April 30, 2009
MIZZOU at NEBRASKA
MAY 1-3, 2009 • LINCOLN, NEB.
| First Pitch |
Friday: 6 p.m. / Saturday: 2 p.m. / Sunday: 1 p.m. |
| Stadium |
Hawks Field at Haymarket Park |
| Radio |
KTGR 1580-AM |
| Live Audio |
KTGR.com |
| Live Video |
mutigers.com |
| Gametracker |
mutigers.com |
COMPLETE GAMENOTES
FIRST PITCH
Mizzou will take its four-game winning streak into Lincoln, Neb. this weekend as it faces Nebraska in the Tigers’ final road Big 12 series of the season. Missouri is 25-21 on the year and 11-10 in the Big 12 Conference. The Tigers have won five of their last six conference games, which includes sweeping Texas Tech last weekend at Taylor Stadium. Nebraska enters the weekend with a record of 21-23-1 and is 5-16 in the Big 12. Last year, Mizzou swept the series between the two teams, out-scoring the Huskers, 37-13, in the three games. This weekend's three-game set in Lincoln will get underway at 6 p.m. on Friday, with games to follow at 2 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday. Live video for all three games will be available on mutigers.com.
OFFENSE COMES ALIVE AGAINST TEXAS TECH
Missouri picked up its first three-game sweep of the season last weekend against Texas Tech, outscoring the Red Raiders, 42-14 in the three games. MU pounded out a season-high 19 hits in the series opener on Friday, taking an 18-7 victory. All nine players in the Tigers’ lineup had at least one hit and all but one drove in a run. Junior Greg Folgia drove in five runs, recording two doubles and a single in the opener. Junior Aaron Senne was just a single shy of hitting for the cycle as he was 3-for-6 with three RBI and hit his first home run. In game two, Mizzou picked up where it left off Friday night, putting up six runs in the second inning on its way to a 9-5 win. Folgia homered in the second inning, his team-leading eighth home run of the year. On Sunday, Missouri run-ruled Texas Tech, 15-2 in seven innings, which included a 4-for-5 day for senior Ryan Lollis, who hit his fourth home run of the year. In the series, the Tigers hit .415 as a team to improve their season average to .274. Junior Trevor Coleman (.600), senior Kyle Mach (.571), Lollis (.500), Senne (.467) and Folgia (.429) all hit over .400 in the three-game series.
GIBSON GOES THE DISTANCE, AGAIN, AND AGAIN, AND AGAIN...
Mizzou junior Kyle Gibson has pitched a complete game in five of his seven Big 12 starts. He improved to 7-3 last Friday against Texas Tech, but did not go the distance for the first time in four starts. He pitched 6.2 innings against TTU, striking out nine and at one point retired 13-straight batters. On April 17, he won for the sixth time this season, striking out nine, walking none and allowing just three runs in a complete-game win over Kansas State. A week earlier he picked up his fifth victory of the year, as he and the Tigers defeated Baylor by a score of 5-3. On April 3, 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. Gibson was named the Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Week for the second-consecutive week on March 23. 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 99 strikeouts on the year in 75.2 innings pitched.
FOLGIA IS MISSOURI’S UTILITY MAN
Junior Greg Folgia has a 10-game hitting streak in tact heading into the series with Nebraska. That streak matches his career long. During the streak, Folgia is hitting .442 with three home runs and 19 RBI. He has had a hit in 18 of the last 20 games. Folgia had an average of .429 in last weekend’s series against Texas Tech. In the series opener, he drove in five runs. It was his second five-RBI game in a four-game span. Folgia was named the Big 12 Conference Player of the Week on April 20 after he hit .429 in the Tigers’ five games of the previous week. That includes a .455 average in the three-game series against Kansas State, highlighted by a two-home run, five-RBI game in game two. A week earlier, he hit .400 in the series at Baylor. Folgia has a team-best .347 average on the year and leads the team with eight home runs and 51 RBI. His 51 RBI are second most in the Big 12 and his ranks 17th with his .347 average. 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 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 EYES CYCLE
Last Friday, Mizzou junior Aaron Senne was just a single shy of hitting for the cycle. Senne was 3-for-6 with three RBI and two runs scored in the series opener against Texas Tech. Senne drove in the first run of the game on a double in the first inning. He led off the bottom of the fifth inning with his first home run of the year. Senne then delivered an RBI triple in the seventh inning. Senne hit .467 in the three-game series with TTU. Senne hit his second home run of the season on Tuesday against Eastern Illinois. He is second on the team with a .315 average on the season with 30 RBI. He has 14 doubles, which is tied for third most in the Big 12. Last season, he had a team-best .347 batting average and had 13 home runs and 67 RBI.
MIZZOU ADDS JOHNNY WHOLESTAFF TO THE ROSTER
Missouri has utilized a pitcher-by-committee strategy in 14 games this season. In those 14 games, Mizzou is 11-3 and has a team ERA of 3.21. Opposing batters are hitting just .244 against the Tigers in the pitcher-by-committee games. The Tigers have twice used a season-high 11 pitchers (vs. SIU-Edwardsville on March 18 and vs. UI-Chicago on March 25). Mizzou lost its first pitcher-by-committee game this year, but pitched well, as eight pitchers team up to allow just two earned runs on five hits to Arizona State on Feb. 24. Missouri then won seven-straight games with the staff pitching approach in place, including a pair of shutouts against Western Illinois on March 4 and Oklahoma State on March 30. The first time the Tigers pitched by committee in a Big 12 Conference game came on March 21 against Texas A&M, then they took a 6-2 win.
JAMIESON JOINS 500-WIN CLUB
Mizzou Head Coach Tim Jamieson picked up his 500th win on March 17 against Kansas State. The win came in dramatic fashion as the Tigers scored four runs in the ninth inning and took a 4-3 victory. He enters the week 505-350-2 in his 15th year as the Tigers’ head coach. Missouri’s win over Arizona State on March 1 moved Jamieson into second place on Mizzou’s all-time wins list. His 505 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.
LOLLIS LEADS THE TIGERS AT THE PLATE
Senior Ryan Lollis has been one the Tigers’ most consistent performer this season. Lollis has a .297 average and has 37 RBI heading into the weekend. Last Sunday, Lollis was 4-for-5 and drove in five runs, while scoring three times. 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 nine doubles and three triples. His three triples are tied for fourth most in the Big 12 this season. Lollis has four 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. His third homer came on April 7 against Minnesota.
ON THE AIR
KTGR 1580-AM is the radio home of the Tigers. All of Mizzou’s regular season and postseason games will air on KTGR 1580-AM in Columbia. The games can also be heard online at KTGR.com. Tex Little is in his 19th season of calling Tiger Baseball and is joined in the booth by Hudson Guthrie, who returns for his second year as part of the Tigers’ broadcast team.
UP NEXT
The Tigers will host Missouri State at Taylor Stadium on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in its final midweek game of the season. That game opens a seven-game homestand for Mizzou that will run through the end of the regular season. Next weekend, Kansas will be at Taylor Stadium for a series that will get underway at 6:30 p.m.
