Tuesday, April 4
Sauget, Ill.
6:30 PM
University of Missouri
vs
Illinois
@MizzouBaseball Looks for Braggin' Rights Tuesday vs. Illinois
4/3/2017 5:40:00 PM | Baseball
Mizzou looks to snap five-game skid against rival Illinois
| BRAGGIN' RIGHTS ON THE LINE IN ST. LOUIS | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OPPONENT | LOCATION | DAY | TIME | Listen | Stats | Tickets |
| Illinois | GCS Ballpark | Tuesday,April 4 | 6:30 p.m. | KTGR | Stats | Click Here |
- Mizzou Baseball will look to right the ship this Tuesday in its annual Braggin' Rights Rivalry against border foe Illinois at GCS Ballpark in Sauget, Ill., home of the independent league's Gateway Grizzlies. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. and will air live on KTGR in the Mid-Missouri area with Tex Little and Matt Michaels on the call.
- Mizzou and Illinois are meeting for the second time this season. Mizzou claimed a 7-6 win over the Illini in its final game of the Kleberg Bank College Classic. Mizzou scored four runs in the top of the first inning before Illinois exploded for three-run homers in both the first and second innings. Mizzou rallied with one run in the fifth and two in the sixth to take the lead. Freshman LHP T.J. Sikkema held Illinois scoreless over the final 4.1 innings to earn the win.
- After winning 20 consecutive games earlier in the year, including its first seven one-run games, Mizzou has fallen on some hard times, going just 2-6 on its recent eight-game homestand. The Tigers enter Tuesday's game with Illinois having lost five straight games, all by one run. Most recently, Mizzou was swept by No. 9 Florida, 4-3, 2-1 and 2-1, to fall to 21-7 on the year and 4-5 in SEC play.
- Illinois has lost seven of its last 11 games but is coming off of a weekend sweep of Indiana State over the weekend, winning 6-4, 2-1 and 5-2.
- Illinois has won the last two games of the series played at GCS Ballpark, winning 4-3 in 2015, the second straight win in what turned out to be a 27-game win streak for the Illini that year. Mizzou lost, 6-4, in last year's contest.
- Despite losing all three games last weekend, Mizzou's pitching staff and defense were outstanding against the Gators, surrendering just eight runs (seven earned) over the three games. Mizzou's offense was simply held in check by the Gators as the Tigers hit just .183 on the weekend. The bullpen was especially impressive, tossing 11.2 shutout innings against the Gators.
As mentioned, Mizzou's bats, which have carried Mizzou for much of the season, were held silent last weekend. Tuesday, they will face an Illinois pitching staff that has struggled at times this season with a 6.33 staff ERA. Walks and extra-base hits have haunted Illinois this season. The Illini have walked 140 batters in 219.0 innings in addition to surrendering 226 hits, good for a 1.67 WHIP. Illinois ranks 276th nationally in walks allowed while Mizzou has drawn 165 walks, the fifth-most in the country as that will be a matchup to watch. - As mentioned, Illinois has also surrendered 81 extra-base hits in 219.0 innings, including 37 homers. GCS Ballpark has some small dimensions, so that will be another thing to keep an eye on Tuesday.
- Illinois will send freshman RHP Cyrillo Watson to the mound Tuesday. He is 1-2 with a 4.67 ERA in 17.1 innings while limiting batters to .210 hitting this season. He most recently pitched on March 28 against Bradley, tossing 5.0 innings, allowing only four hits and a run with a strikeout. He also hit a batter in that start. He has been very good over his last three appearances, going 1-1 with 9.0 innings pitched and just one earned run in games against Illinois State, Michigan State and Bradley. He did pitch in Mizzou's first meeting with Illinois, going 1.0 inning without a run and one strikeout.
- Mizzou will send junior RHP Andy Toelken to the mound Tuesday. He is 1-1 with a 4.44 ERA but has had some recent struggles of his own. Since pitching 7.0 innings and allowing just two earned runs in the series finale vs. Appalachian State, he has made it through just 3.2 innings in his last three appearances with 10 hits, seven runs (five earned) and three walks. He had a scoreless 0.2 innings against Florida over the weekend.
Pitching Matchup
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Tuesday
RHP Andy Toelken (1-1, 4.44 ERA) vs. RHP Cyrillo Watson (1-2. 4.67)
Up Next
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Mizzou then hits the road the following day for a three-game series at Georgia, beginning Thursday, April 6, at Foley Field. The culmination of the series is Saturday at Suntrust Park, the new home of the Atlanta Braves at 12:30 p.m. It is the first college game slated to be played at the brand new $622 million stadium.
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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).
Players Mentioned
RHP
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