Friday, April 13
Gainesville, Fla.
5:30 p.m. (CT)
University of Missouri
at
Florida
Road Test at No. 1 Florida Awaits No. 24 Mizzou Baseball
4/11/2018 4:48:00 PM | Baseball
Tigers and Gators play three games on SEC Network+
- No. 24 Mizzou Baseball faces arguably its biggest test of the 2018 season this weekend as it travels to No. 1 and defending College World Series Champion and top-ranked Florida for a three-game series, beginning Friday at 5:30 p.m. (CT). All three games will air live on SEC Network+ and KTGR in the Mid-Missouri area.
- Mizzou is coming off a big road win at No. 18 Missouri State Tuesday, its first in Springfield since 2013. Mizzou won, 8-6, thanks to a two-out, three-run rally in the top of the seventh inning. It was Mizzou's sixth win over a ranked opponent this season as Mizzou is 6-3 in such contests this year. Florida comes into the weekend having won nine of 10, including a win midweek over No. 10 Florida State. The Gators are ranked No. 1 in the polls this week, marking the second time this season that Mizzou will play every game in a single week vs. top-25 teams. The other time was against Wichita State and LSU. Mizzou went 2-2 that week, defeating Wichita State and losing a three-game series at LSU that weekend.
- Five of Mizzou's wins over top-25 teams have come on the road this season. Mizzou is 26-16 in games played away from home under second-year head coach Steve Bieser.
- Mizzou is No. 28 in this week's RPI and is 7-5 in games played against RPI top-50 teams this season.
- Mizzou trails the all-time series with Florida, 17-4, and is 0-6 in games played in Gainesville since joining the SEC. Florida swept Mizzou in Columbia last season, winning all three games by a single run - 4-3 Friday and 2-1 on both Saturday and Sunday. Mizzou's last series win over Florida came in 2015, winning two of three at Taylor Stadium.
- Mizzou is one of just two teams to rank in the national top-10 in both fielding percentage (sixth, .983) and ERA (11th - 2.77). The only other team to do so is UCLA. Florida is just as impressive, ranking second in fielding at .984 and 18th in ERA at 3.07.
- Mizzou has committed zero errors in 20 of its 33 games this season. That is the most errorless games in a single season at Mizzou since at least 2003 and we are just past the halfway point this season. Mizzou had the nation's No. 194 ranked defense a year ago, but ranks sixth nationally this year. That is the largest turn-around in the nation in team fielding.
- Mizzou is allowing just 3.15 runs per game (3.16 in league play), which is the fourth-best mark nationally.
- Mizzou head coach Steve Bieser is just two wins shy of 200 in his career. He has already won more games in his first two seasons than any other Mizzou coach. He is one of just 13 active Division I coaches to win at least 36 games in each of the last four seasons. He is facing one of those 13 this weekend in Florida's Kevin O'Sullivan.
- Mizzou is making its second trip to the state of Florida this season. Mizzou opened its 2018 campaign by spending the first two weeks in south Florida. Mizzou went 6-3 during its nine-game road trip to Florida.
- Mizzou has three players - senior RHP Andy Toelken, freshman C Chad McDaniel, junior RHP Jordan Gubelman - who will be making a return to their home state this weekend.
PROJECTED STARTERS
- Friday: Sophomore LHP T.J. Sikkema (2-2, 2.90 ERA) vs. RHP Brady Singer (7-1, 3.00 ERA)
- Saturday: Junior LHP Michael Plassmeyer (4-0, 1.99 ERA) vs. Jackson Kowar (5-1, 2.72 ERA)
- Sunday: RS Junior RHP Bryce Montes De Oca (4-2, 2.64 ERA) vs. Tyler Dyson (4-2, 3.48 ERA)
BIESER APPROACHING 200 CAREER WINS
- Second-year Mizzou head coach Steve Bieser is approaching a career milestone as he sits just two wins shy of 200 in his career. Now in his sixth season overall, Bieser has a career record of 198-129, including a 60-32 mark at Mizzou. He has more wins in his first two seasons than any coach in program history (Tim Jamieson had the previous record with 58 in his first two seasons in 1995 and 1996).
- Bieser is in his sixth season as a head coach and is averaging 33 wins per season with 21 scheduled games remaining this season. He is one of just 13 active Division I head coaches to win at least 36 games in four consecutive seasons.
MIZZOU GETTING IT DONE vs. RANKED OPPONENTS, RPI TOP-50
- Coming off Tuesday's 8-6 win at No. 19 Missouri State, Mizzou is now 6-3 this season against ranked opponents with five of those six coming in true road games. In those games, Mizzou's average margin of victory is 6.0 runs to just 3.7 allowed per game. Mizzou is 5-3 in road games vs. top-25 teams this season. Those totals should go a long way when it comes time for the NCAA Tournament selection committee to look at Mizzou's resume.
- Additionally, Mizzou is getting it done against RPI top-50 teams, posting a combined 7-5 mark in such contests. Breaking it out even more, against teams in the RPI top 15, Mizzou is 5-3 and is averaging 6.6 runs per game in those contests this season.
TIGERS CUT BACK ON ERRORS
- Tuesday vs. Missouri State, Mizzou played its 20th errorless game of the season in 33 tries. We went back through the 2003 season and could not find another Mizzou team with 20 errroless games in a single season. Keep in mind, Mizzou has accomplished that feat in just 33 games this season, meaning Mizzou has not committed an error in 61 percent of its games this season.
- Anyone who has followed Mizzou closely over the last several seasons could tel you that the defensive turnaround is arguably one of the best coaching feats in all of college baseball this season. Mizzou fielded at just a .966 clip a year ago, a mark that ranked 194th in college baseball. Through 33 games this year, Mizzou has just 22 errors and ranks sixth nationally in fielding percentage at .983 - that is the nation's largest turnaround this season. Through 33 games last season, Mizzou had 49 errors, two-and-a-quarter times as many errors
- For even more perspective, Mizzou has zero errors in 20 of 33 games this season (60.7%). For perspective, here's the previous three seasons:
- Errorless games
- 2017: 16 of 59 (27%)
- 2016: 19 of 56 (34%)
- 2015: 18 of 58 (31%)
- The sample size is obviously smaller this season, but Mizzou is four errorless games ahead of its total of such games a season ago (16 in 59 games).
- Playing great defense is something that second-year head coach Steve Bieser hoped to build his program around. Mizzou is 16-3 when it plays errorless baseball this season.
PITCHING SHINING UNDER FIRST-YEAR PITCHING COACH FRED CORRAL
- Mizzou's pitching staff, despite losing first-round pick Tanner Houck and workhorse Cole Bartlett to the draft a year ago, has been tremendous through seven weeks under first-year pitching coach Fred Corral.
- Last weekend vs. Alabama, Mizzou allowed just seven runs over the three-game set and is limiting its opponents to just 3.15 runs per game this season. Over its last nine SEC games, Mizzou is allowing just 2.33 runs per game. The Tigers are fifth nationally in runs allowed per game this season.
- Mizzou ranks in the national top-25 in six of the major pitching categories, including the nation's No. 11 ERA at 2.86. Below is a look at the national marks for Mizzou's staff:
- 3rd - Shutouts - 6
- 7th - WHIP - 1.16
- 11th - ERA - 2.86
- 11th - Strikeout-Walk Ratio - 3.04
- 12th - Hits Allowed - 7.29
- 21st - Strikeouts/Nine - 9.7
GETTING IT DONE WITH PITCHING AND DEFENSE
- Now past the midway point of the season, Mizzou is playing a brand of baseball that second-year head coach Steve Bieser can be proud of. Mizzou ranks sixth nationally in fielding percentage at .983 and 11th nationally in ERA 2.86. Mizzou is allowing just 3.15 runs per game this season.
- Mizzou is one of just two teams nationally to rank in the top 10 in both fielding percentage and ERA, joining UCLA.
- Mizzou - 6th in Fielding / 11th in ERA
- UCLA - 15th in fielding / 5th in ERA
- The pitching and defense have led to Mizzou being among the national elite in holding teams off the scoreboard this season. In fact, through 33 games, Mizzou is allowing just 3.15 runs per game and that mark stands at the exact same in its 12 league games. Mizzou ranks fourth nationally and leads the SEC in runs allowed per game this season, trailing only Louisiana (2.94), St. John's (3.07) and Indiana (3.14).
PLASS IS SEC PITCHER OF THE WEEK
- Mizzou Baseball junior lefty Michael Plassmeyer is the SEC Co-Pitcher of the Week, announced Monday by the league office. The award comes on the heels of his first career complete game shutout last Saturday vs. Alabama. Plassmeyer is the second Mizzou pitcher to earn the honor this season, joining junior RHP Bryce Montes De Oca who earned the award after throwing the first 7.0 innings of a combined no-hitter vs. UMBC March 2.
- Plassmeyer allowed just four baserunners in his first career complete game shutout in a 1-0 win over Alabama Saturday, striking out seven and walking none while scattering only four hits. He dominated Alabama batters all afternoon as he retired 16 straight in a stretch spanning from the first inning until the sixth. It was the longest streak of consecutive retired batters for a Mizzou pitcher this season and the longest of Plassmeyer's career. It was also the first complete game shutout for a Mizzou pitcher since Cole Bartlett shut out Tennessee last season (5/19/17). The 9.0 innings are a new career-high in IP for Plassmeyer.
- Plassmeyer has now made four starts in SEC play and the junior has worked 29.1 innings while allowing only 20 hits and four runs. Meanwhile, he's totaled 30 strikeouts and has only issued five walks in those outings. Plassmeyer has now made four straight starts with seven or more strikeouts. Overall, the St. Louis, Mo., native has struck out at least seven in six of his seven starts. Plassmeyer delivered first-pitch strikes to 30 of the 33 batters he faced and he faced just four over the minimum in the start.
- Plassmeyer is now fifth in the SEC with a 1.99 ERA and second in strikeouts, with 20 of his 65 being of the looking variety. He trails only Auburn's Casey Mize in strikeouts – Mize is projected to be a top-five pick in this summer's MLB Draft. Plassmeyer is also second in the SEC in innings pitched at 54.1 this season. His 1.23 ERA in SEC games is second in the league while his 29.1 innings are the most for any SEC pitcher in league action this season.
TOELKEN MOVE TO 'PEN PROVES TO BE DYNAMITE DECISION
- Mizzou senior righty Andy Toelken began his final collegiate season as Mizzou's Sunday starter, but was relegated to the bullpen following a shaky start at LSU. While many pitchers would not handle that move well, Toelken has taken the move in stride and become a huge weapon for Mizzou out of the bullpen, being used much life T.J. Sikkema was a year ago - being used when the game is on the line.
- Since the move, Toelken has been one of Mizzou's best pitchers, posting 12.0 shutout innings in four appearances, earning a pair of wins and a sabe. He has struck out 10 over his 12.0 innings of bullpen work. All 12.0 innings have come on the weekend against SEC competition. He earned a 2.0 inning save in the series opener vs. Mississippi State and earned the win in the Sunday game of that series as well. He also earned a win in the Saturday game at Auburn, pitching 4.0 shutout innings to close the game.
- Prior to the move, Toelken was 2-2 with a 4.56 ERA and since that point, he as lowered his ERA to 3.03 while picking up two wins and a save.
TRICKY TRIO OF LEFTIES
- Mizzou's pitching staff may boast the toughest collection of left-handed pitchers to hit in the SEC in sophomore T.J. Sikkema, junior Michael Plassmeyer and junior Tyler LaPlante. All three are starters in Steve Bieser's rotation with Sikkema getting the nod Fridays and Plassmeyer Saturdays. LaPlante has been Mizzou's midweek starter and comes out of the bullpen on the weekend.
- The trio, led by one of college baseball's breakout arms in Plassmeyer, has been virtually uninhabitable. If you combined the three pitchers' stat lines it would look like this:
- 10-3 | 2.16 ERA | 124 Strikeouts | 23 Walks | 89 Hits | .215 OPP Batting
- The trio is averaging 5.39 strikeouts per every walk. To put that mark into perspective, the national leader in that category is the College of Charleston at 3.79 strikeouts for every walk.
- The trio's combined WHIP is 0.997. The national-leader in WHIP is Stanford at 1.06.
- That's how good the three lefties in Mizzou's rotation have been.
GUBELMAN EMERGING AS KEY BULLPEN ARM
- As we noted above, senior RHP Andy Toelken has been Mizzou's top bullpen arm on the weekends since moving to that role, but junior RHP Jordan Gubelman has certainly been turning heads with his recent performance out of the Tiger 'pen.
- On Tuesday against Missouri State, Gubelman entered the game with Mizzou trailing 6-5. After getting the final out in the sixth inning, he saw the offense give him an 8-6 lead in the next half inning and he was lights out from there, retiring nine straight Bear hitters before a two-out walk in the ninth inning.
- On the year, Gubelman owns a 0.55 ERA in 16.1 innings pitched, striking out an incredible 25 batters in those 16.1 innings. He is averaging an eye-popping 13.8 strikeouts per nine innings this season and is limiting batters to a .175 average.
HANNA RE-EMERGING AS PRIMARY OPTION IN LEFT
- Junior OF Zach Hanna began the season as Mizzou's primary starting left fielder. He saw his playing time diminish as his average slipped to .233, but he has been on a tear since notching a pinch-hit single that led to the game-tying run in the ninth inning against Mississippi State on March 25.
- Since that time, Hanna is hitting a team-high .375 (6-for-16) in seven games (three starts) while driving in six runs and scoring four more.
- Tuesday against Missouri State, Hanna had a monster game in an 8-6 win, Mizzou's first in Springfield since 2013. He went 2-for-3 with three runs, three RBI, a homer, was hit by a pitch to start the seventh-inning rally, and laid down a sacrifice bunt. He also made a game-saving catch in left, crashing into the wall to rob a pair of runs in the fifth inning.
- Hanna had a two-out, two-run single in the first inning. He hit his first homer since opening day in the win as well.
- With the left field job up for grabs, look for his recent hot play to earn Hanna plenty more chances in the starting lineup.
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