Mizzou Takes on Rival Kansas
5/9/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 9, 2008
MIZZOU vs KANSAS
MAY 9-11, 2008 • LAWRENCE, KAN.
First Pitch:
Friday: 6 p.m.
Saturday: 6 p.m.
Sunday: 1 p.m.
Series History: MU 208-120-2
Last Meeting: MU took 2-of-3 in Columbia
Stadium: Hoglund Ballpark
Capacity: 2,500
Radio: KTGR 1580-AM
Live Audio: KTGR.com
Live Gametracker: mutigers.com
FIRST PITCH
No. 14 Missouri travels to Lawrence, Kan. this weekend for a three-game series with the Kansas Jayhawks. The series will begin at 6 p.m. on Friday, with games to follow at 6 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday.
The Tigers are 32-16 on the year and are in fourth place in the Big 12 Conference with a 11-10 league record.
Kansas enters the weekend 29-22 on the year and 8-13 in Big 12 play.
MU-KU SERIES HISTORY
Mizzou holds a 208-120-2 lead in the all-time series with Kansas. Less than two weeks ago, the Jayhawks defeated MU, 3-0 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City on April 29.
Last year, the Tigers won two-of-three against KU in the three-game series in Columbia. After dropping the first game of last year's series, Mizzou won the next two, including a walk-off win in the series finale.
BORDER SHOWDOWN
Missouri has already clinched the 2007-08 Border Showdown title. The Tigers hold a 21-13 lead in the all-sports series with a maximum of just six points still to be awarded.
Mizzou clinched the cup when the Tigers' women's golf team finished ahead of KU at the Big 12 Championships.
This marks the first time in the six-year history of the Border Showdown that either school has won the cup in consecutive years. Prior to 2007-08, the schools had alternated claiming the title each year, beginning with MU's win in the inaugural year of 2002-03.
LAST TIME OUT
Mizzou scored four runs in the final two innings on a pair of two-run home runs to take a 5-4 win over Creighton on Tuesday at Taylor Stadium. Junior Steve Gray, in the game a pinch hitter, hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth to give the Tigers the win.
Missouri trailed 4-1 with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning when sophomore Trevor Coleman hit his second home run of the year to pull the Tigers within one.
Senior Dan Pietroburgo reached on an error to open the Tigers' half of the ninth inning. Then, after a sacrifice bunt by freshman Andrew Thigpen, Gray pinch hit for junior Kyle Mach and hit his sixth home run of the season.
It was the first walk-off home run for the Tigers since Evan Frey hit one against Kansas last April.
Senior Jacob Priday had a pair of hits on Tuesday for the Tigers, doubling in the first inning and connecting on a single in the sixth. Junior Ryan Lollis had a single in the third and a double in the fifth to finish 2-for-4 on the afternoon.
For Creighton, Robbie Knight was 5-for-5 with three RBI and three runs scored. He homered in each of his first two at-bats, then delivered three-straight singles.
Knight led off the game with a home run to give the Bluejays an early 1-0 lead and connected on a two-run shot in the top of the second inning.
The Tigers answered the run by Creighton in the first inning by scoring one in the bottom half of the first as sophomore Greg Folgia scored on a sacrifice fly by sophomore Aaron Senne.
Creighton plated a run in the seventh to make it a 4-1 lead before Missouri scored the game's next four runs.
IN THE POLLS
Mizzou remained ranked No. 14 in this week's Collegiate Baseball's Top 30 and is No. 15 in the Baseball America poll.
The Tigers are 16th in the NCBWA poll this week and 17th in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches' poll.
MU climbed to No. 2 in the March 24th Baseball America poll, its highest ever mark.
GIBSON, SENNE INVITED TO USA BASEBALL TEAM TRIALS
USA Baseball announced on Thursday its initial list of 12 collegiate players who have accepted invitations for the 2008 National Team Trials to be held June 11-23 throughout the northeast and southeast United States.
This list includes Mizzou sophomores Kyle Gibson and Aaron Senne. In all, 32 players will be invited to the National Team Trials, with 22 of those players being selected for the National Team roster.
USA Baseball's 2008 National Team schedule includes a six-game friendship series against Chinese Taipei and a month-long trip to Europe where the team will compete in Haarlem Baseball Week in the Netherlands and in the IV FISU World Collegiate Baseball Championship in the Czech Republic.
In 2006, Max Scherzer and Hunter Mense were invited to the trials and each made the national team roster. That year, MU Head Coach Tim Jamieson served as an assistant coach for Team USA.
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 hit two home runs last Friday against Kansas State and has 15 home runs on the year, which is a career best for homers in a season for Priday.
Priday also moved to the tops of the career RBI list at MU with three against William Woods.
He currently has 230 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 in the game 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 and 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's 15 home runs lead the conference and his 55 RBI are tied for second most in the league. He also leads the Big 12 with a .727 slugging percentage.
In addition to holding the Mizzou record for career home runs and RBI, he has also set new school records for at-bats (836), extra-base hits (110) and total bases (469). He is currently second with 54 doubles.
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 won each of his first nine 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 leads the Big 12 Conference in strikeouts with 92, which is eight K's 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 victory over the Cowboys.
He improved to 9-0 by claiming the win over Oklahoma on April 18. 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.
On April 25, he took a no decision against Texas A&M, his first start this season in which he did not record the win.
Last Friday, he picked up win number 10 on the year, despite his shortest outing of the season, 5.1 IP against Kansas State
He is tied for the lead in the nation with his 10 victories on the season and is just one win away from tying the school record.
SENNE DELIVERS BIG IN RETURN TO MINNESOTA
One of the most consistent bats in the Tigers line up, sophomore Aaron Senne leads the team with 61 hits on the year and is tied for the team lead with a .361 batting average and 55 RBI. Senne is second on the squad in slugging percentage (.627), runs scored (42) and walks (32).
Senne's batting average ranks seventh in the Big 12 and he is tied for second in the league in RBI.
It was quite a homecoming for 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.
SHARING THE SAVES
The Tigers have 15 saves as a team this year, with six pitchers earning those seven saves. Mizzou had four pitchers earn saves all of last season.
Junior Scooter Hicks recorded saves in back-to-back games last Friday and Saturday against Kansas State and leads the team with five on the year.
Freshman Nick Tepesch is second on the squad with four saves.
Junior Rick Zagone has picked up three saves, all coming in a two-week span, with saves against Missouri State, Texas and William Woods.
Freshmen Kelly Fick, sophomore Ryan Allen and junior Ryan Gargano have also recorded a save this season.
The five saves for Hicks, give him 11 for his career, which is sixth most in school history. The record is 19, set by Scott Black (1987-90).
KYLE WITH A `K'
Heading into this weekend, sophomore Kyle Gibson has struck out 74 batters in 70.1 innings pitched. He ranks 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 7-1 on the year.
Gibson has 15-career wins after finishing last season with an 8-4 record. He also picked up seven saves as a freshman.
BERGER, WELL DONE
Junior Ian Berger has a 3.71 ERA, which is 13th 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 innings pitched against TTU.
He has started 11 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 in 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, allowing just one run on four hits and took a no decision.
Berger started the earlier meeting against KU and allowed only three runs on six hits in seven inning pitched, but was saddled with the loss.
TAKING A HIT
Through 48 games, the Tigers have been hit by a pitch 80 times.
Missouri was hit by 22 pitches in the first week of the season alone, averaging 5.5 HBPs per game through the first four games. The Tigers had three-straight games from Feb. 23-25 in which six batters were hit by pitches.
The school record for hit-by-pitches in a year is 108, set in 2005. MU came close to breaking that record last year, with 107 HBPs.
Seniors Lee Fischer and Jacob Priday are tied for the team lead with 11 HBPs, followed junior Kyle Mach and sophomore Trevor Coleman, who have each been hit by nine pitches
Sophomore Aaron Senne has seven HBPs and was hit four times against Minnesota on March 26.
Brock Bond holds the MU record for hit-by-pitches in a season, with 25 in 2007.
SHUT `EM DOWN
The Missouri pitching staff recorded four shutouts in 2007. 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.
UP NEXT
The Tigers will conclude the regular season with a three-game series next weekend against Nebraska at Taylor Stadium. The series will begin at 6:30 p.m. on Friday and continue at 2 p.m. Saturday and 3:30 p.m. on Sunday. Sunday's game will air on FSN.
The Big 12 Tournament is May 21-25 at the Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City.
