@MizzouBaseball Takes Nation's Longest Win Streak Into Series vs. App State

Mizzou Hosts App State With Nation's Longest Win Streak Intact
OPPONENT	LOCATION	DAY	TIME	Listen	Stats	Watch
vs. Appalachian St.	Taylor Stadium	Friday, March 10	6:30 p.m.	KTGR	Stats	SEC Network+
vs. Appalachian St.	Taylor Stadium	Saturday, March 11	2:00 p.m.	KTGR	Stats	SEC Network+
vs. Appalachian St.	Taylor Stadium	Sunday, March 12	1:00 p.m.	KTGR	Stats	SEC Network+

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Mizzou Baseball, ranked No. 26 in the College Baseball Newspaper Top 30, will put its national-best 12-game winning streak on the line this weekend as it hosts Appalachian State in a three-game series at Taylor Stadium. Junior RHP Tanner Houck will get the ball Friday night at 6:30 p.m. in the series-opener. Sophomore LHP Michael Plassmeyer is slated to pitch Saturday in a 2 p.m. start. In the finale, Mizzou will send junior RHP Andy Toelken to the mound at 1 p.m. All three games are slated to air on SEC Network+ and KTGR in the Mid-Missouri area.
Mizzou defeated Western Carolina, 7-6, on Wednesday night thanks to a 10th-inning walk-off RBI single from junior DH Robbie Glendinning. That pushed Mizzou's winning streak to 12 straight games, the longest by a Mizzou team since 2008, tying Louisville for the longest active streak in the nation and the longest by any team in the nation this season. The Tigers now have more wins than any other team in the SEC and only Oklahoma (13 wins) has more wins than Mizzou in all of college baseball.
The Appalachian State series continues a season-long 10-game homestand for Mizzou. The Tigers are 5-0 at Taylor Stadium this season and have won in a variety of ways, including a pair of walk off wins. A big key to Mizzou's success has been two-out hitting. With 33 two-out RBIs on the year, 16 have come over the five games played at Taylor Stadium with the team averaging 3.2 two-out RBI per game in that span. In Mizzou's first eight games, Mizzou averaged just 2.1. Nearly 45-percent of Mizzou's runs batted in over the homestand have come with two outs (16-of-36). During that span, Mizzou has allowed just five two-out RBI. Junior OF Trey Harris has a team-leading five two-out RBI during the homestand. As a team, Mizzou is hitting .345 with two outs during the homestand.

Mizzou's offense has been a key component to its 12-game winning streak. Under first-year head coach Steve Bieser, the Tigers have been thriving under his pitch-recognition program. Below is a look at the offensive production and where it ranks in the SEC and nationally.

Stat	SEC Rank	National Rank
Doubles (41)	1	2
Batting (.343)	1	5
OBP (.433)	1	8
Slugging (.531)	1	11
Hits (158)	2	6
Total Bases (245)	2	10

Mizzou has had a knack for winning close games during its 12-game win streak, going 7-0 in games decided by two or fewer runs (5-0 in one-run games) with three walk-off wins. Two of the walk-off wins have come since Mizzou returned home to Taylor Stadium. The first was last Sunday when freshman OF Kameron Misner tallied a walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth to down UIC, 11-10. The most recent came Wednesday when junior Robbie Glendinning notched an RBI single through the right side in the bottom of the 10th for the Tigers' second walk-off win in a three-game span.
Mizzou has now clubbed 10 or more hits in 10 of 13 games this season, including the last four games. In the three games that Mizzou has not tallied at least 10 hits, it has finished with nine, seven and eight, coming close on all three occasions. It took Mizzou 19 games to pound out more than its 158 hits that it has through 13 games this season. Mizzou had just five games with 10 or more hits through 13 games last season.

Pitching Matchup

Friday:
RHP Tanner Houck (1-1, 4.50 ERA) vs. RHP Travis Holden (1-1, 7.47 ERA)

Saturday:
LHP Michael Plassmeyer (2-0, 2.81 ERA) vs. LHP Colin Scmid (2-1, 3.00 ERA)

Sunday:
RHP Andy Toelken (1-0, 3.29 ERA) vs. RHP Luke Watts (1-1, 3.50)

Series History

Mizzou and Appalachian State have never met.
The Mountaineers come into this weekend's series at 6-6 on the season. They have played four ranked teams during their first 12-games, including SEC foe South Carolina, which won 8-4 on Feb. 28 in Columbia East. The Mountaineers are 0-4 on the year against ranked teams and 3-3 in road games this season.
The Mountaineers strength has been in its pitching staff as the offense is hitting just .214 as a unit with just one player - Calev Grubbs - hitting .300 or better.
They are coming off of a 4-3 win over UNC-Asheville Wednesday night.

We're Going Up Through The Quad To The Gynasium

After winning 12 consecutive games, Mizzou is streaking through its nonconference schedule. With its win streak currently at 12 games, Mizzou is chasing some of the longest win streaks in program history. The current 12-game mark matches the longest by a Tiger team since 2008 when they also won 14 in a row. Below is a breakdown of the longest win streaks in school history:

Consecutive Wins	Years Accomplished
19	1964
16	1981, 1917
14	2008, 2007, 1985
13	2003, 1998, 1978, 1952, 1916
12	2017, 1979 (twice), 1977, 1974

There have been only 11 win streaks in Mizzou's history longer than Mizzou's current 12-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 five games of its homestand and the first two games of the SEC-opening series at Alabama to reach that streak.
What makes Mizzou's 12-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 12 wins, seven of the games have been decided by two or fewer runs, including five one-run wins and three walk-off wins, including Wednesday's 7-6 win in which junior DH Robbie Glendinning hit a 10th-inning, RBI single to walk it off.

YOU THINK KFC IS STILL OPEN?

Staying on the streaking topic, Mizzou's 12-game win streak is tops in the nation, tying with No. 4 Louisville, which has also won 12 straight. Below is a look at the longest active streaks in all of college baseball this season:

Team(s)	Consecutive Wins
1. Mizzou, Louisville	12
2. South Florida	11
3. East Carolina	10
4. Florida State	9
5. Tennessee, Florida Gulf Coast	8

WALK IT OFF

During Mizzou's 12-game win streak, three of the 12 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 seven of its 12 games during the win streak by two or fewer runs, including five 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 7-0 in such games this season.

BOND NAMED TO JOHNNY BENCH WATCH LIST

Mizzou Baseball junior catcher Brett Bond was added to the Johnny Bench Award Watch List, announced Thursday by the Greater Wichita Sports Commission. Bond is one of 85 catchers to make the watch list and this is the first time he has appeared on the list during his career.
Bond is off to an extremely hot start for Mizzou, which ranks No. 26 in the Collegiate Baseball Magazine Top 30 and is riding a national-best 12-game winning streak. The Tiger catcher leads the team in batting (.472) and hits (25) while ranking second in the SEC in both categories. Bond has also slugged a team-best three homers, sixth-most in the SEC this season. He tallied Mizzou's first five-hit game since 2011 in a 10-1 win over Eastern Illinois on Tuesday and homered in Wednesday's 7-6, 10-inning win over Western Carolina. Bond is fourth in the SEC in total bases (39), runs scored (18) and OBP (.548), and is fifth in slugging (.736).
Additional candidates will be added to the watch list on May 1. The list will then be narrowed down to the semifinalists, whom will be announced May 17, 2017. Ballots will be sent to the national voting panel at the end of May for a vote to determine the three finalists, which will be announced June 5. A final vote among the national committee will occur during the College World Series. All finalists will be brought to Wichita and the winner will be announced at the 20th Annual Greater Wichita Sports Banquet on June 29.

We Were Merely Freshmen

Through three-and-a-half weeks of play, a trio of Mizzou freshmen have established themselves as stalwarts on Mizzou's roster and have been a huge part of Mizzou's success. OF Kameron Misner, INF Chris Cornelius and LHP T.J. Sikkema have been key cogs for Mizzou and their contributions were fully on display last weekend in the series win over UIC.
Misner of course was the hero of Sunday's game, belting a walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth inning on a 2-0 fastball to clinch an 11-10 win and a three-game series sweep. Misner is hitting .351 to lead all Mizzou freshmen and has slugged five doubles, two homers and driven in nine. He also leads Mizzou with four steals and stole home last weekend vs. UIC as well. He has hit in the three-hole in six games this season with Mizzou winning all six.
Cornelius has started and played in 12 games this season, seeing time at both middle infield spots. He is hitting .286 with three doubles, a homer and 12 RBI. He leads the team with five multi-RBI games this season and had a big, game-tying, two-out double Wednesday vs. WCU.
Sikkema has been Mizzou's top reliever this spring and leads all SEC freshmen in ERA (0.45) while leading the league in strikeouts (32). We outline his dominance later in the notes.

GLENDINNING: THE RIPPER FROM DOWN UNDER

Mizzou junior INF Robbie Glendinning has been on fire this season. A native of Scarborough, Australia, a west coast town near Perth, Glendinning traded in his surfboard for the baseball diamond and Mizzou has been reaping the benefits during his first year at Mizzou.
Through 13 games this season, Glendinning owns the SEC's top on-base percentage at .592 and ranks second in the SEC in slugging (.784) and fourth in batting. He is second in the SEC with a 1.376 OPS, trailing only Tennessee's Jeff Moberg.
Glendinning has six multi-hit games this season and was an absolute beast during Mizzou's two midweek contests Tuesday and Wednesday. He went 6-for-9 with four runs, two RBI, a double, a triple and a homer. He also tallied the game-winning, walk-off 10th-inning single on Wednesday vs. WCU.
Glendinning also leads Mizzou with 11 walks, a mark that is tied for seventh in the SEC. The 11 walks are a key reason why Glendinning ranks 12th nationally in on-base percentage. He is second among players from Power 5 leagues in OBP, trailing only Louisville preseason All-American Brendan McKay.

Double Trouble

A huge key to Mizzou's offense has been its ability to slug extra-base hits, highlighted by 41 doubles, the best total in the SEC. It took Mizzou 24 games to hit that many doubles a year ago. Mizzou has hit a double in 12 of 13 games this season and in 10 consecutive games. Mizzou slugged a season-high seven doubles against Eastern Michigan on Feb. 18 in a 27-run outburst. Nine different Tigers have at least three doubles with junior Matt Berler leading the way with six as the doubles have been a full team effort. Mizzou's OPS (on base plus slugging percentage) after three weeks is .964 – to put that mark into perspective, .900 or higher is considered elite for a player, not to mention an entire team putting up a combined mark above .900.
While it is important to take into account the sample size so far, Mizzou is averaging 3.15 doubles per game this season through the first 13. That puts the team on pace for 176 doubles, which would be by far the most in program history. The record is 138 set in 1999 near the tail end of the gorilla ball era.

Comparing the Offense

While some could argue that Mizzou's offensive numbers are inflated by a perceived 'lack of competition' it is hard to argue when comparing the numbers to where they have been over the last several seasons. Even with playing a pair of Power 5 programs this year, including facing preseason All-American LHP Seth Romero and No. 25 Houston, Mizzou's numbers are far better than they were a year ago through the first 13 games, facing very similar competition.

Stat	2016	2017	% Increase
Homers	5	12	140
Doubles	20	41	105
XBHs	29	58	100
Runs	78	110	41.0
Slugging	.379	.531	40.1
Hits	117	158	35.0
Batting	.277	.343	23.8
OBP	.379	.433	14.2
Walks	60	70	16.7

Bullpen on Parade

While all the rage has been Mizzou's offense, it's hard to argue against the machine that has been Mizzou's bullpen. Despite a rough outing under windy conditions on Sunday, Mizzou's bullpen owns a combined 1.39 ERA in 58.1 innings of work this season. Mizzou's bullpen has allowed just 42 hits over those 58.1 innings and has struck out 78 batters against just 18 walks (4.33 K-BB ratio). The bullpen is limiting teams to a .190 batting average this season.

Down With the Sikkemas

A key reason for Mizzou's success in the bullpen has been the emergence of freshman LHP T.J. Sikkema. Described as having electric stuff by Mizzou head coach Steve Bieser, Sikkema has arguably been the best reliever in the SEC this season. Sikkema was lights out during week two as he was named Kleberg Bank College Classic MVP after earning a win and save over a pair of Power 5 opponents, including nationally-ranked Houston when he tossed a 2.2 inning save in a 4-2 win, the first save of his career. He then earned the win on Sunday against Illinois as he threw the final 4.1 shutout innings, scattering just three hits while matching his career-high with eight strikeouts. On the week, he went7.0 innings and allowed just three hits with 11 Ks against just one walk.
He continued that spectacular pitching last weekend against UIC, tossing 4.0 shutout innings while striking out seven against no walks while scattering only two hits. He now owns a 19.2-inning shutout streak with 32 strikeouts and just 10 hits allowed in that span. He tossed 3.2 shutout innings, striking out six with no walks and one hit Wednesday vs. WCU.
Sikkema now leads all SEC freshmen in ERA (0.45) and is fifth overall. He also ranks 10th in the SEC in opponent batting while his 15 strikeouts looking are also a league-best. He leads the SEC in strikeouts and all freshmen nationally with 32.
On the year, Sikkema owns a 14.50 K/9 average.

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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