University of Missouri
Vanderbilt
@MizzouBaseball Takes on Vanderbilt in Opening Round of SEC Tournament
5/23/2016 12:10:00 PM | Baseball
Tanner Houck will be on the mound in Mizzou's tournament opener
| OPPONENT | LOCATION | DAY // TIME | LIVE STATS |
|---|---|---|---|
| vs. #6 Vanderbilt | Hoover Met Stadium | Tuesday, May 23 // 9:30 a.m. | Stats |
- For the third time in four years, Mizzou Baseball has qualified for the SEC Baseball Tournament after clinching the 11-seed for the annual week-long affair in Hoover, Ala. Mizzou will open tournament action Tuesday morning (May 24) at 9:30 a.m. with No. 6 seed Vanderbilt. Mizzou was swept by Vanderbilt in the second SEC weekend for both teams.
- As mentioned above, Mizzou is making its third SEC Tournament appearance since joining the league for the 2013 season. Mizzou is 1-3 all-time in the SEC Tournament with its lone win coming last season when RHP Reggie McClain pitched Mizzou, the seven seed in last year's tournament, past 10th-seeded South Carolina. Mizzou won the game, 5-1. Mizzou then lost the next two games and was eliminated and likely just missed out on a regional berth because of the two losses. Mizzou had Vanderbilt on the ropes with a 6-2 lead after six innings in 2015, but Vanderbilt scored two in the seventh, one in the eighth and one in the ninth before Rhett Wiseman homered in the 10th to close the comeback. Mizzou then lost, 4-3, to Alabama with Tanner Houck on the mound as its season came to an end following that game. Mizzou led 3-1 after 5.5 innings, but a two-run sixth and a one-run seventh helped Alabama complete the comeback.
- Vanderbilt has been a thorn in Mizzou's side since joining the SEC as Mizzou has never defeated the Commodores, losing all 13 meetings, including three earlier this season. Mizzou has not had much success in the 13 games against Vanderbilt as it has been outscored in that span, 108-34. Last season, Mizzou and Vanderbilt met in Nashville with first place in the SEC East on the line. Both teams entered the weekend at 12-6 in SEC play last year, but Vanderbilt won all three games from Mizzou and wound up winning the east with a 20-10 mark while Mizzou finished third at 15-15.
- Mizzou led this year's Friday night game with Vanderbilt, 6-4, and retired the first two men in the ninth inning before Vanderbilt rallied for four runs in the frame, including a go-ahead two-run homer off of Mizzou reliever Brian Sharp on the first pitch he threw. Vanderbilt won, 8-6. Tanner Houck earned National Player of the Week honors from Louisville Slugger for his performance against Vanderbilt this season, allowing just two hits over 9.0 shutout innings while striking out a career-high 14 with just two walks. He was given no run support as Vanderbilt eventually won, 2-0, in 11 innings. Mizzou then lost 17-7 on Sunday as Vanderbilt completed the sweep.
- Mizzou will send sophomore RHP Tanner Houck to the mound. As mentioned above, he was sensational this year against Vanderbilt. In his career, he is 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA in two starts vs. Vanderbilt with a 19-2 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Despite Vanderbilt tagging him for seven earned runs over 5.0 innings in 2015, Houck is limiting Vanderbilt to .196 hitting in his career.
Mizzou's Starter Tanner Houck
- Preseason All-America Third Team, Freshman All-AA (2015)
- USA Baseball Collegiate National Team (2015, 2016)
- #1 MLB 2017 Draft Prospect (Baseball America)
- Power righty who sits 92-96 with his fastball. Also has slider, change-up. Tremendous movement on 2-seam fastball with a whippy low 3/4 arm slot. 2-seam runs in on righties, away from lefties. Slider has tremendous life.
- SEC and Louisville Slugger National Pitcher of the Week following 9.0 shutout innings of two-hit ball vs. Vanderbilt, striking out a career-high 14 against just two walks. Two-time SEC Pitcher of the Week
- 14th in SEC in ERA, 6th in strikeouts, 4th in opponent batting, 2nd in innings pitched
- Is just 0.2 IP shy of tossing more than 100.0 innings in each of his first two seasons at Mizzou.
- Owns three complete games (two shutouts) with another 9.0 inning performance against Vanderbilt which Mizzou lost 2-0 in 11 innings.
- Has tossed 6.0 innings in 13 of his 14 starts and has struck out 10-plus batters in three starts
- Making his second SEC Tournament start after losing to Alabama last season, allowing four earned runs over 8.0 innings while striking out eight and walking one. Two of the six hits he allowed last year at Hoover met went for extra bases (one double, one homer)
- Has not allowed more than eight hits in a start this season.
- Last time out against Kentucky on four days rest, he virtually clinched Mizzou an SEC Tournament spot by throwing a complete game, scattering eight hits with three runs (all earned), 10 Ks and 1 BB
- 2016 STATS (14 starts): 5-5 // 2.99 ERA // 99.1 IP // 77 H // 42 R // 33 ER // 26 BB // 100 Ks
- CAREER STATS (29 starts): 13-10 // 3.24 ERA // 200.0 IP // 165 H // 82 R // 72 ER // 39 BB // 191 Ks
- CAREER vs. VU (2 starts): 0-1 // 4.50 ERA // 14.0 // 10 H // 7 R // 7 ER // 2 BB // 19 Ks
- CAREER at SEC Tourney: 0-1 // 4.50 ERA // 8.0 IP // 6 H // 4 R // 4 ER // 1 BB // 8 Ks
Lavy An Olson Award Finalist
Mizzou senior 1B Zach Lavy (Auxvasse, Mo.) has been named a semifinalist for the 2016 Gregg Olson Award, which is given to the top amateur baseball player who elevates his game to an elite level throughout the season. He is one of 42 players to be named a semifinalist for the award, six from the SEC.
Lavy entered the season as a career .229 hitter with just 17 total extra-base hits in his first two seasons. As a senior, Lavy has exploded to lead Mizzou in virtually every offensive category while leading the SEC in extra-base hits (34), slugging (.610) and triples (eight) while ranking third in doubles (18) and third in total bases (128). His eight triples lead the nation and are the most at Mizzou since 1994 and his 18 doubles are the most at Mizzou since 2010 as are his 54 RBI. Nearly half of his team-leading 70 hits have gone for extra bases this season. Below is a look at where Lavy's numbers stack up following the regular season.
- 18 doubles - Most since Senne's 22 in 2010
- 8 triples - 4th in school history
- 34 extra-base hits - Most since Cody Ehlers had 39 in 2004
- 54 RBI - Most since current Major Leaguer Brett Nicholas had 64 in 2010
- 128 total bases - Most since Senne's 154 in 2010
Mizzou Limits Walks
Heading into the SEC Tournament, Mizzou has been sensational at limiting walks this season. In fact, Mizzou averages just 2.61 walks per nine innings, a mark that ranks second in the SEC and 11th nationally. The only SEC team to have a better walks per nine average is No. 1 Florida, which averages just 2.35 per contest. Knowing that Mizzou has limited its walks this year, it is also not surprising to see that Mizzou ranks 13th nationally in strikeout-walk ratio (2.95). Remarkably, that mark ranks fifth in the SEC, which speaks to the quality and depth of the pitching in the SEC. Senior RHP Reggie McClain is a key reason for Mizzou's high national rank in both categories. He is fifth nationally and leads the SEC in both categories. He is walking less than one batter per nine innings at 0.80 and owns a 10.44 strikeout-walk ratio. In SEC games, Mizzou has walked just 68 batters in 30 games, by far the best mark in the SEC. Mizzou walked just 18 batters over the final 12 SEC games in which Mizzou went 5-7 overall to secure an SEC Tournament berth, averaging just 1.57 walks per nine innings in that span.
Mizzou Forces Most Groundouts in SEC
In addition to limiting walks this season, Mizzou's pitchers have been outstanding in inducing ground balls. Mizzou leads the SEC in flyout-groundout ratio at 0.7 and the 306 ground balls forced are the most in the SEC and nearly 100 more than the 208 flyouts that they have surrendered. Only Florida (200) had fewer fly ball outs than Mizzou this season. Only three of 15 Mizzou pitchers have more flyouts than groundouts this season. As a team, Mizzou averages nearly 18 combined flyouts and strikeouts per game.
Leading the way for the Mizzou pitching staff in that category is sophomore righty Tanner Houck who has allowed just 67 flyouts in 99.1 innings, an average of just six per game. He has also induced 119 ground balls to go along with his 100 strikeouts. Nearly 77 percent of his outs recorded have been via strikeout or groundout. Senior RHP Reggie McClain has also been outstanding limitng fly balls, surrendering just 72 this year. He leads the team with 122 ground ball outs as well. 75 percent of his outs recorded have come via strikeout or groundout.
Coach J Approaches Milestone
As Mizzou enters the tournamenr, Mizzou head coach Tim Jamieson is closing in a milestone. With 698 career wins (all at Mizzou), the Tiger skipper is just two away from reaching 700 career wins. Once Coach Jamieson reaches 700 career wins, he will be just 33 wins shy of tying legendary Mizzou head coach Gene McArtor for the most wins of any Mizzou Baseball head coach (McArtor had 733 wins from 1974-1994). Coach Jamieson succeeded McArtor in 1995 and has won 696. What is even more amazing about Mizzou's coaching history is that the Tigers have had just three coaches since 1937 as John 'Hi' Simmons - who Mizzou's field is field is named after - coached 35 years before McArtor took over in 1974.
