April 22, 2009
MIZZOU vs KANSAS
APRIL 22, 2009 • KANSAS CITY, MO.
| First Pitch | 7 p.m. |
| Stadium | Kauffman Stadium |
| Series History | MU leads 210-121-2 |
| Radio | KTGR 1580-AM / KTGR.com |
| Gametracker | mutigers.com |
| Ticket Info | kcroyals.com |
FIRST PITCH
Missouri and Kansas take their rivalry to Kauffman Stadium on Wednesday, facing off in the home stadium of the Kansas City Royals. The game, which is considered a non-conference matchup, will start at 7 p.m. Mizzou enters Wednesday's game with a 21-20 record and is 8-10 in the Big 12 Conference, while KU comes into the game 26-14 overall and 8-7 in conference play. The Tigers are coming off a series win over Kansas State last weekend, taking two of the three games in Manhattan. Last year, the Jayhawks took a 3-0 win over the MU at Kauffman Stadium. Missouri and Kansas will meet again later this year, as they face off in a three-game series at Taylor Stadium in Columbia, May 8-10. This weekend, Mizzou will return home to host Texas Tech in a three-game series scheduled to get underway at 6:30 p.m. on Friday at Taylor Stadium.
LAST YEAR AT 'THE K'
Missouri fell to Kansas, 3-0, last year in front of a crowd of 3,847 at Kauffman Stadium. Junior Ian Berger suffered the lost, despite allowing just three runs on six hits in seven innings pitched. He struck out six. Freshman Nick Tepesch and sophomore Ryan Allen each pitched one scoreless inning in relief. Kansas rightfielder Ryne Price hit his 10th home run of the year in the top of the second inning to put the first run of the game on the board. The Jayhawks added two more runs in the top of the eighth inning with both runs in the inning scoring on a single by John Allman. Allman finished 3-for-4 on the night. [A BOX SCORE FROM LAST YEAR'S GAME IS ON PAGE 5]
TIGERS TO PLAY IN BOTH OF MISSOURI'S MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL STADIUMS IN 2009
Among the highlights of the Tigers' 2009 schedule are games at both of the Major League Baseball stadiums in the state of Missouri. On April 1, Mizzou defeated Saint Louis University, 19-6 at Busch Stadium, home of the St. Louis Cardinals. MU will return to Kauffman Stadium, the home of the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday to face Kansas. This will mark the third year that Missouri and Kansas have been scheduled to meet at Kauffman Stadium, however the 2007 game was cancelled due to rain. The game is considered a non-conference contest and will be played in addition to the three-game conference series between the two teams May 8-10 in Columbia.
GIBSON GOES THE DISTANCE, AGAIN, AND AGAIN, AND AGAIN
Mizzou junior Kyle Gibson has pitched a complete game in five of his six Big 12 starts. Last Friday, he won for the sixth time this season, striking out nine, walking none and allowing just three runs to defeat Kansas State. A week earlier he picked up his fifth victory of the year, as he and the Tigers defeated Baylor by a score of 5-3. On April 3, Gibson struck out 15 and allowed two runs on six hits against Oklahoma, but was handed the hard-luck loss in a 2-1 game. Gibson was named the Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Week for the second-consecutive week on March 23. He was the first pitcher to claim back-to-back Big 12 Pitcher of the Week honors since Texas' Kyle McCulloch in 2006. Gibson picked up a complete game victory over Texas A&M on March 20, as he struck out a career-high 16 batters in the Tigers' 3-2 win. He gave up just two runs on five hits to the Aggies and his only walk allowed on the night was an intentional pass in the eighth inning. Gibson retired the first 10 batters to the plate and 18 of the first 19 he faced. A week earlier, Gibson was named the NCBWA National Pitcher of the Week, in addition to Big 12 Pitcher of the Week, after picking up his first career shutout in MU's series opener with Texas on March 14. Gibson struck out 11 batters and gave up six hits in nine innings pitched, as the Tigers defeated Texas, 2-0. The complete-game was the first nine-inning complete game for Gibson, who has had two seven-inning complete games in his career. He leads the conference with 90 strikeouts on the year in 69.0 innings pitched.
JAMIESON JOINS 500-WIN CLUB
Mizzou Head Coach Tim Jamieson picked up his 500th win last Friday against Kansas State. The win came in dramatic fashion as the Tigers scored four runs in the ninth inning and took a 4-3 victory. He is 501-349-2 in his 15th year as the Tigers' head coach. Missouri's win over Arizona State on March 1 moved Jamieson into second place on Mizzou's all-time wins list. His 501 wins put him ahead of legendary former head coach John "Hi" Simmons. Simmons compiled a record of 481-294-3 from 1937-1973, while Gene McArtor is the all-time winningest coach at Missouri with a record of 733-430-3 from 1974-1994. Jamieson, who served as an assistant coach under McArtor from 1988-94, has led the Tigers to seven NCAA Regionals, including each of the last six and is a two-time Conference Coach of the Year. Last fall, the University of Missouri extended Jamieson's contract, keeping him in the MU dugout through at least the 2013 season. With the retirement of Texas Tech's Larry Hays last summer, Jamieson and Baylor coach Steve Smith are now the longest tenured coaches in the Big 12 Conference, as each is in his 15th year as head coach of the respective programs.
FOLGIA IS MISSOURI'S UTILITY MAN
Junior Greg Folgia was named the Big 12 Conference Player of the Week on Monday after he hit .429 in the Tigers' five games of last week. That includes a .455 average in the three-game series against Kansas State, highlighted by a two-home run, five-RBI game on Saturday. A week earlier, he hit .400 in the series at Baylor. Folgia has a .331 average on the year and leads the team with seven home runs and 42 RBI. His 42 RBI is fifth most in the Big 12 and his ranks fourth with three triples on the season. He had a six-game hitting streak from April 4-11, hitting .476 with two home runs, three doubles and 10 RBI during those 10 games. He had a pair of three-hit games during the stretch. Folgia has had three hits in five games this year. Folgia has started in left field, center field and at first base for the Tigers this season and also has made 12 appearances on the mound out of the bullpen. In his two previous years at MU, Folgia has also played second base, third base and shortstop, meaning he has played all positions except right field and catcher during his career at Mizzou.
MIZZOU ADDS JOHNNY WHOLESTAFF TO THE ROSTER
Missouri has utilized a pitcher-by-committee strategy in 13 games this season. In those 13 games, Mizzou is 10-3 and has a team ERA of 3.23. Opposing batters are hitting just .244 against the Tigers in the pitcher-by-committee games. The Tigers have twice used a season-high 11 pitchers (vs. SIU-Edwardsville on March 18 and vs. UI-Chicago on March 25). Mizzou lost its first pitcher-by-committee game this year, but pitched well, as eight pitchers team up to allow just two earned runs on five hits to Arizona State on Feb. 24. Missouri then won seven-straight games with the staff pitching approach in place, including a pair of shutouts against Western Illinois on March 4 and Oklahoma State on March 30. The first time the Tigers pitched by committee in a Big 12 Conference game came on March 21 against Texas A&M, then they took a 6-2 win.
LOLLIS LEADS THE TIGERS AT THE PLATE
Senior Ryan Lollis has been one the Tigers' most consistent performer this season. Lollis has a .289 average and has 30 RBI heading into the week. He had six-game hitting streak snapped against SLU on April 1. During that six-game hitting streak, Lollis was 10-for-25 (.400). He had an eight-game hitting streak from Feb. 22-March 6. Lollis has had two three-hit games this season (against Gonzaga on Feb. 22 and against Western Illinois on March 4). He has nine doubles and three triples. His three triples are tied for fourth most in the Big 12 this season. Lollis has three home runs on the year, hitting his first against Gonzaga on Feb. 22. He hit a two-run home run against UI-Chicago on March 25, going 2-for-4 with three RBI in that game. His third homer came on April 7 against Minnesota.
ON THE AIR
KTGR 1580-AM is 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 19th season of calling Tiger Baseball and is joined in the booth by Hudson Guthrie, who returns for his second year as part of the Tigers' broadcast team.
UP NEXT
Mizzou returns home this weekend to host Texas Tech in a three-game series at Taylor Stadium. Game one is set for 6:30 p.m. on Friday, with the series continuing at 2 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday.