Friday, March 17
Tuscaloosa, Ala.
6:30 PM
University of Missouri
at
Alabama
@MizzouBaseball Heads to Alabama for SEC Opener
3/15/2017 11:13:00 PM | Baseball
Tigers put 16-game winning streak on the line against the Tide
| Nation's Longest Win Streak On the Line in SEC Opener | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OPPONENT | LOCATION | DAY | TIME | Listen | Stats | Watch |
| at Alabama | Sewell-Thomas Stadium | Friday, March 17 | 6:30 p.m. | KTGR | Stats | SEC Network+ |
| at Alabama | Sewell-Thomas Stadium | Saturday, March 18 | 1:00 p.m. | KTGR | Stats | SEC Network |
| at Alabama | Sewell-Thomas Stadium | Sunday, March 19 | 12:00 p.m. | KTGR | Stats | SEC Network |
Game Notes | Season Tickets | Single Game Tickets | Break Time Lounge
- No. 23 Mizzou Baseball, riding the nation's longest winning streak at 16, opens SEC play this weekend with a three-game series at Alabama in the newly renovated Sewell-Thomas Stadium. Friday's game will be a part of SEC Network's Bases Loaded coverage while the Saturday and Sunday games will air live on SEC Network. Dave Neal and Lance Cormier will have the call Friday while Chris Burke joins Neal for Saturday and Sunday's games.
- Mizzou, which is ranked in the national top-25 for the first time since May 4, 2015, is riding the nation's longest active win streak at 16 games, tied with No. 1 Louisville. After dropping the first game of the season, Mizzou has used hot bats, solid bullpen work and great starting pitching to 16 consecutive wins. At 16-1 on the year, Mizzou is off to its best start in program history under first-year head coach Steve Bieser, who is off to the best start of any first-year coach in program history. In fact, Bieser already has the fourth-most wins of any first-year Mizzou head coach.
- Mizzou is 15 games over .500 for the first time since it closed the 2008 season with a 39-16 overall record.
- Mizzou is 11-9 in conference openers since joining the Big 12 in 1997. Mizzou is 2-2 in SEC openers since joining the league for the 2013 season. Mizzou lost its SEC opener at No. 1 Florida, 4-3, last year but had won two straight SEC openers before that. Mizzou topped Georgia, 5-1, in 2015 and Tennessee, 5-2, in 2014. Mizzou lost to South Carolina, 4-1, in the 2013 opener. This weekend will be Mizzou's third consecutive SEC opener to be played on the road. Mizzou is 3-3 in the previous two SEC openers on the road (3-0 sweep at Georgia in 2015 and swept last year at Florida).
- Mizzou is reaping the benefits of its 16-1 start and national-best 16-game winning streak this week. First, Mizzou checked in at No. 23 in the College Baseball Newspaper Top-30 and No. 25 in the coaches poll, its first in-season top-25 ranking since May 4, 2015, on Monday.
- Junior INF Robbie Glendinning was named SEC Co-Player of the Week on Monday as well. This is the first weekly conference honor for Mizzou Baseball this season Glendinning's first career SEC honor. The Australia native notched a pair of walk-off singles and hit a team-high .476. He hit a walk-off, 10th-inning single in a 7-6 win over a quality Western Carolina team Wednesday. He then tallied a ninth-inning, bases-loaded single to walk-off in Sunday's win over Appalachian State, completing the sweep. In five games last week, Glendinning hit .476 with five runs, four RBI, two doubles, a triple and a homer while walking three times. On the best offensive team in the SEC, Glendinning has emerged as the top offensive weapon for first-year head coach Steve Bieser.
- Mizzou is coming off of a 7-6, 13-inning win over Chicago State Wednesday night. Mizzou led much of the game before Chicago State tied the game in the top of the eighth inning. Mizzou left 18 men on base as it failed to get the clutch hit many times. It looked like that would haunt them as Chicago State hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the 11th. But Connor Brumfield hit a two-out, two-run double to tie the game at 6-6 in the bottom of the 11th. Mizzou loaded the bases in the 13th and Brumfield lifted a fly ball to left field which was dropped, allowing the winning run to score. The play was reviewed, but the call was upheld to seal the win.
- Mizzou stole nine bases Wednesday, the most by a Mizzou team since May 19, 1956, vs. Nebraska when it stole a school record 10. Mizzou also walked 14 times.
Pitching Matchups
-
Friday:
RHP Tanner Houck (2-1. 2.92 ERA) vs. Jake Walters (3-1, 2.31 ERA) -
Saturday:
LHP Michael Plassmeyer (3-0, 2.35 ERA) vs. RHP Nick Eicholtz (1-10, 5.14 ERA) -
Sunday:
RHP Andy Toelken (1-0, 3.05 ERA) vs. TBA
Series History
- Mizzou and Alabama have met seven times, all since Mizzou joined the SEC for the 2013 season. In all, Alabama has won four of the seven meetings. During Mizzou's inaugural year in the SEC, the Tigers traveled to Alabama for a three-game set with the Tide. The two teams played three close games, but Alabama won two of three after winning on Friday and Sunday. Mizzou dropped a wild Friday opener after Alabama tallied seven runs in the seventh inning. Mizzou rebounded to score five in the eighth and two in the ninth but ultimately fell, 9-7. Mizzou won game two, 7-3, as Mizzou's 1-4 hitters went a combined 9-for-14 with four runs and four RBI in the win. Keaton Steele, who is currently pitching in the Twins organization, went 3-for-4 with three RBI and pitched the final 4.1 innings to earn the win. Current Chicago Cub Rob Zastryzny started the finale and pitched Mizzou to a 6-4 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth as Alabama walked it off in the finale.
- The two teams met again in 2015, playing four games with a three-game series and a single game during the SEC Tournament. Reggie McClain tossed 3.2 innings, allowing just one earned run in the opener as Mizzou won, 4-3. Alabama defeated Mizzou, 6-0, scoring two runs on five hits over 7.0 innings from current Mizzou junior Tanner Houck. Mizzou's bullpen stumbled in that game, allowing four runs over the final two innings as Alabama pulled away. Mizzou rebounded to hit four homers in the Sunday finale as the Tigers claimed the series with a 5-3 win. Alabama again defeated Houck in the SEC Tournament, tagging him for four earned runs over 8.0 innings in the SEC Tournament, ending Mizzou's season and likely keeping the Tigers out of an NCAA Regional with that in that year.
We're Going Up Through The Quad To The Gynasium
- After winning 16 consecutive games, Mizzou is streaked through its nonconference schedule. With its win streak currently at 16 games, Mizzou is chasing some of the longest win streaks in program history. The current 16-game mark matches the longest by a Tiger team since 1981 when they also won 16 in a row. Below is a breakdown of the longest win streaks in school history:
| Consecutive Wins | Years Accomplished |
| 19 | 1964 |
| 16 | 2017, 1981, 1917 |
- There has been only one win streak in Mizzou's history longer than the current 16-game streak. The school record for longest winning streak was set by the 1964 team which finished as the College World Series National Runner-Up that year. Mizzou would need to win the final win all three games of the SEC-opening series at Alabama to reach that streak.
- What makes Mizzou's 16-game winning streak even more impressive is that it has been winning games in a variety of different ways, including finding a way to win close games. Of the 16 wins, nine of the games have been decided by two or fewer runs, including seven one-run wins and four walk-off wins, including Wednesday's 7-6 win over Chicago State in which Mizzou walked it off on an error in the bottom of the 13th inning.
For all the latest on Mizzou Baseball, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Twitter (@MizzouBaseball) and like the team on Facebook and Instagram (Mizzou Baseball and missouri_baseball, respectively).
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