|
May 15, 2008
MIZZOU vs NEBRASKA
MAY 16-18, 2008 • COLUMBIA, MO.
First Pitch:
Friday: 6:30 p.m.
Saturday: 2 p.m.
Sunday: 3:30 p.m.
Series History: MU leads 138-105-1
Last Year: MU took 2-of-3 in Lincoln
Stadium: Taylor Stadium (Capacity: 2,200)
TV: FSN (Sunday only)
Radio: KTGR 1580-AM
Live Audio: KTGR.com
Live Video: mutigers.com
Live Gametracker: mutigers.com
MISSOURI TIGERS
Overall Record: 34-17
Big 12 Record: 13-11
Last 5/Last 10: 3-2/5-5
Streak: Won 1
Rankings: BA: 15/CB: 12/ NCBWA: 15/ ESPN: 20
Website: mutigers.com
Head Coach: Tim Jamieson
Career Record: 475-325-2 (14th year)
Record at MU: 475-325-2 (14th year)
NEBRASKA CORNHUSKERS
Overall Record: 39-9-1
Big 12 Record: 17-6-1
Last 5/Last 10: 4-1/8-2
Streak: Won 3
Rankings: BA: 5/CB: 6/ NCBWA: 6/ ESPN: 6
Website: huskers.com
Head Coach: Mike Anderson
Career Record: 253-109-1(6th year)
Record at NU: 253-109-1 (6th year)
COMPLETE GAMENOTES
FIRST PITCH
Missouri will conclude the regular season this weekend with a three-game series against Nebraska at Taylor Stadium. Game one will get underway at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, with games to follow at 2 p.m. Saturday and 3:30 p.m. Sunday. The finale will be televised by FSN.
The Tigers enter the weekend 34-17 on the year and 13-11 in Big 12 Conference play. NU is 39-9-1 overall and 17-6-1 in league play.
MU-NU SERIES HISTORY
Mizzou holds a 138-105-1 lead in the all-time series with Nebraska.
Last year, MU won two-of-three against the Huskers in Lincoln, taking the first two games of the series, before dropping the finale. In 2006, the last time the two teams met in Columbia, Nebraska swept the Tigers.
The first ever meeting in the series came in 1898, when MU won two-of-three over Nebraska.
BIG 12 CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP SCENARIOS
The Big 12 Conference Championship is next week at Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City, Okla. Play begins on Wednesday and continues through the Championship game on Sunday.
Heading into the weekend, Missouri is in fourth place in the conference standings. The Tigers, can finish as high as tied for third in the conference, but would lose the tiebreaker. They are guaranteed either a fourth or fifth seed at next week's Big 12 Tournament. MU can clinch fourth with: (1) two wins, (2) two Texas loses or (3) one win and one UT loss.
Nebraska will finish in one of the top three spots in the conference. The Huskers can win the league, but needs to win at least two games this weekend and get help from others.
Texas A&M leads the Big 12 and can clinch the conference title with two wins this weekend.
LAST TIME OUT
Missouri won a series at Kansas for the first time since 2002, taking two-of-three from KU last weekend.
Junior Aaron Crow improved to 11-0 on the year as Mizzou took the series opener, 5-3, on Friday. Crow struck out 11 in seven innings pitched, allowing just two unearned runs on six hits. He struck out five of the last seven batters he faced.
Sophomore Kyle Gibson struck out the only batter he faced for the final out of the game to pick up his first save of the season.
MU took the lead with a pair of runs in the fifth and added to it when freshman Jonah Schmidt led off the sixth with his second home run of the year.
The two teams met in a doubleheader on Sunday after Saturday's game was postponed due to rain.
In game one of the twin-bill, Kansas scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth on a double by Nick Faunce.
Junior Steve Gray and sophomore Aaron Senne each homered in the game.
Missouri answered by run-ruling the Jayhawks in the finale, 12-1 in seven innings.
Gibson recorded his second seven-inning complete game of the year, striking out eight and allowing just one run on five hits to move to 8-1.
Senne and sophomore Trevor Coleman each hit home runs and the Tigers took control of the game after a five-run sixth inning.
IN THE POLLS
Mizzou is ranked No. 12 in this week's Collegiate Baseball's Top 30 and is No. 15 in the Baseball America and NCBWA polls.
The Tigers are 20th in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches' Top 25.
MU climbed to No. 2 in the March 24th Baseball America poll, its highest ever mark.
SOMETHING TO CROW ABOUT
Junior Aaron Crow moved to 11-0 on the year, picking up the victory against Kansas last Friday. With the win, he tied the school record for victories in a season and is tied for the lead in the nation in wins this year.
He has also moved into seventh place in the MU record book for stirkeouts in a season with 103 and is fourth in career K's at MU with 253.
On Thursday, Crow was named among a group of 10 as semifinalists for the Roger Clemens Award.
Crow, a preseason All-American, had a string of 43.0 scoreless innings pitched snapped against Texas on April 11.
He allowed five runs in the first inning against UT, after giving up just four runs in his first seven starts of the year. Despite allowing nine runs total against Texas, Crow picked up the win and won each of his first nine starts this season.
Crow's scoreless innings streak is believed to have tied for the fourth-longest in NCAA D-I history. The NCAA record for the longest scoreless inning streak is not found in the record books.
Crow leads the Big 12 Conference in strikeouts with 103, which is 13 K's ahead of second place.
On March 14, Crow struck out a career-high 15 batters against Toledo, bettering his previous best of 10 set just two weeks prior against Cal.
Only two Toledo batters advanced beyond first base, as Crow allowed seven hits and did not walk a batter.
Starting with the final out of the fourth inning and continuing through the eighth inning, Crow struck out 11 of the 15 batters he faced, including striking out the side in the eighth. He threw 107 pitches, 87 of which were strikes.
He recorded a second-straight complete-game shutout with a 10-strikeout performance against Baylor on March 21.
Crow was selected as the Big 12 Pitcher of the Week and the NCBWA National Pitcher of the Week following that performance.
On March 28, Crow turned in eight scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and striking out nine against Texas Tech.
He recorded his third complete game shutout of the season, striking out seven against Oklahoma State on April 4 to improve to 7-0. He earned his second Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Week honor following the victory over the Cowboys.
He improved to 9-0 by claiming the win over Oklahoma on April 18. He allowed four runs in the first two innings, but did not allow a hit over the next 3.2 innings and did not give up a run over the next 5.2 innings pitched.
On April 25, Crow took a no decision against Texas A&M, his first start this season in which he did not record the win.
Crow picked up win number 10 on the year, despite his shortest outing of the season, 5.1 IP against Kansas State on May 2.
Last Friday, he moved to 11-0 with the win over Kansas. He struck out 11, allowing just two unearned runs on five hits in the game.
SENNE DELIVERS BIG FOR MIZZOU
One of the most consistent bats in the Tigers line up, sophomore Aaron Senne leads the team with a .356 batting average, 64 hits and 59 RBI. Senne is second on the squad in home runs (13), slugging percentage (.639), runs scored (45) and walks (35).
Senne's batting average ranks 10th in the Big 12 and he is tied for second in the league in RBI.
It was quite a homecoming for Senne on March 25 as Missouri defeated Minnesota, 17-8, at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.
Senne, a native of Rochester, Minn., tied a school record with eight RBI, hit two home runs and had a career-high four hits in his return to his home state.
With a large contingent of family and friends in attendance, Senne was 4-for-4 with eight runs driven in and two runs scored. He took over the team lead with six home runs.
In his first at-bat, Senne connected on a two-run homer to right centerfield to give the Tigers the early 2-0 lead. He singled in each of his next two at-bats, driving in runs on both hits.
MU sent 15 batters to the plate in the sixth inning, with three of the nine runs scoring on Senne's second home run of the night and his sixth of the season. Senne's drove in his eighth run of the game when he was hit-by-a-pitch with the bases loaded in his second trip to the plate in the sixth inning.
Senne's eight RBI matches Marcus Adler's eight RBI game against Evansville in 1986. Senne has driven in at least five runs in a game three times this season.
It was his second two-home run game this season, as he also hit two against Indiana State on March 9.
KYLE WITH A `K'
Heading into this weekend, sophomore Kyle Gibson has struck out 83 batters in 77.2 innings pitched. He ranks third in the Big 12 Conference is strikeouts.
Gibson was named the Big 12 Pitcher of the Week on Monday after he picked up a win and a save in last week's series at Kansas.
He recorded the last out of the game in Friday's opener, striking out the only batter he faced to pick up the save. Gibson then recorded a seven-inning complete-game win in Sunday's finale as he gave up just one run on five hits.
It was his second seven-inning complete-game win this year. On March 23 against Baylor, Gibson allowed just one unearned run on four hits in seven innings, as the Tigers run-ruled the Bears in the series finale.
Gibson split time between being a starter and coming out of the bullpen as a freshman in 2007. This season, he has taken the role as a weekend starter and is 8-1 on the year.
Gibson has 16-career wins after finishing last season with an 8-4 record. He also picked up seven saves as a freshman.
GIBSON, SENNE INVITED TO USA BASEBALL TEAM TRIALS
USA Baseball announced last week its initial list of 12 collegiate players who have accepted invitations for the 2008 National Team Trials to be held June 11-23 throughout the northeast and southeast United States.
This list includes Mizzou sophomores Kyle Gibson and Aaron Senne. In all, 32 players will be invited to the National Team Trials, with 22 of those players being selected for the National Team roster.
USA Baseball's 2008 National Team schedule includes a six-game friendship series against Chinese Taipei and a month-long trip to Europe where the team will compete in Haarlem Baseball Week in the Netherlands and in the IV FISU World Collegiate Baseball Championship in the Czech Republic.
In 2005, Max Scherzer and Hunter Mense were invited to the trials and each made the national team roster. That year, MU Head Coach Tim Jamieson served as an assistant coach for Team USA.
PRIDAY BECOMES MIZZOU'S HOME RUN KING
On April 16, senior Jacob Priday became the career home run record holder at Mizzou. He hit two homers against William Woods to give him 46 for his career, breaking the previous school record of 45 set by Mike Rogers (1984-87).
He hit two home runs against Kansas State on May 2 and has 15 home runs on the year, which is a career best for homers in a season for Priday.
Priday also moved to the tops of the career RBI list at MU with three against William Woods.
He currently has 231 RBI in his career surpassing Ryan Fry's mark of 222 (1995-98).
Priday had a record-setting night in the series opener against Texas on April 11. He finished 5-for-5 in the game and broke an MU school record and the Big 12 Conference record with four home runs on the night. The four homers was third most in the history of the NCAA. The record is six, hit by Marshall McDougall of Florida State in 1999.
Priday also set a Missouri school record with nine RBI and tied the MU mark with six runs scored.
In the three-game series against Texas, Priday hit .583 (7-for-12), with four homers, a double and 11 RBI. He had a slugging percentage of 1.667 for the series.
The performance earned him Big 12 Conference and NCBWA National Player of the Week honors.
Priday's 15 home runs lead the conference and his 56 RBI are sixth most in the league. He also leads the Big 12 with a .696 slugging percentage.
In addition to holding the Mizzou record for career home runs and RBI, he has also set new school records for at-bats (846), extra-base hits (110) and total bases (471). He is currently second with 54 doubles.
|
