March 23, 2015
Leading Off - Notables About the Tigers
• Mizzou sits atop the SEC East standings at 5-1 and heads into this week with an 18-6 record. It is the program's best start through 24 games since the team opened the 2008 season at 20-4. Mizzou's 5-1 mark is its best to open SEC play since the program joined the league prior to the 2013 and it is Mizzou's best start in conference play since 2006 when the team also went 5-1. That team went on to win six of its first seven conference games.
• The Tigers are coming off of their first series win over a top-10 team since 2008 as they took two of three games from No. 6 South Carolina last weekend. The two wins are the first for a Tiger team over a top-10 team since 2013. Mizzou won 3-2 Friday night behind another strong start from junior righty Reggie McClain. On Saturday, Mizzou battled from behind twice, including a two-run rally in the 10th inning capped by freshman Trey Harris' walk-off single. Mizzou then dropped the series finale, 7-5, scoring its five runs on just three hits.
• Mizzou is second in the SEC in ERA heading into the week and leads the SEC in opponent batting (.199), runs allowed (154), walks allowed (54), doubles allowed (15) and extra-base hits allowed (32). Mizzou also leads the SEC in fielding (.982).
• Despite hitting an SEC-low .245, Mizzou has received clutch hitting all year, hitting .294 with RISP.
SERIES NOTES
• Mizzou leads the all-time series with UAPB, 2-0, as the Tigers have never lost to the Lions.
• The last meeting between the two teams came in 2010 with Mizzou outscoing the Lions, 37-2, over the two games. Mizzou won 9-0 in game one of that series and 28-2 the following day.
• Current bullpen coach Jeff Emens pitched in the 9-0 win, tossing a shutout ninth inning. That was part of back-to-back shutouts by the Tigers that week in 2010.
RECAPPING LAST WEEKEND
The Tigers are fresh off of their first series win over a top-10 team since 2008 after taking two of three from No. 6 South Carolina at Taylor Stadium last weekend. Junior righty Reggie McClain tossed 8.1 innings, scattering just five hits while allowing two earned runs with three strikeouts and a walk, earning his fourth win of the season in a 3-2 Friday night win. He lowered his opponent batting average to .189 and continues to lead the SEC in innings pitched at 46.2. At one point, McClain retired 12 consecutive Gamecock batters. Junior closer Breckin Williams relieved McClain in the ninth and was lights-out, picking up his team-leading sixth save, getting the game's final two outs with a Gamecock in scoring position. That was Mizzou's first win over a top-10 team since 2013. Mizzou then came from behind twice, including a two-run rally in the 10th inning capped by freshman Trey Harris' walk-off single, to defeat No. 6 South Carolina, 4-3, on Saturday afternoon (March 21) at Taylor Stadium. The win was Mizzou's seventh one-run win, fourth walk-off win and the Tigers improved to 5-0 when tied after eight innings this season. It is the first time since March 27-29 at Auburn last season that Mizzou has won a series over a ranked opponent. It was Mizzou's first series win over a top-10 team since May 16, 2008, when Mizzou swept fifth-ranked Nebraska.Mizzou rode the pitching of freshman Tanner Houck, who was downright filthy outside of a four-hit, two-run second inning. He retired the final eight batters he saw, striking out the side in the eighth, keeping the Tigers in the game late ... Houck finished the game tossing a career-high 8.0 innings, walking none and striking out eight while scattering just eight hits. Mizzou dropped the series finale, 7-5, staying in the game despite just three hits.
BEST START SINCE 2008
Mizzou, at 18-6, is off to its best start to a season through 24 games since 2008 when the team opened the year 20-4 overall. Looking further into the Tigers' record, at 5-1 in SEC play, Mizzou has won five of its first six conference games for the first time since 2006. The 5-1 mark in SEC play is the best start for the Tigers since joining the SEC. In fact, Mizzou is already just one win shy of matching 2014's SEC win total.
ROAD WARRIORS
With a big showdown between ranked teams looming this weekend in College Station, it is worth noting how good Mizzou has been away from home in 2015. In fact, Mizzou is 13-1 away from Taylor Stadium this season and just 5-5 in home games. However, Mizzou has won five of its last seven home games.
MCCLAIN PITCHER OF THE WEEK, AGAIN
Mizzou junior righty Reggie McClain was named Co-SEC Pitcher of the Week, as announced by the league office on Monday. McClain tossed 8.1 innings of five-hit baseball in a 3-2 win over No. 6 South Carolina last Friday night, helping Mizzou secure its first series win over a top-10 team since 2008. It is the third time this season that McClain has been named SEC Pitcher of the Week.
McClain is the only SEC pitcher this season to earn SEC Pitcher of the Week three times. McClain is the first SEC pitcher to earn the honor three times in a single season since both LSU's Aaron Nola and Mississippi State's Ross Mitchell did so in 2014.
McClain tossed 8.1 innings of two-run baseball against the sixth-ranked Gamecock on Friday, scattering just five hits with three strikeouts and zero walks. At one point in the start, he retired 12 consecutive batters and retired 12 of the final 14 batters that he faced with just a single and an error reaching base in that span.
McCLAIN, HOUCK A GOOD 1-2 PUNCH
Heading into the week, Mizzou boasts one of the best 1-2 starting pitching combos in the nation with Reggie McClain and Tanner Houck. The two ranked 1-2 in the SEC in innings pitched (46.2 and 41.2, respectively) and have eaten a ton of innings. In SEC play, the pair has combined to throw 32.2 innings, allowing just 24 hits, three walks and four extra-base hits while striking out 26 batters. In SEC play, McClain is limiting batters to just .180 hitting. The two have also walked just 10 in 88.1 combined innings. Below is a look at some notable SEC ranks for the two.
McClain
#149; 1st - IP (46.2)
#149; 6th - W (4)
#149; 8th - ERA (1.74)
#149; 8th - Ks (40)
#149; 9th - Opp BA (.189)
#149; 9th - BB allowed (7)
Houck
#149; 2nd - IP (41.2)
#149; 2nd - BB allowed (3)
#149; 4th - 2B allowed (2)
#149; 10th - Ks (37)
HOUCK DRAWING COMPARISONS
Freshman righty Tanner Hocuk - with his 2.93 ERA in SEC play - is beginning to turn heads around the country, being billed as one of the top freshman pitchers in the nation. He is also drawing comparisons to former Tiger greats Max Scherzer, Aaron Crow and Kyle Gibson, all of whom were first round draft picks. But at 3-1 with a 3.02 ERA, Houck may be ahead of where all three of those pitchers were during their freshman seasons at Mizzou. Below is a look.
2015: Tanner Houck: 3-1 | 3.02 ERA | 41.2 IP | 36 H | 14-14 E-ER | 3 BB | 37 Ks
2007: Kyle Gibson: 8-3 | 4.12 ERA | 67.2 IP | 62 H | 34-31 E-ER | 19 BB | 77 Ks
2006: Aaron Crow: 1-4 | 4.06 ERA | 77.2 IP | 94 H | 44-35 E-ER | 20 BB | 60 Ks
2004: Max Scherzer: 0-1 | 5.85 ERA | 20.0 IP | 19 H | 17-13 E-ER | 16 BB | 23 Ks
Looking at the number at this point of Houck's season, he has the best of the bunch. Considering all four of those others guys were first round draft picks and all-time Mizzou greats, Houck's future appears to be very bright.
NOTHING ERRONEOUS ABOUT DEFENSE
While the Tiger pitching has been sensational this season, it may be easy to overlook the Tiger defense, which has been equally as impressive. In fact, Mizzou has committed an SEC-low 17 errors and is fielding an SEC-best .982. Six of the 17 errors have come from pitchers or catchers. The core Tiger infielders (Zach Lavy, Brett Peel, Ryan Howard and Josh Lester) have combined to commit only 10 errors on 506 chances.
As a team, Mizzou is 8-1 this season when not committing an error and is 9-4 when committing one. That means that Mizzou has committed one or fewer errors in 22 of 24 games this season. Mizzou had just 13 games all of last season in which it committed zero errors a season ago.
HARRIS HAS THE CLUTCH GENE
In six SEC games, there have been few Tigers who have been more impactful at the dish than freshman Trey Harris. He is leading the team in batting in SEC games at .417 and has a team-high 10 RBI in the Tigers' six league games. He had a huge, three-run, go-ahead homer in the game one win at Georgia and had another huge, go-ahead two-run single in last Friday night's win over No. 6 South Carolina. He then ripped a walk-off, RBI single in game two against the Gamecocks. He has been clutch as seven of his 10 RBI have either tied or given Mizzou the lead in SEC games this season. He is hitting a team-best .438 with runners in scoring position this season.
SPEAKING OF HITTING WITH RISP
Looking at the Mizzou offense, the numbers will not jump out at you as the Tigers rank last in the SEC in batting. But despite that .245 clip, Mizzou has been great in clutch situations this season, hitting .294 as a team with runners in scoring position. That is nearly 50 points higher than their season average. Six of the regular Tiger starters (Harris, Howard, Lavy, Lester, Peel and Ring) are all hitting .300 or better with runners in scoring position this season.
PEEL STEALS
Senior Brett Peel is second in the SEC with his 14 stolen bases this season, trailing only Mississippi State's Jacob Robson (15). Peel is also 10th in the SEC in walks drawn (17) and has reached base safely in 21 consecutive games. He is just 11 games shy of matching the school record in that category (32 by Aaron Senne and Brannon Champagne).
WINS IN PERSPECTIVE
While Mizzou's 18 overall wins and five SEC wins are nothing too impressive at this point of the season, one must remember the perspective needed to make those numbers impressive. Mizzou has averaged just 19 wins per season since joining the SEC and the Tigers are now just one win shy of matching that mark and just two wins shy of matching last year's win total. Additionally, Mizzou won just six SEC games a season ago as the five wins this year are just one shy of Mizzou's SEC win total in 2014. Despite the tough transition to the nation's premier baseball conference, Tim Jamieson's Tigers appear to be trending in the right way.
PITCHING IS STILL THE STORY
As much as the Tigers have benefited from timely hitting and good defense early this season, pitching has been the story. Below are a few talking points:
#149; Mizzou is second in the SEC in ERA after six weeks of play at 2.22
#149; Mizzou also leads the SEC In opponent batting, extra-base hits allowed, runs allowed and walks allowed.
#149; Mizzou is second in the SEC in hits allowed.
#149; Mizzou has allowed three or fewer runs in 18 of 24 games this season and has allowed one or fewer in nine games, including five shutouts.
#149; The three Tiger weekend starters have allowed just 30 earned runs in 123.0 innings pitched, good fora 2.20 ERA.
#149; Mizzou has a staff WHIP of 1.09 heading into week six. That is the third-best mark nationally.
#149; Mizzou also ranks second nationally in shutouts, hits per nine and sixth in ERA and fielding.
MIZZOU HAS TWO AMONG TOP 10 IN ERA
Junior righties Peter Fairbanks and Reggie McClain each rank in the SEC's top 10 in ERA. McClain is eighth with his 1.74 mark while Fairbanks is just below him in ninth at 1.82. Mizzou and Vanderbilt are the only two teams with two individuals ranked in the top 10.
WINNING CLOSE GAMES
Mizzou has also won its fair share of close games, winning seven one-run games already this season. Mizzou won five of those variety all year in 2014. Mizzou is also 5-0 when tied after eight innings this season after going 1-7 in such games a season ago. Most recently, Mizzou was pushed to a 2-2 tie after eight in game two vs. South Carolina and Mizzou rallied for two runs in the bottom of the 10th to overcome a 3-2 deficit for its fourth walk-off win of the season.
BECAUSE THREE IS BETTER THAN ONE
Mizzou did something that may have never been done in school history last Sunday against Purdue. With the bases loaded and no outs in the bottom of the sixth and with the Tigers trying to preserve a 1-0 lead, Andrew Schwaab got a ground ball to third to start a 5-2-3-2 triple play. While it may have been done before at Mizzou, it is the first documented triple play in the record books. It turned out to be the play of the game as Mizzou held on to win, 1-0, behind a one- hitter from the pitching staff.
RECRUITNG CLASS IS GOOD
The 2014 Mizzou baseball freshman class earned a pair of top-25 national rankings as Baseball America tabbed the class 12th nationally while Perfect Game slotted the Tigers at No. 22. Mizzou now ranks in the top 31 in all of the major recruiting rankings after being ranked No. 31 by Collegiate Baseball with an average rank of No. 22 nationally. The No. 12 ranking in Baseball America is the best for the Tigers since 2007, when the team checked in at No. 11.
In the Baseball America rankings, the Tigers check in at 12th nationally and fifth in the Southeastern Conference. The 14-player class has two players - Bryce Montes De Oca (72) and Shane Benes (400) - that ranked among the top 400 recruits according to the publication. Montes De Oca was the third-highest ranked prospect to enter Division I this season. Baseball America described the class as `a frontline SEC-caliber class' and the publication goes on to tout the the pitchers in the 2014 class as all very projectable at the next level. In the Perfect Game rankings, Mizzou checks in at No. 22 nationally and ninth in the SEC.
NEW COACHES
Mizzou head baseball coach Tim Jamieson announced that Mizzou graduate and former Tiger All-American Hunter Mense has been promoted and will serve as the program's full time hitting coach. Mense, one of the brightest young minds in college baseball, had a very successful playing career both collegiately and at the next level. He has served as an undergraduate and graduate assistant over the last four seasons while completing his undergraduate degree and working towards his Master's degree in Counseling Psychology with an emphasis in sport psychology at Mizzou.
During his last four years with Mizzou baseball, Mense established a great rapport with the Tiger hitters and also used his schooling in the field of sport psychology to work as a positive coach, assisting in the mental side of the Tigers' approach. With a pair of degrees and an All-America honor, Mense is a truly Mizzou Made addition to the Tiger coaching staff.
Coach Jamieson will now handle the pitchers, a role that has been a specialty for the Tiger skipper, who has mentored the likes of American League Cy Young winner Max Scherzer and other current Major Leaguers Aaron Crow (Royals), Kyle Gibson (Twins), Nick Tepesch (Rangers) and Matt Stites (Diamondbacks). Scherzer, Crow and Gibson were all first-round draft picks under Jamieson's tutelage. Crow was an All-Star pick for the Royals and Gibson was been one of the best pitchers for the Twins last season.
Additionally, former Tiger catcher Trevor Coleman has returned to Mizzou to serve as a graduate assistant manager. He was a freshman All-American and Big 12 Freshman of the Year during his playing days with the Tigers and will work with the Tiger hitters and catchers.
A LOOK AT THIS YEAR'S COMPETITION
Mizzou has put together a very competitive schedule in 2014. Most of that is due to the Tigers' SEC slate, which should bring plenty of excitement to Taylor Stadium. In fact, Mizzou plays 19 games, including six weekend series against teams that qualified for NCAA Regional action a season ago. Mizzou will also play weekend series against College World Series qualifiers Vanderbilt and Ole Miss. Of course, Vanderbilt won the NCAA Championship a season ago.
Looking deeper into the schedule, Mizzou is 150-136 all-time against this year's scheduled opponents.
LESTER, BONE WIN SUMMER LEAGUES
Two Mizzou baseball players - Josh Lester and Logan Bone - won championships with their respective Summer League teams last summer. Lester and the Y-D Red Sox won the Cape Cod League, which is often recognized as the top summer ball league on Aug. 15. Bone and the Quincy Gems also won the 2014 Prospect League Championship on Aug. 13.
Starting in the Cape, Lester hit .280 over eight games in the playoffs, notching a double, five runs and an RBI. He helped the Red Sox to a 10-4 win over Falmouth in game two of the championship series, completing the sweep. Lester hit .279 in 40 regular season games as well, notching four doubles while driving in 14 and scoring 16 runs. He also was second on the team with 15 walks.
Moving to the Prospects League, Bone played in 33 games from the Gems and hit .239 with a pair of doubles and a homer while scoring 13 runs and driving in 13 more. He had three runs and an RBI in the playoffs while playing in all six games.
Ks FOR K9s
The Mizzou baseball team has partnered with the Puppies With Purpose program for the 2015 season in an effort to help raise money for Columbia service dogs. The initiative, dubbed "K's for K9's," will allow fans to pledge a donation amount to be paid per strikeout during the 2015 season.
"I'm a dog lover," head coach Tim Jamieson said. "I've read more and more about dogs and actually researched whether or not there were places in Missouri that train dogs for this purpose and ironically find out that there's one in Columbia and one on Mizzou's campus. So it seemed like it was a really good fit and I introduced it to our players and they are really excited about it."
DETTMER INDUCTED INTO MIZZOU HOF
Former Mizzou standout John Dettmer will be inducted into the Mizzou Athletics Hall of Fame this year. Mizzou's all-time career strikeout leader who was durable in addition to his flame-throwing achievements for hall of fame Coach Gene McArtor...Won honorable mention All-American honors in 1991 when he turned in one of the top individual pitching seasons in MU history... Won nine games that year, and struck out 127 batters in 120.0 innings while leading the team with a 2.63 earned run average in a time where bats were very lively... Finished his Tiger career with 374 strikeouts, which stands still as the most in program history, while his 332.0 career innings pitched ranks second to this day, and his 23 career wins are also eighth-most... Won All-Big Eight first-team honors in 1990, 1991 and 1992, as he led the Tigers in strikeouts each year, with 99, 127 and 123, respectively... Turned in 15 complete games during his career as he was a durable and dependable presence on the mound... Went on to become an 11th-round draft pick in the 1992 Major League Baseball Draft by the Texas Rangers, and eventually pitched in 12 games in the Majors.
LLWS CONNECTION
For most little league players, the Little League World Series is the pinnacle. No Mizzou player knows that better than junior Josh Lester. Lester's team won the Little League World Series in 2006. He was even interviewed by Erin Andrews after winning the whole thing. His team kept that core group of players intact and went on to win three Georgia State Championships in high school.
TV SLATE
Mizzou baseball will be televised nine times through the Southeastern Conference and ESPN's television package this season, including three contests at Taylor Stadium. The television slate was announced Tuesday (Jan. 20) by the SEC league office. The nine games are more than double the amount of Mizzou games that were slated for national television last season. In all, the Tigers' nine TV games will all air on SEC Network with 38 additional SEC Network+ games on the schedule. All nine Mizzou games featured on the SEC Network will be against preseason top-25 competition.
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 103.1-FM, 100.5-FM and 1580-AM. The games can also be heard online at KTGR.com. Tex Little is in his 25th season of calling Tiger Baseball and is joined in the booth by SID Shawn Davis for road games and Sean Hamel for home games.
FRANCIS HOWELL CONNECTION
This year, the Mizzou baseball roster features three players that have played together for quite sometime. Case Munson, Jake Ivory and Brett Peel all played high school ball for Francis Howell in St. Charles, Mo., winning a state championship together during their senior season.
NEW FACILITY FOR TIGERS
As the Mizzou baseball program continues its transition into the SEC, the Mizzou Department of Athletics made a major commitment to the program by spending $4 million on a new facility, including a new locker room, coaches offices and improved seating at Taylor Stadium. The new facility is one of the best baseball facilities in the nation and will give players all they need to succeed on site. A state-of-the-art lockerroom, modeled after many big league lockerrooms, along with a team room, an auditorium and training room have been added on site at Taylor Stadium. Also, increased bleachers have been added down the LF line and the old bucket seats have been replaced with new seat-back stadium seats in order to help with the comfort of fans. It officially opened to the public last May in a grand opening ceremony.
UP NEXT
Mizzou will head to College Station for a battle between ranked teams as the SEC East-leading Tigers take on the SEC West-leading Aggies in a three-game series this weekend. For all the latest on Mizzou baseball, stay tuned to MUTiger.com and follow the team on twitter @MizzouBaseball.
