Tigers Set for NCAA Regional
5/29/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 29, 2009
2009 NCAA REGIONAL
| Dates | May 29-June 1, 2009 |
| Location | Oxford, Miss. |
| Radio | KTGR 1580-AM |
| Live Audio | KTGR.com |
| Live Video | olemisssports.com (FREE!) |
| Gametracker | mutigers.com |
COMPLETE GAMENOTES
FIRST PITCH
For the seventh-consecutive season, the Missouri baseball team has been selected to the NCAA Tournament and will compete in the NCAA Regional in Oxford, Miss. this weekend. The Tigers are the No. 2 seed in the Oxford Regional, with host school Ole Miss earning the top spot. Mizzou will open against No. 3 seeded Western Kentucky at 3 p.m. on Friday, while Ole Miss will face the fourth-seed Monmouth at 7 p.m. on Friday. Mizzou is one of just 14 teams nationally that have advacned to the last seven NCAA Tournaments. The Tigers are 34-25 on the season and are coming off of a Big 12 Conference Tournament appearance in which they advanced to the Championship Game.
MIZZOU MAKES IT SEVEN-STRAIGHT NCAA TOURNAMENTS
Mizzou has advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the seventh-straight season, becoming one of just 14 schools in the nation to qualify for the postseason in each of the last seven years. Only two Big 12 schools (MU and Texas) can make that claim. Ole Miss has also made the tournament field in each of the last seven years.
SERIES HISTORIES
Of the three other teams in this week's Oxford Regional, MU has only faced one (Ole Miss) before. The Tigers are 5-4 against the Rebels, which includes two games at last year's NCAA Regional in Coral Gables, Fla. The teams split the two games last season, with Mizzou taking a 7-0 win in the first matchup, before Ole Miss ended the Tigers' season with a 9-6 victory. Missouri has never faced Western Kentucky or Monmouth.
VS. THE FIELD
This season, Missouri faced 11 teams (Texas, Oregon State, Texas A&M, Arizona State, Oklahoma State, Kansas, Gonzaga, Oklahoma, Kansas State, Baylor and Minnesota) that have advanced to the NCAA Tournament, playing a total of 29 games against those teams. The Tigers were 12-17 in those 29 games.
MU MAKES FIVE APPEARANCES IN BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIPS IN 08-09
Missouri's appearance in the Big 12 Championship Game on May 24 marked the fifth time this year in which a Mizzou team played in a Big 12 title game. MU became the first school to ever participate in the football, men's basketball and baseball Big 12 Championship games in a single academic year. The Tigers also advanced to the soccer and softball conference championships. Soccer, men's basketball and softball all won in their Big 12 Championship appearances.
MACH PUTS TOGETHER 16-GAME HIT STREAK
Senior Kyle Mach had a 16-game hitting streak from April 19-May 22. The streak was the longest of Mach's career and was the longest streak by a Tigers since James Boone had a 16-game streak in 2004. During the streak, Mach hit .469 with two home runs, seven doubles, a triple and 12 RBI. He had three hits in each of the two games against Cal State-Bakersfield. Mach had multi-hit games in each of the three games against Texas Tech, April 24-26, including a 4-for-6 performance in the opener. He had three hits in the series finale against Kansas. Mach led the Tigers with a .337 batting average in Big 12 games this season. Overall on the year, he is hitting .324, second best on the team, with four home runs and 39 RBI.
MIZZOU FINISHES STRONG IN THE BIG 12
Missouri won 10 of its final 12 Big 12 Conference games and finished with a 16-11 conference mark, which matches its league record from a year ago. The Tigers won seven-straight Big 12 games at one point, including sweeping back-to-back Big 12 series over Texas Tech (April 24-26) and Nebraska (May 1-3). In Mizzou's nine conference series this year, seven came against teams that were ranked at the time of the series. MU's late season push started as it took 2-for-3 against Kansas State on the road on April 17-19. Missouri then picked up its first three-game sweep of the season outscoring TTU, 42-14, in the three games. The following week 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 now swept each of the past two series against Nebraska. The Tigers closed their conference season by taking two-of-three against Kansas, which included a walk-off win in the series finale, as sophomore Ryan Ampleman hit his first career home run in the bottom of the ninth to give the Tigers a 13-12 victory.
GIBSON GOES THE DISTANCE, AGAIN, AND AGAIN, AND AGAIN...
Mizzou junior Kyle Gibson pitched a complete game in five of his nine Big 12 starts and has won his last six starts. His first complete game was a 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 against Nebraska, going eight innings and striking out eight. Gibson leads the Big 12 Conference and ranks third nationally with 123 strikeouts on the season. He is tied for fourth in the MU record books for strikeouts in a season and his 296 career strikeout are third most in Mizzou history. He also is tied for third with 27 career victories.
FOLGIA IS MISSOURI'S UTILITY MAN
Junior Greg Folgia earned his second Big 12 Player of the Week award on May 11 and was named the National Player of the Week, after he hit four home runs, drove in 10 runs and hit .550 in the Tigers' four games of the previous week. That included a .545 average in the three-game series against Kansas. The highlight of the week was a two-home run game in game one against KU. After a solo shot in the first inning, Folgia drove in three on an inside-the-park home run in the sixth inning. It was his second two-homer game of the year. Folgia had a career-long 10-game hitting streak snapped against Nebraska on May 1. During the streak, he is hit .442 with three home runs and 19 RBI. Folgia had an average of .429 in the Tigers' series against Texas Tech. In the opener of the TTU series, he drove in five runs. It was his second five-RBI game in a four-game span. Folgia was named the Big 12 Conference Player of the Week on April 20 after he hit .429 in the Tigers' five games of the previous week. That includes a .455 average in the three-game series against Kansas State, highlighted by a two-home run, five-RBI game in game two. A week earlier, he hit .400 in the series at Baylor. Folgia has a team-best .330 average on the year and leads the team with 12 home runs and 69 RBI. His 69 RBI are second most in the Big 12. Folgia has started in left field, center field and at first base for the Tigers this season and also has made 13 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.
TIGERS REACH 30-WIN MARK
The win by Mizzou in its series finale against Kansas marked its 30th victory of the season. This is the seventh-consecutive season in which the Tigers have reached the 30-win mark. Missouri has won at least 30 games in 13 of the 15 years under Head Coach Tim Jamieson.
BUEHLER MOVES INTO TOP 10 IN SEASON SAVES AT MU
Missouri sophomore Brad Buehler picked up a save against Oklahoma last week at the Big 12 Championship, giving him eight on the season. That places him in a tie for fourth for saves in a season in Mizzou history. The school record is 12, set by Ryan Stegall in 2000. His eight saves are tied for fifth most in the Big 12 this season. Buehler was named the Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Week on May 4, after appearing in all four of the Tigers' games between April 28-May 3. He 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 April 28, striking out one and recording his fourth save of the year. The Festus, Mo. hurler threw a scoreless ninth inning in the series opener against Nebraska with one strikeout. Buehler then pitched the Tigers out of two holes in game two 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. In the third game of the weekend, 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. On the season, Buehler has made 34 appearances and leads the team with an opponent's batting average of .237.
SENNE EYES CYCLE
On April 24, Mizzou junior Aaron Senne was just a single shy of hitting for the cycle. Senne was 3-for-6 with three RBI and two runs scored in the series opener against Texas Tech. Senne drove in the first run of the game on a double in the first inning. He led off the bottom of the fifth inning with his first home run of the year. Senne then delivered an RBI triple in the seventh inning. Senne hit .467 in the three-game series with TTU. Senne hit his second home run of the season on April 28 against Eastern Illinois. He is third on the team with a .294 average on the season with 36 RBI. Senne also leads the Big 12 with 45 walks on the season and has 15 doubles. Last season, he had a team-best .347 batting average and had 13 home runs and 67 RBI.
LOLLIS LEADS THE TIGERS AT THE PLATE
Senior Ryan Lollis has a .291 average and has 50 RBI heading into the NCAA Regional. Lollis drove in four runs in the final game against Kansas, with a single, a double and a triple. On April 26, he went 4-for-5 and drove in five runs, while scoring three times in the series finale against Texas Tech on April 26. 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 14 doubles and a five triples, which is second most in the Big 12. Lollis has four 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.
GRAY PROVIDES BIG WEEK FOR MIZZOU
Junior Steve Gray hit .556 (10-for-18) in a four-game stretch between April 28-May 3, as the Tigers went 4-0 against Eastern Illinois and Nebraska. Gray drove in nine runs, with a home run, a triple and two doubles on the week. The week started with Gray matching a career-high with four hits against Eastern Illinois on April 28. 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 ADDS JOHNNY WHOLESTAFF TO THE ROSTER
Missouri has utilized a pitcher-by-committee strategy in 18 games this season. In those 18 games, Mizzou is 12-6. Opposing batters are hitting just .261 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.
JAMIESON JOINS 500-WIN CLUB
Mizzou Head Coach Tim Jamieson picked up his 500th win on March 17 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 enters the week 514-352-2 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 514 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.
UP NEXT
The winners of the 16 NCAA Regional will advance to the Super Regionals next weekend. The winner of the Oxford Regional will meet the winner of the Irvine, Calif. Regional.
