March 28, Crow turned in eight scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and striking out nine against Texas Tech. He recorded his third complete game shutout of the season, striking out seven against Oklahoma State on April 4 to improve to 7-0. He earned his second Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Week honor following the win over the Cowboys. Last week he improved to 9-0 by claiming the win over Oklahoma. He allowed four runs in the first two innings, but did not allow a hit over the next 3.2 innings and did not give up a run over the next 5.2 innings pitched. He leads the nation with the nine victories on the season. The MU school record for wins in a season is 11, held by four former Tigers.

SENNE DELIVERS BIG IN RETURN TO MINNESOTA
It was quite a homecoming for Mizzou sophomore Aaron Senne on March 25 as Missouri defeated Minnesota 17-8 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. Senne, a native of Rochester, Minn., tied a school record with eight RBI, hit two home runs and had a career-high four hits in his return to his home state. With a large contingent of family and friends in attendance, Senne was 4-for-4 with eight runs driven in and two runs scored. He took over the team lead with six home runs. In his first at-bat, Senne connected on a two-run homer to right centerfield to give the Tigers the early 2-0 lead. He singled in each of his next two at-bats, driving in runs on both hits. MU sent 15 batters to the plate in the sixth inning, with three of the nine runs scoring on Senne's second home run of the night and his sixth of the season. Senne's drove in his eighth run of the game when he was hit-by-a-pitch with the bases loaded in his second trip to the plate in the sixth inning. Senne's eight RBI matches Marcus Adler's eight RBI game against Evansville in 1986. Senne has driven in at least five runs in a game three times this season. It was his second two-home run game this season, as he also hit two against Indiana State on March 9.

KYLE WITH A 'K'
Heading into this weekend, sophomore Kyle Gibson has struck out 63 batters in 58.1 innings pitched. He is fourth in the Big 12 Conference is strikeouts. Gibson picked up a seven-inning complete-game win over Baylor on March 23, allowing just one unearned run on four hits in seven innings, as the Tigers run-ruled the Bears in the series finale. Gibson split time between being a starter and coming out of the bullpen as a freshman in 2007. This season, he has taken the role as a weekend starter and is 6-0 on the year. Gibson has 14-career wins after finishing last season with an 8-3 record. He also picked up seven saves as a freshman.

BERGER, WELL DONE
Junior Ian Berger has a 3.02 ERA, which is ninth in the Big 12 Conference. Berger had a string of 26.1 scoreless innings snapped against Texas Tech on March 29. He struck out six and gave up just one run on four hits in eight inning pitched against TTU. He has started nine times this season, earning wins against San Diego State, Toledo and Baylor. Berger allowed just one run on six hits in seven innings pitched against San Diego State, to pick up his first win of the year. He pitched eight scoreless innings against Toledo, allowing just four hits to earn his second victory. Berger struck out eight against Baylor, allowing just one hit in seven innings. A double by BU's second batter of the game was the lone hit for the Bears on the afternoon. Following the double, Berger retired the next 10 batters he faced and 14 of the next 15. Berger picked up the loss three-straight starts from April 5-20. He was saddled with his first loss of the season against Oklahoma State, then took the defeat in the series finales with Texas and Oklahoma. He started against Southern Illinois on Wednesday, allowing just one run on four hits.

SHUT `EM DOWN
The Missouri pitching staff recorded four shutouts in 2007. Already this season, the Tigers have six and MU has twice claimed back-to-back shutouts in 2008. Junior Aaron Crow picked up complete game shutouts in back-to-back starts against Toledo (March 14) and Baylor (March 21) and teamed with freshman Nick Tepesch to shutout Texas Tech (March 28). Crow picked up his third shutout of the year against Oklahoma State on April 4. Junior Ian Berger and sophomore Greg Folgia teamed up to shutout Toledo in game two of that series. Berger then combined with Tepesch to record a shutout in game two of the Baylor series.

CALVERT MAKING AN IMPACT
Senior Kurt Calvert is fifth on the squad with a .326 batting average heading into the week. Calvert earned the starting spot in centerfield after a strong fall and preseason. In his first two years at MU, Calvert played in 41 games, starting just four times. He has three triples, which is third most in the Big 12 and has hit his first three career home runs this year. He is also 9-for-11 in stolen bases.

SHARING THE SAVES
The Tigers have 13 saves as a team this year, with six pitchers earning those seven saves. Mizzou had four pitchers earn saves all of last season. Freshman Nick Tepesch picked up the save against Texas Tech to extend his team lead in saves to four, which ranks seventh in the conference. Junior Rick Zagone has picked up three saves, all coming in a two-week span, with saves against Missouri State, Texas and William Woods. Junior Scooter Hicks has three saves on the season, which gives him nine for his career. Freshmen Kelly Fick, sophomore Ryan Allen and junior Ryan Gargano have also recorded a save this season.

FOLGIA DOES IT ALL
Sophomore Greg Folgia had just two hits in 18 at-bats as a freshman last year. But in 2008, Folgia has a team-best 47 hits and is hitting .345 on the year. Folgia had a 10-game hitting streak snapped on March 19 against South Dakota State. The streak was the longest by a Tiger since Brock Bond hit safely in 11-straight games May 12-June 2, 2007. In the first game of the South Dakota State series, Folgia was in the lineup as the pitcher/designated hitter. He earned the win on the mound, as he struck out seven in five scoreless innings pitched. He struck out the first five batters of the game and did not walk a batter. Meanwhile, at the plate in that game, Folgia was 3-for-5, with an RBI and three runs scored.

A TEXAS-SIZED VICTORY
Missouri put up 31 runs in its series opener against Texas on April 11, defeating the Longhorns 31-12. The 31 runs were the most scored by the Tigers since they defeated Truman State 30-0 in 2003. It was the most runs scored by MU against a conference opponent since a 27-4 win over Nebraska in 1956. The loss was the worst for Texas since a 25-6 defeat against Texas A&M in 1995 and it was the first game in which Texas allowed at least 20 runs since 1998. Every Tiger in the starting lineup had at least one hit and five had at least three. The 26 hits for Missouri tied a school record, which was set in 2005 against Navy. Mizzou senior Jacob Priday set a Big 12 Conference record with four home runs and was 5-for-5 on the night. He set the single-game school record with four home runs, nine RBI and six runs scored. Mizzou put up 10 runs in the third inning, which included Priday's second home run, a three run shot. The Tigers had nine hits in the inning, including doubles from Senne and sophomore Greg Folgia. The 10-run inning was the biggest inning for the Tigers since an 11-run second inning against Mississippi Valley State on May 6, 2006. The Tigers followed Friday's outburst with a 13-2 win on Saturday. Through the first two games of the series, MU had a .500 batting average and had scored 44 runs on 43 hits with slugging percentage of .883.

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. Tex Little is in his 18th season of calling Tiger Baseball and is joined in the booth by Hudson Guthrie, who is in his first year on the Tiger broadcast team.

UP NEXT
On Tuesday, Missouri and Kansas will meet at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Mo. at 7 p.m. The game will not count towards the conference record. For ticket information, visit kcroyals.com. Next weekend, the Tigers return to Taylor Stadium for a three-game series against Kansas State, opening at 6:30 p.m. on Friday.