DUgoutDUgout
Baseball

@MizzouBaseball Begins Homestand With SIU-Edwardsville

Mizzou Baseball will play seven of its next eight games at home within the friendly confines of Taylor Stadium, beginning Tuesday with a midweek game against SIU-Edwardsville at 6 p.m. on SEC Network+. Beau Baehman and Ryan Allen will be on the call. The game will also air on KTGR 1005. FM/1580 AM with Tex Little and Trevor Coleman on the call. Mizzou leads the all-time series with SIU-E, 20-10, heading into Tuesday's contest. Tim Jamieson is 2-2 all-time against SIU-E, having most recently defeated the Cougars last season, 9-4, on March 11. 26 of the all-time meetings between the two programs came when legendary Tiger coach Gene McArtor patrolled the dugout. He was 18-8 against the Cougars.Mizzou opened April in style, taking two of three games at #15 Arkansas, completing Mizzou's first road series win over a top-20 team since March of 2014. Mizzou scored 24 runs over the three games and slugged 16 extra-base hits (10 doubles, two triples and four homers) over the three games. Mizzou's bullpen was also tremendous in the three-game series, allowing just one earned run over 11.0 innings of work, registering a pair of saves and allowing just nine hits while striking out nine. Mizzou was also exceptional on defense, fielding at a .981 clip with just a pair of errors on the weekend. The bats, the bullpen and defense had hindered Mizzou through the first two weekends of SEC play, but Mizzou did all three things really well last weekend en-route to the series win. The series was Arkansas' first home series loss since March of 2015 when it lost to LSU.Staying on the topic of the bullpen, Mizzou's relievers have been exceptional since a Sunday game in which Vanderbilt scored 17 runs. In the four games since, Mizzou's bullpen has tossed 15.1 innings, allowing just two earned runs. The 'pen has allowed just 14 hits in that span and struck out 10 batters.Mizzou's bats have begun to wake up, notably a few hitters who had been uncharacteristically struggling before last week - C Brett Bond, 3B Shane Benes and OF Trey Harris. That trio was hitting a combined .221 following Mizzou's series with Vanderbilt, but the trio exploded in four games last week, batting .325 (13-for-40) with nine of those 13 hits going for extra bases (five doubles, three homers, one triple). The trio scored 10 runs and drove in 11 more while walking eight times. Junior OF Kirby McGuire returned to Mizzou's starting lineup in all three games against Arkansas after missing 20 games with a hurt hand. McGuire had three hits last weekend but all three were big hits. He doubled and scored to lead off the Friday game at Arkansas and then singled and scored to lead off the Saturday game. He then provided the nail in the Arkansas coffin on Sunday, launching a three-run, eighth inning homer on a 3-2 breaking ball to put Mizzou on top, 8-1. It was his first Division I homer. Add his contributions to Mizzou's lineup to what Benes, Bond and Harris did last week and head coach Tim Jamieson all of a sudden finds himself with a dynamic lineup. Mizzou as a team slugged 18 extra-base hits in four games last week (12 doubles, two triples, four homers), averaging 4.5 extra-base hits per game. In Mizzou's previous 26 games before last week, the lineup was averaging just 2.3 extra-base hits per contest.Head coach Tim Jamieson will get another impact arm back this week as freshman righty Grant Macciocchi will get the start on Tuesday against the Cougars. Macciocchi was penciled in as Mizzou's closer this season before a shoulder impingement slowed him at the beginning of the season. Macciocchi was a high school All-American with dynamic stuff and will continue to work his way back into Mizzou's bullpen following Tuesday's start. He will get the start and throw an inning Tuesday before RHP Ryan Lee takes over from there. SIU-E is throwing RHP Ryan Fritz (0-0, 45.00 ERA in three appearances).

OPPONENTLOCATIONDAY // TIMELIVE STATS
 SIU-EdwardsvilleTaylor StadiumTuesday, April 5 // 6 p.m.Stats

Game Notes

  • Mizzou Baseball will play seven of its next eight games at home within the friendly confines of Taylor Stadium, beginning Tuesday with a midweek game against SIU-Edwardsville at 6 p.m. on SEC Network+. Beau Baehman and Ryan Allen will be on the call. The game will also air on KTGR 1005. FM/1580 AM with Tex Little and Trevor Coleman on the call. 
  • Mizzou leads the all-time series with SIU-E, 20-10, heading into Tuesday's contest. Tim Jamieson is 2-2 all-time against SIU-E, having most recently defeated the Cougars last season, 9-4, on March 11. 26 of the all-time meetings between the two programs came when legendary Tiger coach Gene McArtor patrolled the dugout. He was 18-8 against the Cougars.
  • Mizzou opened April in style, taking two of three games at #15 Arkansas, completing Mizzou's first road series win over a top-20 team since March of 2014. Mizzou scored 24 runs over the three games and slugged 16 extra-base hits (10 doubles, two triples and four homers) over the three games. Mizzou's bullpen was also tremendous in the three-game series, allowing just one earned run over 11.0 innings of work, registering a pair of saves and allowing just nine hits while striking out nine. Mizzou was also exceptional on defense, fielding at a .981 clip with just a pair of errors on the weekend. The bats, the bullpen and defense had hindered Mizzou through the first two weekends of SEC play, but Mizzou did all three things really well last weekend en-route to the series win. The series was Arkansas' first home series loss since March of 2015 when it lost to LSU.
  • Staying on the topic of the bullpen, Mizzou's relievers have been exceptional since a Sunday game in which Vanderbilt scored 17 runs. In the four games since, Mizzou's bullpen has tossed 15.1 innings, allowing just two earned runs. The 'pen has allowed just 14 hits in that span and struck out 10 batters.
  • Mizzou's bats have begun to wake up, notably a few hitters who had been uncharacteristically struggling before last week - C Brett Bond, 3B Shane Benes and OF Trey Harris. That trio was hitting a combined .221 following Mizzou's series with Vanderbilt, but the trio exploded in four games last week, batting .325 (13-for-40) with nine of those 13 hits going for extra bases (five doubles, three homers, one triple). The trio scored 10 runs and drove in 11 more while walking eight times. 
  • Junior OF Kirby McGuire returned to Mizzou's starting lineup in all three games against Arkansas after missing 20 games with a hurt hand. McGuire had three hits last weekend but all three were big hits. He doubled and scored to lead off the Friday game at Arkansas and then singled and scored to lead off the Saturday game. He then provided the nail in the Arkansas coffin on Sunday, launching a three-run, eighth inning homer on a 3-2 breaking ball to put Mizzou on top, 8-1. It was his first Division I homer. Add his contributions to Mizzou's lineup to what Benes, Bond and Harris did last week and head coach Tim Jamieson all of a sudden finds himself with a dynamic lineup. 
  • Mizzou as a team slugged 18 extra-base hits in four games last week (12 doubles, two triples, four homers), averaging 4.5 extra-base hits per game. In Mizzou's previous 26 games before last week, the lineup was averaging just 2.3 extra-base hits per contest.
  • Head coach Tim Jamieson will get another impact arm back this week as freshman righty Grant Macciocchi will get the start on Tuesday against the Cougars. Macciocchi was penciled in as Mizzou's closer this season before a shoulder impingement slowed him at the beginning of the season. Macciocchi was a high school All-American with dynamic stuff and will continue to work his way back into Mizzou's bullpen following Tuesday's start. He will get the start and throw an inning Tuesday before RHP Ryan Lee takes over from there. SIU-E is throwing RHP Ryan Fritz (0-0, 45.00 ERA in three appearances). 

Up Next
Mizzou hosts SEC West foe Auburn for a Thursday-Saturday series from April 7-9 at Taylor Stadium. Thursday's game will air live on ESPNU while the Friday and Saturday games will be on SEC Network+. Tex Little and Trevor Coleman will have the call on KTGR. For all the latest on Mizzou Baseball, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Twitter @MizzouBaseball.