March 6, 2003
Truman State Box Score | Lincoln Box Score
COLUMBIA, Mo. -
The Missouri baseball team tied a school record for the largest shutout in its 109-season history, blanking Truman State by a staggering 30-0 margin in the first game of a split doubleheader Thursday night at Taylor Stadium/Simmons Field. The Tigers ended the night with a sweep from its 9-1 win against Lincoln University in the nightcap.
The first-game shutout matches Mizzou's 30-0 win over Central College way back in 1904. The Tigers now lead the all-time series with the Bulldogs by a 32-5 count.
Junior Cody Ehlers (Stillwater, Okla.) was 3-for-3 with five RBI and a pair of runs scored in game one, then made his first career start on the mound in the nightcap. He allowed just one run in his four innings, striking out a career-high seven batters.
Redshirt freshman Tyrone Roberson (St. Louis, Mo.) had an excellent outing off the bench in his first game since announcing that he was focusing on baseball full-time earlier in the week. Roberson belted an eighth-inning offering over the left-field wall in the first game for his first collegiate homer. He finished 2-for-3 with five RBI and two runs scored in that game.
In the opener, the Tigers took advantage of an 11-run first inning and coasted to the win. In that opening frame, Mizzou sent 15 batters to the plate, with every Tiger starter but one scoring a run in the first. The one that didn't - right fielder Kyle Johnson (Omaha, Neb.), led off the second with a walk and later scored himself on a single by Jeremy Hernandez (Aptos, Calif).
The third inning was the only frame that the Tigers were held scoreless. Mizzou added nine runs in the fifth.
In the second game, Lincoln took a quick 1-0 lead in the first inning on a botched pickoff attempt and a double by Hennington Hodgson. Yet Mizzou scored four each in the third and sixth and a final run in the eighth to cap the sweep. Junior Mark Alexander (Independence, Mo.) took the win with three solid innings of three-hit relief of Ehlers.
A pair of Tiger rookies also made excellent relief debuts. Brian Bilica (Jefferson City, Mo.) closed the final two innings of the opener with two-hit relief, and redshirt freshman Stephan Holst (Independence, Mo.) opened his Mizzou career with a strikeout and threw the last two of the nightcap with two innings of perfect relief.
"Cody did exactly what we needed him to do tonight," said Head Coach Tim Jamieson of Ehlers' second-game performance. "He was the perfect guy to start tonight. We didn't want to deplete our bullpen for the weekend, and he hasn't thrown a lot." This isn't Jamieson's first 30-run win as a coach; as an assistant at New Orleans, Jamieson was once part of a 31-1 Privateer win.
Since he was not charged with an official at-bat in the second game, junior backstop Brad Flanders (Smithville, Mo.) kept his hitting streak at nine games. He's hitting .606 (20-for-33) in his last 10 games.
The Tigers begin a three-game series with Creighton on Friday at Taylor Stadium/Simmons Field. Game 1 is set for 6:30 p.m., with the Saturday and Sunday games slated for 2 p.m. and 1 p.m., respectively. For ticket information, call 1-800-CAT-PAWS (573-884-PAWS in mid-Missouri).
