May 5, 2009
MIZZOU vs. MISSOURI STATE
MAY 5, 2009 • COLUMBIA, MO.
| First Pitch | 6:30 p.m. |
| Stadium | Taylor Stadium |
| Series History | MU leads 20-18 |
| Radio | KTGR 1580-AM / KTGR.com |
| Live Video | mutigers.com |
| Gametracker | mutigers.com |
FIRST PITCH
On Tuesday, Mizzou will take on Missouri State to open up a seven-game homestand that will run through the end of the regular season. The Tigers have won seven-straight games and 11 of their last 13 games and are 28-21 on the year. They have swept back-to-back Big 12 series and have moved up to fourth place in the conference with a 14-10 record. Missouri State is 25-19 on the season heading into Tuesday's game. The first scheduled matchup between the Tigers and Bears last Wednesday was cancelled due to inclement weather in Springfield. Mizzou holds a 20-18 lead in the all-time series with MSU. Tuesday's game is the final midweek game of the year for Missouri. This weekend, the Tigers will conclude their Big 12 Conference schedule with a three-game series against Kansas at Taylor Stadium. Gametimes for that series are 6:30 p.m. on Friday, 2 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday.
TIGERS BRINGING OUT THE BROOMS
Missouri has swept each of their last two Big 12 series, winning six-straight games over Texas Tech and Nebraska. MU picked up its first three-game sweep of the season against the Red Raiders, outscoring TTU, 42-14 in the three games. In that series, the Tigers hit .415 as a team. Junior Trevor Coleman (.600), senior Kyle Mach (.571), senior Ryan Lollis (.500), junior Aaron Senne (.467) and junior Greg Folgia (.429) all hit over .400 in the three-game series against Texas Tech. Last weekend, the Tigers picked up their first sweep over Nebraska in Lincoln since a two-game sweep in 1996. It was the first three-game sweep on the road against the Huskers since 1963. MU has swept Nebraska in each of the past two seasons.
GIBSON GOES THE DISTANCE, AGAIN, AND AGAIN, AND AGAIN...
Mizzou junior Kyle Gibson has pitched a complete game in five of his eight Big 12 starts and has won his last four starts. His first complete game was a complete-game shutout over Texas on March 14. He struck out 11, walked none and allowed just six hits earning Big 12 Conference and National Pitcher of the Week honors. The following week, he struck out a career-high 16 in a complete-game win over Texas A&M, earning a second-straight Big 12 Pitcher of the Week award. He was the first pitcher to claim back-to-back Big 12 Pitcher of the Week honors since Texas' Kyle McCulloch in 2006. On April 3, Gibson struck out 15 and allowed two runs on six hits in a complete-game outing against Oklahoma, but was handed the hard-luck loss in a 2-1 defeat. That was the first of three-straight complete games as he was victorious against Baylor on April 10 and Kansas State on April 17. Gibson earned the win against Texas Tech on April 24, but did not go the distance for the first time in four starts, striking out nine in 6.2 innings. He won his eighth game of the year last Friday against Nebraska, going eight innings and striking out eight. Gibson leads the Big 12 Conference with 107 strikeouts on the season in 83.2 innings pitched.
BUEHLER NAMED BIG 12 PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Missouri sophomore Brad Buehler was named the Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Week on Monday. Buehler appeared in all four of the Tigers' games last week and did not allow a run in five innings pitched, while picking up two saves. Buehler pitched the final 1.1 innings against Eastern Illinois on Tuesday, striking out one and recording his fourth save of the year. The Festus, Mo. hurler threw a scoreless ninth inning on Friday in the series opener against Nebraska with one strikeout. Buehler then pitched the Tigers out of two holes on Saturday against NU. The Huskers loaded the bases with one out in the eighth and scored once before Buehler came out of the bullpen to force two pop outs. Then, after Nebraska had two singles to start the ninth, Buehler got a ground out and two strikeouts to close the game, earning his fifth save of the year. On Sunday, the Huskers loaded the bases with no outs in the ninth, when Buehler came on in relief to limit the damage, including getting a strikeout for the final out of the game. This award marks fourth time a Tiger has earned a weekly honor from the Big 12 this year. Junior Kyle Gibson has twice been named the Big 12 Pitcher of the Week (March 16 and March 23) and junior Greg Folgia earned Big 12 Player of the Week honors on April 20. On the season, Buehler has made 27 appearances and leads the team with a 2.22 ERA and an opponent's batting average of .207.
GRAY PROVIDES BIG WEEK FOR MIZZOU
Junior Steve Gray hit .556 (10-for-18) last week as the Tigers went 4-0. Gray drove in nine runs, with a home run, a triple and two doubles on the week, which started with Gray matching a career-high with four hits against Eastern Illinois on Tuesday. He was 4-for-4 with a double and two RBI against EIU. He followed that with a three-hit performance in the series opener at Nebraska, driving in two more runs on a single and a triple. He drove in one on an RBI single in game two against the Huskers, then closed the week by driving in four runs in a 2-for-5 outing against Nebraska. He had a two-run homer in the seventh and drove in two on a double in the eighth. Gray had a slugging percentage of .944 in the four games.
MIZZOU-MISSOURI STATE CONNECTIONS
Missouri Assistant Coach Evan Pratte will face his alma mater on Tuesday when the Tigers play Missouri State. Pratte was a four-time letterwinner for the Bears from 1988-91. He holds the school record for most assists in a season, with 184 in 1991. In the MSU career record books, he ranks eighth in hits (259), eighth in runs scored (176), seventh in walks (88), third in sacrifice flies (140) and fourth in game-winning RBI. Pratte is in his 12th season as part of the staff at Mizzou. A second connection between Missouri and MSU are brothers Ryan and Tim Clubb. Ryan is a freshman pitcher for Missouri, while Tim is a junior pitcher for the Bears and was a 2008 All-American.
UP NEXT
This weekend, Mizzou will host Kansas in its final Big 12 series of the season. Game one of the weekend 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. On March 15-17, the Tigers will conclude the regular season with a three-game series against Cal State-Bakersfield at Taylor Stadium.