Feb. 15, 2010
The following is the first part in a four-part series previewing the 2010 Mizzou Baseball season.
It will be a new look for the Missouri baseball team when it takes the field this Friday to open up the 2010 season. While familiar names such as Aaron Senne, Conner Mach and Nick Tepesch return, there are plenty of new faces joining the squad this spring.
Over the next few days, MUTigers.com will examine the 2010 team. But first, a look at the upcoming season's schedule.
The Tigers are scheduled to play 29 home games, 14 road contest and 12 neutral-site games. Thirty of MU's scheduled games are against teams that made the 2009 NCAA Tournament and Mizzou will face six teams for the first time in school history this year.
The new-look Tigers will get the 2010 campaign underway on this weekend when they travel to the Collegiate Cactus Classic in Tucson, Ariz. The season opener is against Gonzaga, with first pitch set for 2 p.m. CT. The Tigers will then face Washington and New Mexico State on Saturday and Gonzaga again on Sunday.
The following week, MU will take part in the Auburn Invitational in Auburn, Ala. (Feb. 26-28) before playing in the Minute Maid Classic in Houston, Texas (March 5-7).
The Minute Maid Classic is an annual tournament that always brings in a strong field and this will be the Tigers' first appearance in the event, which is played at Minute Maid Park, home of the Houston Astros.
After spending the first three weeks on the road, Missouri will open the home schedule on March 10 against Western Illinois. Starting with the matchup against WIU, the Tigers will play 15 of their next 18 games at Taylor Stadium. That includes series with Xavier (three games), North Dakota (four games) and Arkansas-Pine Bluff (two games).
The Big 12 Conference phase of the schedule gets underway on March 26, as Mizzou heads to College Station, Texas for a three-game series with Texas A&M. The following weekend, Baylor will be in Columbia to open the home portion of the league slate.
In addition to Baylor, Missouri will host Oklahoma State (April 16-18), Kansas State (April 23-25), Nebraska (May 14-16) and Texas (May 21-23) as part of the conference schedule.
The Tigers will have road conference series at Texas A&M (March 26-28), Oklahoma (April 9-11), Texas Tech (April 30-May 2) and Kansas (May 7-9).
The final two weekends of the regular season look to be key for the Tigers as they will host Nebraska and Texas in back-to-back series at Taylor Stadium to close out the regular season.
Once again, the Tigers will play games in both of the Major League Baseball stadiums in Missouri. Mizzou will face Illinois on April 7 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis and then take on Kansas in Kansas City's Kauffman Stadium on April 21.
The Big 12 Tournament will once again take place at Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City, Okla. with tournament action starting May 26.
Following that, the Tigers will look to make for eighth-straight trip to the NCAA Tournament. They are one of just 14 teams nationally that have advanced to the postseason in each of the last seven seasons and one of just two Big 12 teams that can make that claim.
While many things have changed for the Tigers, there is one thing they hope will remain constant. At season's end, Mizzou expects to be back in the NCAA Tournament, continuing the streak of postseason appearances.
2010 MUTigers.com Season Preview
Monday, Feb. 15 -- PART 1 - The 2010 Schedule
Tuesday, Feb. 16 -- PART 2 - The Infielders and Catchers
Wednesday, Feb. 17 -- PART 3 - The Outfielders
Thursday, Feb. 18 -- PART 4 - The Pitching Staff