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May 2, 2008
MIZZOU vs KANSAS STATE
MAY 2-4, 2008 • COLUMBIA, MO.
First Pitch:
Friday: 6:30 p.m.
Saturday: 2 p.m.
Sunday: 1 p.m.
Series History: MU lead 157-110-1
Last Meeting: MU took 2-of-3 in Manhattan
Stadium: Taylor Stadium
Capacity: 2,200
Radio: KTGR 1580-AM
Live Audio: KTGR.com
Live Video: mutigers.com
Live Gametracker: mutigers.com
MISSOURI TIGERS
Overall Record: 29-15
Big 12 Record: 9-9
Last 5/Last 10: 0-5/4-6
Streak: Lost 5
Rankings: BA: 15/CB: 14/ NCBWA: 14/ ESPN: 16
Website: mutigers.com
Head Coach: Tim Jamieson
Career Record: 470-323-2 (14th year)
Record at MU: 470-323-2 (14th year)
KANSAS STATE WILDCATS
Overall Record: 21-23
Big 12 Record: 6-12
Last 5/Last 10: 3-2/6-4
Streak: Lost 4
Rankings: NR
Website: kstatesports.com
Head Coach: Brad Hill
Career Record: 560-113-2 (14th year)
Record at KSU: 141-122-2 (5th year)
COMPLETE GAMENOTES
FIRST PITCH
After playing its last nine games away from Taylor Stadium, Mizzou returns home for a three-game series this weekend with Kansas State.
Game one of the weekend is 6:30 p.m. on Friday, with game two at 2 p.m. on Saturday and the series finale at 1 p.m. on Sunday. The Tigers enter the weekend with a 29-15 record overall and a 9-9 Big 12 mark. KSU is 21-23 on the year and 6-12 in conference play.
MU-KSU SERIES HISTORY
Missouri holds a 157-110-1 lead in the all-time series with Kansas State. The Tigers have won eight of the last 10 meetings between the two teams and 11 of the last 15.
After dropping the series opener last year, Mizzou won each of the next two games to claim the series win. In 2006, the last time the two met in Columbia, MU again lost game one before winning the next two.
LAST TIME OUT
The Missouri baseball team fell to Kansas, 3-0, Tuesday night in front of a crowd of 3,847 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. Mizzou's has lost five-straight games and has been shutout in two of its last five games.
Junior Ian Berger suffered the lost, despite allowing just three runs on six hits in seven innings pitched. He struck out six. Berger dropped to 3-4 on the year and has suffered the loss in four of his last five starts.
Freshman Nick Tepesch and sophomore Ryan Allen each pitched one scoreless inning in relief.
Kansas rightfielder Ryne Price hit his 10th home run of the year in the top of the second inning to put the first run of the game on the board.
The Jayhawks added two more runs in the top of the eighth inning with both runs in the inning scoring on a single by John Allman. Allman finished 3-for-4 on the night.
IN THE POLLS
Mizzou is ranked No. 14 in the Collegiate Baseball's Top 30 and the NCBWA poll this week. The Tigers are No. 15 in this week's Baseball America poll and are ranked 16th in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches' poll
MU climbed to No. 2 in the March 24th Baseball America poll, its highest ever mark.
SOMETHING TO CROW ABOUT
Junior Aaron 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 holds a commanding lead in the Big 12 Conference in strikeouts with 84, which is 11 Ks 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.
Last week he took a no decision against Texas A&M, his first start this season in which he did not record the win.
He leads the nation with the nine victories on the season. The MU school record for wins in a season is 11, held by four former Tigers.
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 has 13 home runs on the year, which matches his career best for homers in a season.
Priday also moved to the tops of the career RBI list at MU with three against William Woods.
He currently has 226 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's13 home runs is tied for the lead in the conference and his 51 RBI are third most in the league. He ranks second the Big 12 with a .681 slugging percentage.
SENNE DELIVERS BIG IN RETURN TO MINNESOTA
It was quite a homecoming for Mizzou sophomore Aaron 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.
On the year, Senne is second on the team in batting average (.355), home runs (9) and RBI (49).
KYLE WITH A `K'
Heading into this weekend, sophomore Kyle Gibson has struck out 69 batters in 63.1 innings pitched. He is fourth in the Big 12 Conference is strikeouts.
Gibson picked up a seven-inning complete-game win over Baylor on March 23, allowing 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 6-1 on the year.
Gibson has 14-career wins after finishing last season with an 8-4 record. He also picked up seven saves as a freshman.
BERGER, WELL DONE
Junior Ian Berger has a 3.11 ERA, which is 10th in the Big 12 Conference.
Berger had a string of 26.1 scoreless innings snapped against Texas Tech on March 29. He struck out six and gave up just one run on four hits in eight inning pitched against TTU.
He has started nine times this season, earning wins against San Diego State, Toledo and Baylor. Berger allowed just one run on six hits in seven innings pitched against San Diego State, to pick up his first win of the year.
He pitched eight scoreless innings against Toledo, allowing just four hits to earn his second victory.
Berger struck out eight against Baylor, allowing just one hit in seven innings. A double by BU's second batter of the game was the lone hit for the Bears on the afternoon. Following the double, Berger retired the next 10 batters he faced and 14 of the next 15.
Berger picked up the loss in three-straight starts from April 5-20. He was saddled with his first loss of the season against Oklahoma State, then took the defeat in the series finales with Texas and Oklahoma.
He started against Southern Illinois, allowing just one run on four hits and took a no decision.
Last Tuesday, Berger allowed just three runs on six hits in seven inning pitched against Kansas, but was saddled with the loss.
SHUT `EM DOWN
The Missouri pitching staff recorded four shutouts in 2007. Already this season, the Tigers have six and MU has twice claimed back-to-back shutouts in 2008.
Junior Aaron Crow picked up complete game shutouts in back-to-back starts against Toledo (March 14) and Baylor (March 21) and teamed with freshman Nick Tepesch to shutout Texas Tech (March 28). Crow picked up his third shutout of the year against Oklahoma State on April 4.
Junior Ian Berger and sophomore Greg Folgia teamed up to shutout Toledo in game two of that series. Berger then combined with Tepesch to record a shutout in game two of the Baylor series.
SHARING THE SAVES
The Tigers have 13 saves as a team this year, with six pitchers earning those seven saves. Mizzou had four pitchers earn saves all of last season.
Freshman Nick Tepesch picked up a save against Texas Tech to extend his team lead in saves to four, which ranks seventh in the conference.
Junior Rick Zagone has picked up three saves, all coming in a two-week span, with saves against Missouri State, Texas and William Woods.
Junior Scooter Hicks has three saves on the season, which gives him nine for his career.
Freshmen Kelly Fick, sophomore Ryan Allen and junior Ryan Gargano have also recorded a save this season.
FOLGIA DOES IT ALL
Sophomore Greg Folgia had just two hits in 18 at-bats as a freshman last year. But in 2008, Folgia has a team-best 51 hits and is hitting .317 on the year.
Folgia had a 10-game hitting streak snapped on March 19 against South Dakota State. The streak was the longest by a Tiger since Brock Bond hit safely in 11-straight games May 12-June 2, 2007.
In the first game of the South Dakota State series, Folgia was in the lineup as the pitcher/designated hitter. He earned the win on the mound, as he struck out seven in five scoreless innings pitched. He struck out the first five batters of the game and did not walk a batter.
Meanwhile, at the plate in that game, Folgia was 3-for-5, with an RBI and three runs scored.
A TEXAS-SIZED VICTORY
Missouri put up 31 runs in its series opener against Texas on April 11, defeating the Longhorns 31-12.
The 31 runs were the most scored by the Tigers since they defeated Truman State 30-0 in 2003. It was the most runs scored by MU against a conference opponent since a 27-4 win over Nebraska in 1956.
The loss was the worst for Texas since a 25-6 defeat against Texas A&M in 1995 and it was the first game in which Texas allowed at least 20 runs since 1998.
Every Tiger in the starting lineup had at least one hit and five had at least three. The 26 hits for Missouri tied a school record, which was set in 2005 against Navy.
Mizzou senior Jacob Priday set a Big 12 Conference record with four home runs and was 5-for-5 on the night. He set the single-game school record with four home runs, nine RBI and six runs scored.
Mizzou put up 10 runs in the third inning, which included Priday's second home run, a three run shot. The Tigers had nine hits in the inning, including doubles from Senne and sophomore Greg Folgia. The 10-run inning was the biggest inning for the Tigers since an 11-run second inning against Mississippi Valley State on May 6, 2006.
The Tigers followed Friday's outburst with a 13-2 win on Saturday. Through the first two games of the series, MU had a .500 batting average and had scored 44 runs on 43 hits with slugging percentage of .883.
TAKING A HIT
Through 44 games, the Tigers have been hit by a pitch 76 times.
Missouri was hit by 22 pitches in the first week of the season alone, averaging 5.5 HBPs per game through the first four games. The Tigers had three-straight games from Feb. 23-25 in which six batters were hit by pitches.
The school record for hit-by-pitches in a year is 108, set in 2005. MU came close to breaking that record last year, with 107 HBPs.
If it were to keep up the current pace, Missouri would finish the regular season with 96 hit-by-pitches.
UP NEXT
Missouri will host a pair of midweek games next week, taking on Creighton at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, before facing Missouri State at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
Next weekend, the Tigers travel to Lawrence, Kan. for a three-game series before concluding the regular season with a three-game set against Nebraska May 16-18 at Taylor Stadium.
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