Tuesday, March 14
Columbia, Mo.
6:30 PM
University of Missouri
vs
Chicago State
@MizzouBaseball Welcomes Chicago State in Final Tune Up Before SEC Play
3/13/2017 4:58:00 PM | Baseball
Mizzou puts national-best 15-game win streak on the line in midweek series.
| Tigers Host Chicago State Riding 15-Game Win Streak | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OPPONENT | LOCATION | DAY | TIME | Listen | Stats | Watch |
| vs.Chicago St. | Taylor Stadium | Tuesday, March 14 | 6:30 p.m. | KTGR | Stats | SEC Network+ |
| vs.Chicago St. | Taylor Stadium | Wednesday, March 15 | 6:30 p.m. | KTGR | Stats | SEC Network |
Game Notes | Season Tickets | Single Game Tickets | Break Time Lounge
- No. 23 Mizzou Baseball will close its season-long 10-game homestand with a two-game, midweek series with Chicago State, beginning Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at Taylor Stadium on SEC Network+. The finale on Wednesday will air live on SEC Network with Mark Neely and Mike Rooney on the call. The midweek series is Mizzou's final tune-up before opening SEC play this weekend at Alabama.
- 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 15 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 15 consecutive wins. At 15-1 on the year, Mizzou is off to its best start in program history while 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 14 games over .500 for the first time since it closed the 2008 season with a 39-16 overall record.
- The key to Mizzou's hot start has been a stark turnaround in the team's offensive production. Mizzou finished dead last in batting in the SEC a year ago, but Bieser has the team hitting an SEC-best .332 after four weeks of play while ranking second in slugging, OBP, doubles and total bases, and third in hits, walks and at-bats.
- Mizzou is reaping the benefits of its 15-1 start and national-best 15-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. Glendinning ranks third in the SEC in batting (.429) and on-base percentage (.540) while checking in at fifth overall in slugging (.694).
- Mizzou will send junior RHP Bryce Montes De Oca to the mound Tuesday night in what will be his second career start. If it is anything like his first career start last Tuesday against Eastern Illinois, head coach Steve Bieser and company should be pretty happy. MDO went a career-high 5.0 innings to earn his first collegiate win. He allowed just three hits and one unearned run on a passed ball while issuing two free passes in a 10-1 win. He lowered his ERA to 2.84 this season. The 6-7, 261-pounder can run the ball close to 100 MPH, but is coming off of an elbow injury a year ago. Another positive start from Montes De Oca would be a positive sign for Mizzou.
Pitching Matchup
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Tuesday:
RHP Bryce Montes De Oca (1-0, 2.84 ERA) vs.TBA -
Wednesday:
TBA vs. TBA
Series History
- Mizzou leads the all-time series vs. Chicago State, 4-0.
- The two teams first met in 2004 with Mizzou claiming a three-game series sweep. Mizzou won the first game, 19-2, the second 8-1 and the finale 21-1, outscoring CSU, 48-4 over the three-game series. Current big leaguer and two-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer pitched in game three of that series, tossing 2.0 relief innings, picking up a pair of Ks in two perfect frames.
- The two teams last met over the opening weekend of 2014 when weather forced Mizzou to play at McNeese State after originally being scheduled for the North Florida Invite. Mizzou defeated Chicago State, 6-3.
We're Going Up Through The Quad To The Gymnasium
- After winning 15 consecutive games, Mizzou is streaking through its nonconference schedule. With its win streak currently at 15 games, Mizzou is chasing some of the longest win streaks in program history. The current 15-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 | 1981, 1917 |
| 15 | 2017 |
- There have been only three win streaks in Mizzou's history longer than Mizzou's current 15-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 two games of its homestand and the first two games of the SEC-opening series at Alabama to reach that streak.
- What makes Mizzou's 15-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 15 wins, eight of the games have been decided by two or fewer runs, including six one-run wins and four walk-off wins, including Sunday's 3-2 win in which junior DH Robbie Glendinning hit a ninth-inning, RBI single to walk it off.
YOU THINK KFC IS STILL OPEN?
- Staying on the streaking topic, Mizzou's 15-game win streak is tops in the nation, tying with No. 1 Louisville, which has also won 15 straight. Below is a look at the longest active streaks in all of college baseball this season:
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Team(s) Consecutive Wins 1. Mizzou, Louisville 15 2. South Florida 14 3. Oregon State 9 4. McNeese St., Maryland 8 5. New Mexico, SELA, Washington St., Bimghamton 7
WALK IT OFF
- During Mizzou's 15-game win streak, four of the 15 wins have come via the walk-off. All of last season, Mizzou had just two walk-off wins as the Tigers have developed a knack for winning close games early this season under first year head coach Steve Bieser.
- In addition to winning via walk-off hits, Mizzou has won eight of its 15 games during the win streak by two or fewer runs, including six one-run wins. Mizzou had just nine wins in games decided by two or fewer runs a year ago and went 9-14 in such games. Mizzou is 8-0 in such games this season.
HOUCK RETURNING TO FORM
- Mizzou junior RHP and preseason first team All-American Tanner Houck struggled by his standards in his first two starts of the season. But over the last two weeks, the projected top-10 pick has returned to the form that has earned him such high praise throughout his career. Over his last two starts, he has allowed just one unearned run over 14.2 innings with 12 strikeouts and just eight hits and two walks.
- Last Friday, Houck nearly pitched a complete game shutout, but a trio of Mizzou errors and two botched double-play balls led to an elevated pitch count and he was not able to finish the game. He did however pitch into the ninth inning for the first time since May 19 of last season at Kentucky.
- Friday's start vs. Appalachian State was Houck's sixth shutout appearance in his career, with Houck lasting at least 6.0 innings in each of those.
- Houck has also fanned at least seven batters in 17 starts during his 34 career starts.
BIESER OFF TO HISTORIC START, TOO
- We highlighted earlier that at 15-1 on the year, Mizzou is off to its best start in program history, matching the 1985 team that also opened 15-1. What is even more noteworthy is the start for first year head coach Steve Bieser. The former big leaguer-turned-skipper has already won the fourth-most games ever by a first-year Mizzou coach and needs just 13 more wins to tie the program record for wins in an initial season by a coach at Mizzou. Below is the list:
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Year Coach Wins 1974 Gene McArtor 28 1995 Tim Jamieson 19 1906 Ebright 18 2017 Steve Bieser 15 1937 John 'Hi' Simmons 13 1912 O.F. Field 11 1918 John Miller 11 1909 Lowman 9 1922 Jerry Jones 9 1925 Harry Kipke 9 1911 Chester Brewer 8 1923 Hank Garrity 8 1935 Anton Stankowski 7 1926 Jack Crangle 5
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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