@MizzouBaseball Opens Six-Game Homestand with UAPB
4/10/2017 5:18:00 PM | Baseball
Games will be Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. and Wednesday at 4 p.m.
| MIZZOU OPENS SIX-GAME HOMESTAND WITH UAPB | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OPPONENT | LOCATION | DAY | TIME (CT) | Listen | Stats | Watch |
| UAPB | Taylor Stadium | Tuesday, April 11 | 6:30 p.m. | KTGR | Stats | SEC Network+ |
| UAPB | Taylor Stadium | Wednesday, April 12 | 4:00 p.m. | KTGR | Stats | SEC Network+ |
- Mizzou Baseball, fresh off of a series win at SEC East rival Georgia, opens a six-game homestand Tuesday in the first of a two-game series against Arkansas-Pine Bluff of the Southwestern Athletic Conference. Game one of the two-game series will feature a 6:30 p.m. first pitch while Wednesday's finale will be played at 4 p.m. Both games will air live on SEC Network+.
- Mizzou snapped a season-long seven-game losing streak by winning two of the final three games in a series at Georgia last weekend. After dropping the opener, 3-0, despite a gem pitched by junior RHP Tanner Houck, Mizzou rallied for an 8-5 win in game two at Foley Field. The series finale was played in front of 33,025 fans at the Atlanta Braves' brand new Suntrust Park on Saturday and Georgia native Trey Harris hit a go-head three-run homer in the top of the fourth inning and junior RHP Bryce Montes De Oca pitched a great game to help Mizzou win 6-1 to claim the series. Harris' homer was the first ever hit inside the Braves' new ballpark. The 33,025 fans to watch the game Saturday were the second-largest crowd ever to take in a college baseball game, trailing only a game between San Diego State and Houston on March 11, 2004, which was played at the Padres' Petco Park in front of 40,106.
- Following the weekend, Mizzou sits at 23-9 on the year and 6-6 in SEC play, a stark improvement from last year's team that finished with just 26 wins and only nine wins in SEC play. First-year head coach Steve Bieser has Mizzou as one of 10 teams within two games of first place overall in the SEC. Mizzou is also 5-1 on the road in SEC play, marking the first time Mizzou has been 5-1 on the road to open league play since before the Tigers joined the Big 12 Conference in 1997.
- Amazingly, Mizzou used just five pitchers last weekend at Georgia to earn the series win.
- Mizzou will step out of conference play during the middle of this week to host Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Mizzou is 17-3 this year against nonconference opponents and 11-1 in home games against nonconference opponents. Mizzou has, however, lost two straight nonconference games after falling to SEMO and Illinois over the last two Tuesdays of action. Mizzou leads the all-time series with Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 14-1.
- With Mizzou returning home this week, the Tigers will look to right the ship in games played at Taylor Stadium. Mizzou most recently finished an eight-game homestand with a disappointing 2-6 record before playing Illinois in St. Louis and its three-game series at Georgia last weekend. In all, Mizzou is 12-6 at home this season, winning its first 10 home games of the season before falling to Arkansas in the opener of that series on March 24. The last five Mizzou home games have all been one-run losses.
- Mizzou will send junior RHP Andy Toelken to the mound Tuesday in the series opener. He is coming off of one of his best starts of the year last Tuesday against Illinois at the hitter-friendly GCS Ballpark in Sauget, Ill. He went 5.2 innings and allowed just three hits and two earned runs on a homer in the first. He struck out a career-high six batters in that start and settled in nicely following the two-run homer in the first inning. Toelken will make his eighth start of the season Tuesday. He is 1-1 with a 4.20 ERA and is limiting batters to .258 hitting.
- On Wednesday, Mizzou will hand the ball to RS sophomore RHP Liam Carter, who will make his first start since March 8 against Western Carolina. In all this year, Carter is 1-0 with an 11.00 ERA over 9.0 innings pitched. He last appeared in a game on March 24 against Arkansas, tossing 1.0 relief innings while allowing one run with a strikeout. His best start came on opening weekend vs. EMU when he went a career-high 5.0 innings with just four hits and three strikeouts and only two earned runs in his first win of the season. Since then, he has struggled, going a combined 4.0 innings over his last three appearances while being charged with nine earned runs, five walks, one hit batters and nine hits.
Pitching Matchups
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Tuesday
RHP Andy Toelken (1-1, 4.20 ERA) vs. TBA -
Wednesday
RHP Liam Carter (1-0, 11.00 ERA) vs. TBA
Series History
- Mizzou and Arkansas-Pine Bluff have met 15 times over the years with Mizzou holding a 14-1 edge in the all-time series.
- Mizzou won the only meeting between the two teams a year ago, defeating the Golden Lions, 2-0, on March 2 at Taylor Stadium. Mizzou got a run in the first on an RBI groundout from now junior OF Trey Harris and added another run on an RBI single by now sophomore Brian Sharp in the fourth inning. Junior RHP Ryan Lee started that game and went a career-best 6.1 shutout innings with just four hits and three strikeouts.
- Mizzou has won the last two meetings between the two teams as they split a two-game series in 2015 with Pine Bluff winning the opener, 8-3, on March 24 before Mizzou won, 9-3, in the series finale that year. Mizzou had won the first 12 meetings before dropping that game in 2015.
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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