Feb. 16, 2008
The following is the first part in a five-part series previewing the 2008 Mizzou Baseball season. We begin with a look back at the 2007 season.
The 2007 preseason polls had Mizzou picked to finish near the bottom of the Big 12 Conference and well out of the national Top 25. At season's end, Missouri was second in the Big 12 and had advanced to its fifth-straight NCAA Tournament, hosting an NCAA Regional for the first time in school history.
The Tigers finished 42-18 on the year, tying for the fifth-most victories in a season in school history. They set a school record for conference wins with a 19-8 league record and claimed their best ever finish in the 11 years of the Big 12 Conference with the second-place showing.
Mizzou Head Coach Tim Jamieson, who recorded his 400th-career victory in the season opener, was named the Co-Big 12 Conference Coach of the Year.
The first weekend in June saw the NCAA Tournament come to Columbia, as the Tigers were selected as one of the 16 schools to host NCAA Regionals. It was the first time Missouri had hosted under the current regional-play format and was the first NCAA postseason action at MU since 1965.
Record crowds filled Taylor Stadium to see the Tigers host the Miami, Louisville and Kent State in the Columbia Regional. A stadium record crowd of 3,481 fans attend Mizzou's opening game of the regional, a 10-2 win over Kent State behind a complete-game five hitter by sophomore Aaron Crow.
The next day, a new record was set as 3,630 fans saw the Tigers defeat Louisville, 7-5. Mizzou trailed 3-0 to the Cardinals in the sixth inning before junior Jacob Priday and freshman Trevor
Coleman connected on back-to-back home runs to tie the score. MU outscored Louisville 7-2 over the final four innings to take the win. However, Louisville rebounded to take back-to-back wins over the Tigers, claiming the regional title and ending Missouri's season.
Four months prior it was hard to imagine what would take place in June. Entering the season with little expectations, the Tigers opened 2007 with a three-game sweep of Florida International in Miami to open the season 3-0 for the first time since 1999.
Following a season-opening 11-game road trip in which Missouri went 6-5, the Tigers opened its home schedule by sweeping Youngstown State, starting a season- long 14-game winning streak. The final two wins of the streak came in the first two contests of the conference opening series at Nebraska.
The two victories over Nebraska gave Mizzou the series win, a theme that would continue throughout the season as Missouri won 11 of its 12 three-game series during the year, including eight of nine series in the Big 12. MU was a perfect 6-0 in road series, which included series wins in all five conference road trips.
After taking two-of-three at Nebraska, including a complete-game win by sophomore pitcher Rick Zagone, MU returned to Taylor Stadium to take on rival Kansas in the first Big 12 Conference home series of the year.
Missouri dropped the series opener to Kansas, but took the next two games behind the bat of junior Evan Frey. In the second game of the weekend, Frey drove in five runs and hit his first career home run. Frey capped off the series with a 2-for-5 outing in the finale with his second hit of the day being a walk-off homer. The home run, his second in as many days and just the second of his career, came with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.
For the next series, the Tigers took to the road for three games against Kansas State. KSU took game one, but Mizzou rebounded with two victories to close out the series. Zagone pitched another complete game in game two of the weekend series against Kansas State. He carried a no-hitter into the ninth inning, with a base hit with one out in the bottom of the ninth being the only hit he allowed.
Coleman hit a home run in the top of the 12th inning of the series finale with KSU to give the Tigers another series victory.
The following weekend, Texas A&M handed Missouri its only series loss of the year. The Tigers dropped the series opener despite a complete game thrown by Crow, who allowed just three unearned runs, but took the loss.
A week later, Crow recorded his first career Big 12 win, as the Tigers defeated Baylor. Crow was perfect through the first 4.1 innings and allowed just two runs in 7.1 innings on the hill. The next day, Mizzou used a nine-run fourth inning to take the win and clinch another series victory.
Mizzou would sweep Texas Tech to record its fourth sweep of the season and it's first in conference play.
The next week found the Tigers in Austin, Texas for three-games against Texas. MU scored a run in the top of the 11th to win game one, then after dropping the second game, won the finale behind a two-home run game by Coleman.
Another series win followed as MU took two-of-three from Oklahoma, which included a pair of six-RBI games -- one by Priday in the series opener and one by freshman Aaron Senne in the finale.
The Tigers closed out the regular season with a sweep over Oklahoma State in Stillwater, which clinched the second-place finish for Mizzou. They would pick up a fourth-straight win over OSU at the Big 12 Tournament, claiming a 13-3 run-rule victory. That win was the lone victory for the Tigers at the Big 12 Tournament who would fall to Oklahoma and Baylor.
The exciting regional action in Columbia followed as Missouri made its fifth-straight trip to the NCAA Tournament. MU is one of just 18 schools in the nation to have advanced to the last five postseasons.
It was a year in which Missouri gained more fans locally and earned more respect nationally. It was a year in which the Tigers continued to prove they are a regular contender in the Big 12 Conference and nationally. It was a year in which all Mizzou players, coaches and fans will remember.
With another strong showing in 2007 under their belts, the Tigers will look to make it six-consecutive NCAA Regionals in 2008.
2008 Season Preview
Saturday, Feb. 16 -- PART 1- 2007 Season in Review
Sunday, Feb. 17 -- PART 2- The 2008 Pitching Staff
Monday, Feb. 18 -- PART 3- The 2008 Infielders and Catchers
Tuesday, Feb. 19 -- PART 4- The 2008 Outfielders
Wednesday, Feb. 20 -- PART 5- The 2008 Schedule
