May 17, 2011

Mizzou (23-28, 10-13 Big 12) at Nebraska (28-24, 7-16 Big 12)
• Date: May 19-21
• Location: Columbia, Mo.
• Stadium: Hawks Field Haymarket Park (8,500)
• Gametracker: MUTigers.com
• Television: CBS College Sports (Saturday Only)
• Radio: KTGR 1580 AM/100.5 FM
• Media Notes: Click Here

First Pitch - What You Need to Know
The Mizzou baseball team will look to clinch a spot at the Big 12 Tournament this weekend as it heads to Nebraska for a three-game series, beginning Thursday (May 19) at 6:35 p.m. at Haymarket Field. Mizzou and Nebraska will also play on Friday at 6:35 and Saturday at 3:05 p.m. Saturday's game will be televised live on CBS College Sports.

Series History • Mizzou leads the all-time series with Nebraska, 147-105-1, after sweeping the series from the Huskers last season in Columbia. In fact, Mizzou has swept the last three season series from Nebraska and has won 11 of the last 12 meetings heading into the weekend. The last time Mizzou met Nebraska in Lincoln, the Tigers swept the three-game set, outscoring the Huskers, 26-16, in 2009.

Four Straight Series • The Tigers are in search of their fifth-straight Big 12 series win this weekend after winning each of the last four weekend series, all against RPI top-50 teams. Mizzou has topped Baylor, Texas A&M, Kansas State and Texas Tech in that span and have climbed the league standings. In fact, Mizzou went into the Baylor series in last place but now sits just a half game back of fifth place in the Big 12. Mizzou has won eight of its past 12 conference games as well and has already matched its Big 12 win total from last year.

Cracking the Century Mark • Senior lefty Phil McCormick made his 100th and 101st career appearances against Texas Tech last weekend, becoming just the third Tiger in program history to eclipse the 100-game mark in a career. He is just seven back of the all-time school record (108) and is the first Tiger since Taylor Parker (2003-06) to break the century mark. Parker and Scott Black (1987-90) hold the school record for appearances in a career at 108.

Triple the Fun • Mizzou tallied three triples in its win over Texas Tech last Friday, becoming the first Tiger team to do so since February 28, 2005, against Murray State. Eric Garcia had two of the triples and Conner Mach had the other. Garcia is the first Tiger to hit two triples in the same game since Kurt Calvert did so on Feb. 29, 2008, against Cal. Since the Tigers' lineup change prior to the Baylor series, they have 34 extra-base hits in their last 12 league games and 43 in their last 15 overall games, nearly three per game.

Last Time Out
Mizzou took two of three games from Texas Tech to claim its fourth consecutive Big 12 series win as the Tigers have now won eight of their last 12 league games. The Tigers jumped all over Texas Tech on Friday, winning 11-1 behind a career-best start from sophomore Eric Anderson. The Tigers suffered a 6-4 setback on Saturday before walking off in the bottom of the ninth on a base hit by Conner Mach on Sunday, securing a 4-3 win and the series.

Four Straight Big 12 Series Wins
As stated earlier, Mizzou has now won four straight Big 12 series and will look to make it five in a row this weekend at Nebraska. Mizzou last won four straight Big 12 series in 2009 and the Tigers have not won five straight Big 12 series since 2007, the same year that the Tigers finished second in the league and were selected to host an NCAA Regional at Taylor Stadium. A series win this weekend will give Mizzou five straight for the first time since that season.

Climbing the Standings
The recent winning ways of the Tigers have led to a climb in the Big 12 standings. Following the Kansas series, the Tigers appeared to be out of the race at 2-9 in league play, ranking them last. Four weeks later, the Tigers sit in sixth place in the league standings, just a half game back of fifth place Baylor, who the Tigers defeated in a weekend series four weeks ago. A series win this weekend could put the Tigers in sole possession of fifth place in the league - which would be quite the accomplishment for a team that was 2-9 through the first 11 Big 12 games.

The Friday Night Guy
Last year at this time, starter Eric Anderson was missing out on action due to a torn labrum in his right shoulder. Nearly a year later, the Tiger righty has come back from the surgery and has provided stability to the Tiger weekend rotation, emerging as the Tigers' Friday night starter. He has been lights out over his last two starts and the Tigers have not lost a game in which he has started during Big 12 play, going 4-0 in those contests. He had a career-best outing against Texas Tech last weekend, throwing 93 pitches over 7.0 inning s- both career highs - while striking out six (also a career-best) and scattering just three Red Raider hits. Texas Tech came into the game as the league's No. 4-ranked offense as well, but Anderson was able to control the hitters all night. Anderson worked his way back into the weekend rotation prior to the Baylor series, and there is little argument that his presence on the mound has been a key reason to the Tigers' turnaround.

Offense Comes to Life
The biggest reason for Mizzou's turnaround in league play as of late has been its increased production at the plate. As a team, Mizzou hit just .237 in the first 11 league games, averaging just two runs per game. But over the last 12 league contests, Mizzou is scoring close to seven runs per game and is hitting .279 as a team. Mizzou has also seen an increase in extra-base hits (34 over the last 12 vs. 18 over the first 11). One of the biggest contributing factors to the Tigers' success at the plate as of late is their ability to hit with runners in scoring position. In fact, over the first 11 Big 12 games, Mizzou hit just .168 with runners in scoring position. Since then, over the last 12 league games, Mizzou is hitting .267 as a team in those spots. In fact, Mizzou has scored more than 10 runs in nine games this season, four of which have come in the last 13 games.

Mixing Things Up
A lot of the increased production at the plate is due to a lineup change made by head coach Tim Jamieson prior to the Tigers' series at Baylor. In that switch, Jamieson moved Conner Mach from third base to left field and hit the Tiger junior in the leadoff spot. He also moved Blake Brown to the fifth hole in the order and moved Eric Garcia from second base to first base. All 12 of the Tigers' most recent league games have been played with those players in those spots, and Mizzou is 8-4 in those games. The most telling stat about that lineup is that the Tigers are 9-4 in the 13 starts that Brown has made in the five-hole.

Pitching Staff Has A Good Week
Offensively, the Tigers have been clicking on all cylinders, but it was the Tiger pitching staff that stole the show last weekend against Texas Tech. In all, Mizzou gave up just eight earned runs in the three games, good for a staff ERA of 2.67. That 2.67 ERA is the Tigers' second-best weekend series ERA during Big 12 play, trailing only the 0.45 clip that the staff put together in the opening weekend of play against Oklahoma - which was a double-header played in sub 40-degree weather. The collective 2.67 ERA over the weekend is the Tiger pitching staff's best ERA in a three-game series this year and it came against the league's No. 4-ranked offense. Five pitchers that threw during the weekend had an ERA less than 3.00 and three Tigers - Eric Anderson, Kelly Fick and Zack Hardoin - had 0.00 ERAs.

Schmidt Keeps Hitting
Senior Jonah Schmidt, the Tiger designated hitter, is hitting .344 in Big 12 play, which has him ranked eighth in the league this season. Also, his .314 average in all games has him ranked 15th in the Big 12. He has 31 hits in Big 12 play, ranking him sixth in the league and he is eighth in total bases with 49 in league games. He was named Big 12 Player of the Week for the first time in his career after a monster weekend at Kansas State that saw him hit .500 with a slugging percentage of 1.083, a pair of home runs and three RBI.

A 1-2 Punch
The Tiger lineup has been much more potent due to Schmidt having some protection in the lineup lately and that has come in the form of Blake Brown. In league games, Brown is hitting .302 and is slugging .570, ranking him seventh in the Big 12. He has a team-best 19 RBI in league games as well, ranking him fourth in the Big 12. Not only that but he boasts an OBP of .408 in Big 12 play.

What Can Brown Do For You?
Brown has obviously been hot as of late, combining with Jonah Schmidt for a great 1-2 punch in the middle of the Tiger order, but he has also been very consistent at the plate all season. In fact, he ranks sixth in the Big 12 in stolen bases (18), sixth in walks (32), second in home runs during league play (five) and ranks just outside the league's top 10 in OBP at .404. Since the lineup change that dropped him to the five-hole, Brown is hitting .302 with three home runs, 13 RBI, 26 total bases and 10 runs scored. He also boasts an OBP of .412 and a slugging percentage of .605. Mizzou is also 9-4 with Brown in the five-hole this season.

Mach Leading Off
Tiger junior Conner Mach was one of the key components of the lineup change made before the Baylor series. He had spent much of the season playing third base and batting in the heart of the order, but since then he has moved to left field and is the Tigers' leadoff hitter. The move has paid off as he is hitting .328 with 13 RBI, a .574 slugging percentage and an OBP of .432. He has nearly as many runs in the last 15 games as he did in the first 36 and he has surpassed his amount of extra-base hits in that span as well. With Mach in the leadoff hole, Mizzou is 9-6 while the team was just 14-22 with him hitting in other spots of the lineup. Since moving to the leadoff spot, Mach leads the team in hits, runs, RBI, total bases and home runs.

Champagne's Hit Streak Ends Despite Great Weekend
Brannon Champagne saw his 10-game hit streak snapped after going 0-2 on Sunday against Texas Tech, but either way, the Tiger center fielder had a huge weekend against Texas Tech. In all, he led the team with a .429 batting average and reached base in nearly 70-percent of his at-bats, boasting an OBP of .692 after walking five times and being hit by a pitch. He also drove in five runs on the weekend. Four came on Friday night, including a bases-loaded double in that game. He also drew a pair of bases-loaded walks on the weekend to drive in a pair of runs. Mizzou is 9-4 in games in which Champagne has multiple hits in a game this season and is 10-4 when Champagne tallies at least one RBI, making him one of the keys to the Tiger offense.

Garcia Heating Up
Through his first nine games this season, Eric Garcia struggled at the plate, compiling just two hits while hitting .083. Since that point, Garcia has hit .308 and has hit in 29 of the 41 games in that span with Mizzou winning 14 of those contests. Since moving to first base prior to the Baylor series, Garcia is hitting .333 with a pair of home runs and a team-best 13 RBI and his numbers are even better since moving back to the three-hole over the last 13 games. In that span, he is hitting .358 with two home runs and 12 RBI and is slugging a team-best .585 with six extra-base hits and a team-high 31 total bases. He also owns an OBP of .424 in that span.

Less Runners Left on Base
Mizzou has seen an improvement offensively as of late, due in large part to its ability to hit with runners on base. In fact, over the Tigers' first 11 Big 12 games, they were hitting just .245 with runners on base, but they have seen that number rise to .293 over the last 12 conference games. In fact, Mizzou averaged nearly 10 runners left on base through the first 11 Big 12 games and is now stranding just over seven per game. Also, Mizzou hit just .168 with runners in scoring position through the first 11 league games and is now hitting .267 with runners in scoring position over the last 12 league games.

Walking Off
The Tigers' 4-3 walk-off win on Sunday against Texas Tech was their fourth of the season, and all four walk-off wins have come in Big 12 play. The first came vs. OU in the 11th inning on a walk-off single through the right side by Eric Garcia. The next was a walk-off single by Blake Brown in the middle game of the Kansas series. Mizzou also tallied a walk-off walk against Texas A&M in the opener of that three-game series. Mizzou leads the league with its four walk-off wins in Big 12 play this season.

Wins Over the Top 50
After taking a pair of games from Texas Tech this past weekend, Mizzou now has 10 wins over RPI top 50 teams this season and if you throw the Tigers' win over Gonzaga into the mix, they now have 11 wins over teams ranks in the nation's top 56 in the RPI. The Tigers have 23 wins on the season and nearly half of those have come against teams ranked among the nation's top 56 teams, quite an impressive feat for the Tigers. Mizzou is 11-6 in games against the RPI top 60 this season and eight of those 11 wins have also come in the last four series as well, making Mizzou one of the most dangerous teams in the league right now.

A Tough Schedule
Mizzou has also played one of the nation's toughest schedules this season, coming in at No. 20 nationally. In fact, only Baylor (13) and Texas A&M (18) have played tougher schedules based on RPI than the Tigers have this season. 11 of the Tigers' opponents this season have been ranked by at least one of the major four polls at least once this season. Mizzou has also held its own against top-10 teams this season, winning three of eight contests, with two wins coming against Big 12 front-runner Texas A&M.

Walk This Way
A pair of Tigers rank among the league's top five in bases on balls this season as Blake Brown is sixth with 32 walks while Eric Garcia is just behind him in seventh with 31. Mizzou and Texas Tech are the only two schools with two players ranked in the league's top seven this season. Garcia's 14 walks in league play rank him sixth as well. As a team, Mizzou has drawn 208 walks this season, which ranks it fourth in the Big 12. Texas Tech leads the league with 251.

Grand Theft Base
The Tigers moved to third in the Big 12 with 86 steals this season - a mark that has them ranked 16th nationally. Kansas State leads the league with 11 while Texas Tech ranks just ahead of the Tigers with 88. Individually Blake Brown leads the team with 18, ranking him sixth in the league.

Five other Tigers have been impressive on the base paths as well this season. Eric Garcia has 14 steals on 16 attempts this season, making him the most efficient base stealer on the team. Brannon Champagne has 12 steals while Conner Mach and Jesse Santo each have 10. Jonah Schmidt is also one shy of double-digits with nine, showing that the steals for Mizzou have been a true team approach this season. Mach matched the school record with four steals against Le Moyne earlier this season, the most steals by a Tiger since 1956.

Milestone for Mccormick
Senior lefty Phil McCormick pitched in two games over the weekend against Texas Tech, moving his career total to 101 pitching appearances, becoming just the third Tiger in program history to pitch in 100 games in career. He ranks third on Mizzou's all-time list, just seven back of the school record. Taylor Parker (2003-06) and Scott Black (1987-90) are tied for the school record with 108 career appearances.

In all, McCormick has been one of the nation's most reliable relievers over the past two seasons. Last year, the lefty pitched in 36 games, a new school record. With 31 appearances this season, he now has 67 over the past two seasons, the most over a two-year span in program history. In fact, 97 of his 101 total appearances have come over the past three seasons, making it the most productive three year span for a Tiger pitcher in program history.

McCormick Continues to Shine
McCormick has been the Tigers' most consistent arm this season and he has emerged as one of the top relievers in the entire Big 12 Conference this season. Not only is he reliable (he leads the league with 31 appearances this season), but he has shut down nearly every team that he has faced this season. In league play, McCormick ranks fifth in ERA at 2.61 and he also ranks ninth with his .230 opponent batting average. He leads the team in saves (six) and wins (six) as well. His six saves rank seventh in the Big 12 while his four wins in Big 12 play rank seventh in the league as well.

Stites is Tigers' Workhorse
After a bad start at Kansas State, junior righty Matt Stites got back on track last weekend against Texas Tech, allowing just two earned runs over 6.1 innings of work while striking out five last Saturday. He continues to have great numbers in his first year with the Tigers as he leads the team in innings pitched (81.1) while owning a 2.91 ERA in eight Big 12 starts. He also ranks eighth in the league in innings pitched during league play (52.2) and is seventh overall with 46 strikeouts during league play. He also owns a pair of wins in Big 12 play as well.

Players of the Week
A pair of Tigers have garnered Big 12 Player of the Week honors this season, all in the last four weeks as well. Junior Conner Mach was named Big 12 Player of the Week following the Baylor series in which he hit .545 while leading the team in RBI (five), total bases (10), slugging (.909), on-base percentage (.600) while posting six hits (two for extra bases) on the week. Senior designated hitter Jonah Schmidt then followed suit by earning the same honor after the Tigers' series at Kansas State. In those three games, Schmidt hit .500 while slugging 1.083 with an OBP of .571. He tallied a pair of homeruns and a double in the series while scoring a team-high five runs and driving in three more. Missouri joins Oklahoma, Texas Tech and Baylor as the only schools to have two different players honored as Big 12 Player of the Week this season.

Triple the Fun
Over the weekend, Mizzou did something that it had not done since February 28, 2005, and that was tally three triples in the same game. Two of the triples came off of the bat of Eric Garcia, both hot shots down the right field line. He became the first Tiger to hit two triples in the same game since Kurt Calvert did on February 29, 2008, against Cal. Conner Mach had the other triple in the game.

Forever Young
Over the past several weeks, the Tiger starting lineup has appeared to become more concrete and one thing is apparent when looking at that lineup - the Tigers are young. Mizzou has started as many as seven sophomores as position players this season and the Tigers' Friday starter is a true freshman. Seven sophomores have seen regular playing time this season and six are considered starters. Six of the Tigers' top eight hitters this season are sophomores and Mizzou starts just two senior position players this season - Jesse Santo and Jonah Schmidt. Mizzou has also started freshmen CJ Jarvis and Dillon Everett regularly this season.

Jamieson to Lead Team USA
Mizzou head coach Tim Jamieson will lead the 2011 Collegiate National Team, as announced by USA Baseball back in November. He will be joined by pitching coach Rob Walton (Oral Roberts) and assistant coaches Dave Van Horn (Arkansas) and Scott Stricklin (Kent State). Jamieson and Walton made their Team USA debuts together on the 2005 Collegiate National Team coaching staff, serving as an assistant coach and the pitching coach, respectively, for manager Steve Smith of Baylor. Van Horn and Stricklin will both be wearing the red, white and blue for the first time.

Tigers Have Strong Presence in Pros
Mizzou baseball has seen plenty of success over the last decade and proof of that is the number of players that the Tigers have sent to the major league. Since 2000, the Tigers have seen 48 players sign professional contracts and 57 Tigers have done so under the direction of Tim Jamieson. Some notable Tigers in the professional ranks include All-Star second baseman Ian Kinsler of the Texas Rangers and Max Scherzer of the Detroit Tigers. Kinsler has been one of the most underrated players in the MLB over the past several seasons and maybe had his best year in 2009, slugging 31 home runs while driving in 86 runs and swiping 31 bags, doing so in just 144 games. Scherzer went 12-11 last year with a 3.50 ERA and 184 strikeouts in 195.2 innings pitched. Those two along with the likes of Kyle Gibson and Aaron Crow should likely give Mizzou a presence in the major leagues for years to come.

On The Air
Once again this year, KTGR ESPN Radio is the radio home of the Tigers, with all of the game being broadcast on 100.5-FM and 1580-AM. The games can also be heard online at KTGR.com. Tex Little is in his 21st season of calling Tiger Baseball and is joined in the booth by Hunter Mense, who is in his first year as part of the MU broadcast team.

All-Access
Video webcast for all Missouri Baseball home games in 2011 is available at mutigers.com as part of Mizzou All-Access. All-Access is the Tiger fans home to live and archived games for Mizzou Athletics, along with coaches' shows, press conferences and much more. For more information, visit mutigers.com and click on the All-Access icon.

Up Next
With a few wins this weekend, the Tigers will likely qualify for the Big 12 Tournament for the ninth consecutive season. Action at the tournament begins on May 25 in Oklahoma City and will run all week. Mizzou can finish as high as fifth in the Big 12 with a few wins this weekend and could be seeded anywhere from fifth to eighth, depending on what happens this weekend. For all the latest on Mizzou baseball, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on twitter @MUTigerBaseball.