April 2, 2010
MIZZOU vs. BAYLOR
Date: April 2-4, 2010
First Pitch: 6 p.m. / 2 p.m. / 1 p.m.
Series History: Baylor leads 27-23-1
Last Year: Baylor took 2-of-3 in Waco
Stadium: Taylor Stadium
TV: FS Midwest/MetroSports (Saturday only)
Radio: KTGR 100.5-FM / 1580-AM
Live Audio: KTGR.com
Live Video: mutigers.tv
Live Gametracker: mutigers.com
FIRST PITCH
Mizzou will host Baylor in three games this weekend at Taylor Stadium in its first home conference series of the season ... The three-game set will begin at 6 p.m. on Friday, with game two at 2 p.m. on Saturday and the series finale at 1 p.m. on Sunday ... Saturday's game will be televised by the Mizzou Sports Network and can be seen on Fox Sports Midwest and MetroSports ... The Tigers enter the weekend with 14-9 record and are 1-2 in the Big 12 Conference ... After a five-game win streak, Missouri has lost three of its last five games ... Baylor is 13-9 overall and has a 1-3 conference mark ... Last year, Baylor took the three-game series between the two teams, winning two of the three games played in Waco, Texas.
LAST TIME OUT
Missouri split a two-game midweek series with Purdue at Taylor Stadium this past week. After taking a 22-14 win on Tuesday, the Tigers dropped Wednesday's contest 6-3. Senior Aaron Senne was 5-for-5 with a home run and two doubles in game one of the series. His first double was the 57th of his career and moved broke the school record for career doubles. Missouri hit five home runs in the contest, including getting two from freshman Eric Garcia. Garcia's first was a grand slam in the bottom of the first inning. He added a two-run shot in the third inning, giving him six RBI in the game. Junior Brett Nicholas drove in five with two hits and freshman Dane Opel was 3-for-4 with four RBI. Purdue scored five in the first inning, but the Tigers responded with five runs in their half of the first, then added four in the second, five in the third and six in the fifth. The scoring was not as easy to come by in Wednesday's game. Nicholas had three of MU's eight hits in game two. Junior Brad Buehler stuck out four in three innings pitched in relief, giving up just one run.
MIZZOU-BAYLOR SERIES HISTORY
Baylor leads the all-time series with the Tigers, 27-23-1. Last year, Missouri won game one of the three games played between the two teams at Baylor Ballpark in Waco, Texas before BU took the next two games. [See page 6 for more on last year's series] The last time Missouri and Baylor met in Columbia (2008), the Tigers swept the three-game series, getting shutouts in the first two games and outscoring the Bears 22-2 in the series.
SENNE CLIMBING SEVERAL LISTS IN MU RECORD BOOK
Aaron Senne had back-to-back two-double games last week and has set a new record for career doubles at Missouri. After doubling in consecutive at-bats last Sunday against Texas A&M to move into a tie for first with Ryan Fry (1995-98) on Mizzou's career doubles, Senne went 5-for-5 with a home run and two doubles against Purdue on Wednesday. He now has 58 doubles, putting him atop that list. Senne has 11 doubles on the year, which ranks second in the Big 12. His .427 average is second best in the conference. He leads the team with eight home runs on the year and has 34 home runs for his career, which puts him eighth all-time at Missouri. He is one away from moving into a tie with Ryan Stegall (1999-2001) and Dave Silvestri (1986-88) for sixth place. Senne is tied for fifth in school history with 181 RBI. He currently stands seventh with 245 career hits, which is 29 behind the career record holder Jayce Tingler (2000-03). Senne returned to Mizzou this season for his senior year, passing up a chance to join his hometown Minnesota Twins organization. A native of Rochester, Minn., he was drafted by Minnesota in last June's Major League Baseball Draft, but chose to return to Missouri. Senne hit his first home run of the season and drove in four against Washington on Feb. 20. At the Auburn Classic, Senne hit three home runs in a span of two games. He homered twice against Auburn on Feb. 27, finishing 3-for-5 with four RBI in the game. The next day, he homered against Boston College.
MU IS ONLY TEAM WITH THREE-STRAIGHT 16-BIG 12 CONFERENCE WIN SEASONS
Missouri is the only team in the Big 12 Conference that has won at least 16 conference games in each of the last three seasons. MU was 19-8 in 2007, then went 16-11 in both 2008 and 2009. The Tigers Big 12 record over the last three years is 51-30, which is second best in the Big 12 behind only Texas (53-27-1).
NICHOLAS ADAPTS QUICKLY TO MIZZOU
Junior Brett Nicholas had an eight-game hitting from March 7-19, hitting .522 during the streak with three home runs and 12 RBI. He has recorded a hit in 15 of the 22 games in which he's had an at-bat this year and he has nine multi-hit games. Nicholas has had at least two hits in each of the last four games, hitting .500 (9-for-18), with nine RBI over that stretch. On the year, Nicholas is hitting .367 with five home runs and a team-leading 30 RBI. Earlier in the year, he hit .444 with a slugging percentage of 1.444 in the three games against North Dakota. He had a home run in the series opener, then hit two homers in the first game of a Friday doubleheader. Nicholas hit .625 (5-for-8) in the Xavier series (March 12-14). He opened the series by going 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI in Friday's extra-inning victory, then drove in two runs on Saturday, finishing 1-for-2 with a single and a walk. On Sunday he was 1-for-2 and drew two walks.
23 GAMES, 23 LINEUPS
Head Coach Tim Jamieson has utilized a different lineup for all 23 games this season. Four different Tigers have been in the leadoff spot, although senior Michael Liberto has hit leadoff in the last seven games. The spot in the lineup with the least amount of change is third spot where only two players (Aaron Senne 16 times, Brett Nicholas seven times) have been slotted. The seventh spot has seen the most changes, as 10 different Tigers have hit in the seven hole.
NEWCOMERS MAKE A QUICK IMPACT
The roster for Missouri is loaded with new names in 2010. Through the first 31 games of the season, a total of 17 players have seen their first playing time for Missouri. Freshman Brannon Champagne, Dane Opel, Blake Brown, Kale Gaden and Eric Garcia have combined to make 66 starts and junior college transfer Brett Nicholas has started 22 of MU's 23 games on the year. Nicholas is the team's third leading hitter with a .367 average and leads the team with 30 RBI. Garcia is fourth on the squad with a 364 average. On the mound, freshman Eric Anderson has started five games for the Tigers. He is 1-1 on the season and is second on the squad with 20 strikeouts. Anderson picked up a win in his first collegiate start against Florida Atlantic on Feb. 28 when he struck out five and did not allow a run in five innings pitched. Junior Zack Hardoin, a transfer from Blinn College, has made 13 appearances, which is second on the team. He picked up the win on Feb. 20 against Washington with a scoreless inning of work in relief and started the first game of the March 19 doubleheader with North Dakota.
LIBERTO LEADS MIZZOU AT THE PLATE
Michael Liberto is one of just two seniors on the 2010 squad and both are hitting over .400. Liberto heads into the series with Baylor with a .402 average, which is sixth best in the Big 12. Liberto had a nine-game game hitting streak from March 14-23, hitting .412 with a double, a triple and seven RBI during the streak. He has had at least one hit in all but four games in which he has had an at-bat this season and has had multiple hits in 12 of the 23 games this season. Liberto opened up the year by hitting .692 at the Collegiate Cactus Classic in Tucson. He was 9-for-13 in the three games with a double, a triple and three RBI. Liberto matched his career best with four hits in a 4-for-5 performance against Gonzaga in the season opener, with a triple and two RBI.
TEPESCH LOOKS TO LEAD TIGER PITCHING STAFF
Nick Tepesch won six games last year, striking out 84 batters in 114.1 innings pitched. He picked up a win against Auburn on Feb. 27, his eighth career victory. He struck out five in 6.1 innings pitched against TCU on March 6, but took a no decision in a 10-inning win by TCU. Tepesch allowed three runs, two of which were earned, on six hits in the game. After allowing a single to open the game, Tepesch retired six of the next seven batters he faced, with the only base runner reaching on an error. In the fifth inning, TCU put one run on the board and had runners on second and third before Tepesch struck out the next two batters to end the inning. In his start against Xavier, he left following just one inning of work after he was hit by a batted ball in the top of the first inning. Tepesch returned against North Dakota on March 19 and struck out eight in six innings pitched. He did not allow a run and gave up just three hits to earn the win and move to 2-0 on the year. Last week, Tepesch turned in a season-long 7.1 innings pitched (two outs shy of his career long eight IP) against Texas A&M, striking out four.
JAMIESON STANDS SECOND ON MU'S ALL-TIME WINS LIST
Mizzou Head Coach Tim Jamieson stands in second place on Mizzou's all-time wins list with a career record of 529-365-2 in his 16th year as the Tigers' head coach. His 529 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. In 2008, the University of Missouri extended Jamieson's contract, keeping him in the MU dugout through at least the 2013 season. Jamieson and Baylor coach Steve Smith are now the longest tenured coaches in the Big 12 Conference, as each is in his 16th year as head coach of the respective programs. In addition, with the resignation of Mizzou Swimming Coach Brian Hoffer and the upcoming retirement of MU Track & Field Coach Rick McGuire, Jamieson will become the longest tenured head coach at the University of Missouri.
TIGERS ON TV
The Tigers are slated for three televised games this season beginning this Saturday. Game two of the series with Baylor will be televised by the Mizzou Sports Network and can be seen on FS Midwest and MetroSports. FSN will televise five Big 12 regular season games this season, with Mizzou selected for two of those five games. The MU-Oklahoma matchup on April 10 and the Tigers' home game against Kansas State on April 24 will be televised by FSN.
UP NEXT
Missouri will close out a six-game homestand next Tuesday against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville. First pitch for that contest is set for 6 p.m. at Taylor Stadium. On Wednesday, the Tigers will take on Illinois at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Next weekend, MU will be in Norman, Okla. for a three-game set with Oklahoma, beginning 6:30 on Friday.