April 16, 2009

MIZZOU at KANSAS STATE
APRIL 17-19, 2009 • MANHATTAN, KAN.

COMPLETE GAMENOTES

FIRST PITCH
Mizzou travels to Manhattan, Kan. this weekend for a three-game series with Kansas State. The Tigers enter the weekend with a 19-19 record and are 6-9 in the Big 12 Conference, while KSU is 28-9 overall and 7-5 in the league. Kansas State is ranked as high as No. 21. All six of the Tigers' Big 12 Conference series this year have come against ranked teams. Game one of the weekend is set for 6:30 p.m. on Friday, with games to follow at 2 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday. Last year, Mizzou won two-of-three against Kansas State in Columbia. MU leads the all-time series with KSU, 159-111-1 and has won the series in each of the last four years. The next win for Missouri Head Coach Tim Jamieson will be the 500th of his career, as he enters the series with the Wildcats with a 499-346-2 record.

LAST YEAR vs. KANSAS STATE
Missouri took two-of-three against Kansas State last year at Taylor Stadium, winning the first two games before dropping the series finale. The Tigers hit five home runs in the series opener and Aaron Crow moved to 10-0 as MU took a 13-10 win. Jacob Priday hit two of Mizzou's five homers and Aaron Senne, Trevor Coleman and Ryan Lollis each connected for a home run. Missouri again put up double digits in game two, taking an 11-7 victory. Six Tigers had multi-hit games and three had three hits in the game. Kyle Gibson improved to 7-1 on the year, allowing three runs on six hits and striking out five in seven innings pitched. Kansas State picked up a win in game three, defeating MU 4-3 in 10 innings. The eventual winning run scored on a Tiger error.

GIBSON GOES THE DISTANCE, AGAIN, AND AGAIN, AND AGAIN
Mizzou junior Kyle Gibson has pitched a complete game in four of his five Big 12 starts. Last Friday, he picked up his fifth victory of the year, as he and the Tigers defeated Baylor by a score of 5-3. A week earlier, Gibson struck out 15 and allowed two runs on six hits against Oklahoma, but was handed the hard-luck loss in a 2-1 game. On March 23, Mizzou junior Kyle Gibson was named the Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Week for the second-consecutive week. He was the first pitcher to claim back-to-back Big 12 Pitcher of the Week honors since Texas' Kyle McCulloch in 2006. Gibson picked up a complete game victory over Texas A&M on March 20, as he struck out a career-high 16 batters in the Tigers' 3-2 win. He gave up just two runs on five hits to the Aggies and his only walk allowed on the night was an intentional pass in the eighth inning. Gibson retired the first 10 batters to the plate and 18 of the first 19 he faced. A week earlier, Gibson was named the NCBWA National Pitcher of the Week, in addition to Big 12 Pitcher of the Week, after picking up his first career shutout in MU's series opener with Texas on March 14. Gibson struck out 11 batters and gave up six hits in nine innings pitched, as the Tigers defeated Texas, 2-0. The complete-game was the first nine-inning complete game for Gibson, who has had two seven-inning complete games in his career. He leads the conference with 81 strikeouts on the year in 60.0 innings pitched.

MIZZOU ADDS JOHNNY WHOLESTAFF TO THE ROSTER
Missouri has utilized a pitcher-by-committee strategy in 12 games this season. In those 12 games, Mizzou is 9-3 and has a team ERA of 3.00. Opposing batters are hitting just .238 against the Tigers in the pitcher-by-committee games. On Wednesday, MU won its ninth game with the staff pitching approach, as 10 pitchers took the mound in a 12-2 win. Missouri utilized eight pitchers in its extra-inning game against Baylor last Saturday, falling to the Bears 8-7 in 11 innings. It was just the third loss for the staff pitching plan. The Tigers used nine pitchers to beat Minnesota on April 4. MU lost for just the second time in the staff games on April 4 against Oklahoma. On April 1, Mizzou used 10 pitchers to defeat SLU at Busch Stadium. That came two days after the Tigers' staff pitched a shutout over Oklahoma State, allowing six hits to the Cowboys. Missouri used nine pitchers in the game against OSU. The first time the Tigers used the staff pitching plan was against Arizona State on Feb. 24. Eight pitchers each pitched one inning against ASU, allowing just three runs on five hits. The Tigers used nine pitchers, again employing one pitcher an inning, against Western Illinois on March 4 and shutout the Leathernecks 8-0, giving up just five hits. A week later nine pitchers each turned in one inning on the mound as Mizzou defeated Western Illinois, 18-4. Missouri utilized a season-high 11 pitchers against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville on March 18, defeating the Cougars 4-1. On March 21, Missouri employed the strategy for the first time in a Big 12 Conference game. Nine pitchers teamed up to defeat Texas A&M, 6-2. Each pitcher worked exactly one inning on the mound against the Aggies. On March 25, Mizzou matched its season high with 11 pitchers used as the Tigers defeated UI-Chicago.

JAMIESON NEARS 500 WINS
With Missouri's win over Arizona State on March 1, Head Coach Tim Jamieson moved into second place on Mizzou's all-time wins list. Jamieson is 499-346-2 in his 15th year as the Tigers' head coach, needing just one win to reach 500 for his career. His 499 wins put him ahead of legendary former head coach John "Hi" Simmons. Simmons compiled a record of 481-294-3 from 1937-1973, while Gene McArtor is the all-time winningest coach at Missouri with a record of 733-430-3 from 1974-1994. Jamieson, who served as an assistant coach under McArtor from 1988-94, has led the Tigers to seven NCAA Regionals, including each of the last six and is a two-time Conference Coach of the Year. Last fall, the University of Missouri extended Jamieson's contract, keeping him in the MU dugout through at least the 2013 season. With the retirement of Texas Tech's Larry Hays last summer, Jamieson and Baylor coach Steve Smith are now the longest tenured coaches in the Big 12 Conference, as each is in his 15th year as head coach of the respective programs.

FOLGIA IS MISSOURI'S UTILITY MAN
Junior Greg Folgia hit .400 (4-for-10) in last weekend's series against Baylor, including hitting his team-leading fifth home run of the year. He leads the team with a .312 average and has a team-best 37 RBI. Folgia's five home runs are tied for the most on the team. He had a six-game hitting streak from April 4-11, hitting .476 with two home runs, three doubles and 10 RBI during those 10 games. He had a pair of three-hit games during the stretch. Folgia has had three hits in five games this year. Folgia has started in left field, center field and at first base for the Tigers this season and also has made 12 appearances on the mound out of the bullpen. In his two previous years at MU, Folgia has also played second base, third base and shortstop, meaning he has played all positions except right field and catcher during his career at Mizzou.

SENNE IS A HIT FOR MIZZOU
Junior Aaron Senne had a six-game hitting streak snapped against Indiana State on Tuesday. He has had a hit in seven of the last eight games and he had two hits in five-straight games from April 5-11. Senne hit .417 (5-for-12) in last weekend's series against Baylor. Senne is second on the squad with a .315 average on the year, with 21 RBI. He opened the season with a hit in each of the first four games of the year and had a seven-game hitting streak from Feb. 27-March 7. Last season, Senne led the Tigers with a .347 batting average, with 13 home runs and 14 doubles.

LOLLIS LEADS THE TIGERS AT THE PLATE
Senior Ryan Lollis has been one the Tigers' most consistent performer this season. Lollis has a .295 average and has 27 RBI heading into the series with KSU. He had six-game hitting streak snapped against SLU on April 1. During that six-game hitting streak, Lollis was 10-for-25 (.400). He had an eight-game hitting streak from Feb. 22-March 6. Lollis has had two three-hit games this season (against Gonzaga on Feb. 22 and against Western Illinois on March 4). He has seven doubles and three triples. His three triples are second most in the Big 12 this season. Lollis has two home runs on the year, hitting his first against Gonzaga on Feb. 22. He hit a two-run home run against UI-Chicago on March 25, going 2-for-4 with three RBI in that game.

UP NEXT
Next Wednesday, Mizzou will be at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City to take on Kansas in a non-conference contest. First pitch for that game is 6:30 p.m. Missouri will return to Taylor Stadium on April 24-26 to take host Texas Tech in a three-game set.