Mizzou Continues Road Trip at Arizona State
2/23/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 23, 2009
MIZZOU AT ARIZONA STATE
FEBRUARY 24, 2009 -- TEMPE, ARIZ.
First Pitch: 7:30 p.m. CT (6:30 p.m. MT)
Series History: Tied 2-2
Last Meeting: MU def. ASU, 3-2
February 16, 2007 in Surprise, Ariz.
Stadium: Packard Stadium
Capacity: 3,879
Radio: KTGR 1580-AM
Live Audio: KTGR.com
Live Gametracker: mutigers.com
More Information: mutigers.com
FIRST PITCH
Missouri will continue its season-opening 11-game road trip with a match-up with Arizona State on Tuesday at Packard Stadium in Tempe, Ariz. First pitch on Tuesday is set for 7:30 p.m. (central time). Mizzou is 1-3 on the season after playing its first four games at the Grand Canyoun Classic in Phoenix. The Tigers won their season opener over Nevada by a score of 12-1 last Friday. However, they dropped the next three games. Tuesday's game against the Sun Devils is the first of five for Mizzou at Packard Stadium. This weekend, the Tigers will participate in the ASU DeMarini Invitational. Missouri will open the Invitational against Arizona State at 7:30 p.m. CT on Thursday. The Tigers will then face Oregon State at 2 p.m. CT on Friday, Northern Illinois at 2 p.m. CT on Saturday and Arizona State at 2:30 p.m. CT on Sunday. MU and ASU have split their previous four meetings. They met twice during the 2007 season, splitting those two contests. Mizzou, who was ranked as high as No. 10 in the preseason polls, fell to No. 15 in this week's Baseball America poll. Arizona State is ranked No. 8 by Baseball America. The Sun Devils are as high as No. 4 in the Collegiate Baseball poll and are No. 6 in the NCBWA poll.
SERIES HISTORY
Mizzou has an all-time record of 2-2 against Arizona State, which includes a meeting in the 1964 College World Series. The Tigers won that game, 7-0, on their way to a runner-up finish in the CWS. The last time Missouri and ASU faced off was in 2007, when they split two games. Arizona State defeated MU 7-1 at Packard Stadium, before the Tigers picked up a 3-2 win over ASU in the Coca-Cola Classic in Surprise, Ariz.
IN THE POLLS
Missouri fell to No. 15 in this week's Baseball America Top 25, after being ranked No. 10 in the preseason poll. The Tigers fell out of the Collegiate Baseball poll and NCBWA poll.
JAMIESON TIED FOR SECOND PLACE ON MU'S ALL-TIME WINS LIST
With Missouri's win over Nevada last Friday, Head Coach Tim Jamieson moved into a tie for second on Mizzou's all-time wins list. Entering Tuesday's game with ASU, Jamieson is 481-332-2 in his 15th year as the Tigers' head coach. His 481 wins are tied with 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.
FOR OPENERS
Mizzou improved to 10-4-1 in season openers under Head Coach Tim Jamieson with its 12-1 win over Nevada last Friday at the Grand Canyon Classic in Phoenix, Ariz. The 11-run margin of victory tied the largest victory in a season opener for the Tigers during the Jamiesion era. In 1998, MU defeated Missouri Western, 15-0 and in 2003, the Tigers opened the season with a 12-1 win over UNC-Wilmington. Missouri has won its first game of the season in six of the last seven years and has won three-straight openers.
GIBSON, SENNE, COLEMAN NAMED PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS
Missouri juniors Kyle Gibson, Aaron Senne and Trevor Coleman have already collected honors for the 2009 season, as each earned Preseason All-American accolades. Gibson earned a spot on Baseball America's Preseason All-American first team and was a second team selection for the Louisville Slugger All-American, which is selected by Collegiate Baseball newspaper. Last season, Gibson had a record of 9-4, earning All-Big 12 honorable mention. Senne was named to the third team of the National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association Preseason All-America squad. An All-Big 12 first team selection in 2008, Senne led the team with a .347 batting average and added 13 home runs and 67 RBI. Coleman was named a Preseason Second Team All-American by Baseball America. Coleman was a Freshman All-American in 2007 and last year hit .295 for the Tigers. Both Gibson and Senne have been named to the watch list for the Brooks Wallace Player of the Year Award and Gibson's name appears on the Golden Spikes Award watch list.
MU 10TH IN BASEBALL AMERICA PRESEASON POLL
For the third time in the last four years, the Missouri Baseball team opened the season with a top-10 ranking. The Tigers were No. 10 in Baseball America's Preseason Rankings, which ties the second-highest preseason ranking in school history. Mizzou was ranked sixth by Baseball America prior to the 2008 season and was No. 10 in 2006. Texas A&M claimed the top spot in this season's preseason poll, followed by LSU and North Carolina. Five Big 12 teams were ranked in this year's Top-25, including four in the Top-10. Texas (fourth) and Baylor (eighth) joined Texas A&M and Missouri as Big 12 teams in the Top-10, with Oklahoma coming in 16th. The Big 12 Conference tied with the Southeastern Conference with five ranked teams. Missouri was ranked 20th in both the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association preseason poll and the USA Today/ESPN Coaches' preseason poll and is No. 22 in the Collegiate Baseball poll.
TIGERS PICKED FIFTH IN BIG 12 POLL
The Big 12 Conference baseball coaches picked Mizzou to finish fifth in the league, according to the 2009 Big 12 Preseason Poll. The Tigers received 51 points in the poll. Texas A&M was picked the win the conference, followed by Texas. Baylor and Oklahoma State tied for third in the voting. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team. Overall six of the Big 12's 10 teams are ranked nationally, including the Texas A&M (1), Texas (4), Baylor (8), Missouri (10), Oklahoma State (13) and Oklahoma (16).
GIBSON LEADS TEAM USA TO UNDEFEATED 2008 TOUR
Missouri pitcher Kyle Gibson picked up his team-best fifth win of the summer for Team USA as the USA Baseball National Team defeated Japan, 1-0, in the gold medal game of last summer's FISU World Championships at Mestsky Stadium. With the game scoreless, Team USA scored in the top of the 12th inning, making a winner of Gibson who had pitched a perfect 11th inning with one strikeout. It was Team USA's third consecutive FISU title. The U.S. squad completed its 2008 tour 24-0 and established a National Team record for lowest staff ERA at 0.88 (the previous mark of 1.29 was set in 2003). Team USA did not allow more than two earned runs in any game and tossed its sixth shutout of the summer in the FISU title game. Gibson finished 5-0 on the summer to lead the team in wins. He tied for the team lead with 13 appearances on the mound and had an ERA of 1.02. He struck out 25 batters in 17.2 innings pitched.
UP NEXT
This weekend, MU will play in the ASU DeMarini Invitational in Tempe as Arizona State, Oregon State and Northern Illinois join the Tigers in the tournament field. Missouri will open its home schedule on March 4 as Western Illinois visits Taylor Stadium for a 6:30 first pitch.
