@MizzouBaseball Opens SEC Tournament vs. Texas A&M Tuesday
5/22/2017 11:02:00 AM | Baseball
Regional berth at stake as Houck takes the mound in SEC Tournament opener
| MIZZOU LOOKS FOR FIRST WIN OVER VANDERBILT | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OPPONENT | LOCATION | DAY | TIME (CT) | Listen | Stats | TV |
| #7 Texas A&M | Hoover Met Stadium | Tuesday, May 23 | 1:00 p.m. | KTGR | Stats | SEC Network |
- Mizzou Baseball has earned the No. 10 seed at the SEC Tournament and will open postseason play against seventh-seeded Texas A&M Aggies Tuesday at approximately 1 p.m. on SEC Network and KTGR in the Mid-Missouri area. This is the third consecutive year that Mizzou has qualified for the SEC Tournament and fourth time in five years since joining the league.
- Under the direction of first-year head coach Steve Bieser, Mizzou has enjoyed one of its best regular seasons in recent memory. Mizzou went 35-21, its most wins in a season since 2009 (35) and its most regular season wins since 2008 (37). The Tigers finished SEC play at 14-16, winning the final five SEC games and the last two series of the year (vs. South Carolina and at Tennessee). The 14 wins are the second-most ever recorded by Mizzou in SEC play.
- The Tigers are coming into the SEC Tournament as one of the nation's hottest teams, winning six straight games to close the regular season while winning seven of their last 10. Mizzou will clearly be looking to improve its NCAA Tournament resume this week at the SEC Tournament. With its current hot streak, Mizzou has moved itself from out of the conversation for an at-large big to squarely on the bubble. The Tigers are No. 50 in the RPI this week and boast seven RPI top-50 wins and 11 over the top-100. Mizzou likely needs to make a run this week to secure an at-large berth.
- Mizzou finished the 2017 regular season with a 3.43 staff ERA, which would be Mizzou's best clip since the 2006 season when it finished with a 3.36 mark. That 2006 team featured the likes of Max Scherzer, Aaron Crow, Rick Zagone and Nathan Culp and pitched to an NCAA Super Regional. Mizzou has three pitchers in SEC's top 10 in ERA: freshman LHP T.J. Sikkema (5th at 2.28), junior RHP Cole Bartlett (8th at 2.78) and junior RHP Tanner Houck (10th at 2.89). Mizzou is second in the SEC in ERA.
- As mentioned above, Mizzou has been one of the nation's hottest teams, winning six straight games. Much of that success comes from the pitching staff, which has a 1.83 ERA and a 0.87 WHIP in that span.
- Mizzou will send junior ace RHP Tanner Houck to the mound for his third SEC Tournament appearance. In his career, he is 0-2 in 14.0 innings, allowing just 11 hits. He has a 3.86 ERA and 14 strikeouts against only two walks. His first appearance was against Alabama in 2015 as a freshman and he pitched last year's game against Vanderbilt on short rest, just four days after pitching a complete game at Kentucky that helped Mizzou clinch an SEC Tournament berth. He enters Tuesday's start very well-rested as he has not thrown since Saturday, May 13, against South Carolina. He threw a complete game while allowing just three runs and striking out a season-high 10 in a 5-3 win. It was likely his final start at Mizzou's Taylor Stadium.
- Houck has been red hot over his last two starts, showing the ability that had him pegged as a top-10 pick in this year's draft by many pundits heading into the season. He is 1-0 with a 1.59 ERA in 17.0 IP, striking out 19 with just two walks over his last two outings at Vanderbilt and vs. South Carolina.
Mizzou is 1-4 all-time in SEC Tournament action and 26-26 in league tourneys dating back to when Mizzou played in the Big 12 Conference (1997-2012). Mizzou's last conference tournament title came in 2012, its final year in the Big 12, as the Tigers went 4-0 to claim the trophy and advance to the NCAA Tuscon Regional. - Mizzou is coming off of a three-game series sweep at Tennessee last Thursday-Saturday. Mizzou allowed just 10 hits in the three-game series and only two runs (one earned) as it boasted a 0.33 ERA and a 0.56 WHIP over the three games. The Tigers got complete game shutouts from freshman LHP T.J. Sikkema and junior RHP Cole Bartlett, the latter being a one-hitter, in the first two games. Mizzou then exploded for eight runs on 13 hits in the series finale to pick up its second straight SEC series win (fourth total) and second sweep.
- Bartlett and Sikkema earned SEC Pitcher of the Week and SEC Co-Freshman of the Week, respectively.
- Mizzou Baseball LHP T.J. Sikkema earned a spot on the 2017 All-Freshman SEC Team, announced Monday by the league office. Sikkema earned a spot as a relief pitcher and is Mizzou's first Freshman Team selection since 2015. Sikkema leads the SEC in opponent batting (.169), hits per nine innings (5.28) and WHIP (0.80) while ranking fifth in ERA (2.28) and wins (eight). His eight wins are the most for a Mizzou true freshman since Tanner Houck won eight during his freshman campaign in 2015.
Pitching Matchups
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Thursday
RHP Tanner Houck (4-7, 2.89 ERA) vs. LHP John Doxakis (2-3, 5.12 ERA)
Series History
- Texas A&M leads the all-time series with Mizzou, 47-38, after taking all three meetings in Columbia earlier this season. While Mizzou and Texas A&M have never met in the SEC Tournament, the Tigers and Aggies have met three times in conference tournament action with all five meetings coming when the two were in the Big 12. A&M has won three of the five meetings.
•2008 - Texas A&M - 6-2
• 2009 - Mizzou - 5-2
• 2010 - Texas A&M - 7-2
• 2011 - Texas A&M - 11-10 (10) - Big 12 Championship
• 2012 - Mizzou - 5-3 - The obvious matchup that is worth mentioning is the 2011 meeting in the Big 12 Championship game. Mizzou opened a 6-0 lead early in that game before Texas A&M rallied to take a 7-6 lead after the fourth inning. Mizzou rallied to take a 9-8 lead in the top of the ninth inning, but a two-out, big-hop ground ball got over the head of Mizzou 3B CJ Jarvis for the tying run in the bottom of the ninth inning. The Aggies then got a walk-off homer in the 10th inning from 2B Andrew Collazo to claim the title.
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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