A Tip of the Cap to the 2012 Baseball Tigers

The Tigers lost 11-3 tonight to the Louisville Cardinals, thus eliminating themselves from the Tucson Regional and ending their 2012 season.

Here's a Tip of the Cap to the 2012 Tigers, who capped off a difficult season with an incredible run to the Big 12 Tournament Championship and beyond.

Over the next few weeks be sure to check in here at SimmonsField.com.

• The MLB Draft is this week, Monday through Wednesday.  We'll be reporting on which current Tigers and Mizzou recruits are named in the draft, and we'll report on who signs and who doesn't between now and the July 13th signing deadline.
  
  
• Next week we'll begin our annual end-of-the-season "A Tip of the Cap" series
  
  
• On July 1st Mizzou officially leaves the Big 12 and joins the SEC.  Starting that week, we'll be bringing you a couple of series that will run all the way through to the end of December:
• MU Baseball 101:  The SEC Fan's Guide to Mizzou Baseball
• South by Southeast:  A Virtual Road Trip Through SEC Country

Coming to SimmonsField.com in July
(Jalopy borrowed from Van Darkow's Rent-a-Wreck)

Tucson Regional: Here Kitty, Kitty, Kitty!!!

A big Thank You to the Louisville baseball team, for making the Tigers feel just a little better for losing 15-3 to the Arizona Wildcats in Round 1.

Last night, after the Tigers dispatched the NMSU Aggies, 6-2, Louisville took on the Wildcats and literally 1-upped the Tigers by losing 16-4.

Which means that today at 6:00 Mizzou and Louisville get to play.  The loser goes home.  The winner gets the privilege of immediately turning around and going back into battle with the Wildcats at 10 PM.  Oh, and if they beat Zona in the nightcap, they get to play them yet again tomorrow, since it's a double-elimination tournament.

So it's Tweety Bird vs. Jerry the Mouse, to find out who has what it takes to face the big bad wild cats yet again.

But don't forget who was always the the ultimate winner in those cartoons.

According to the ESPN schedule, today's games are NOT scheduled to be on ESPNU, but will be on ESPN3 online and on KTGR.com.  On the other hand, according to mutigers.com, today's game WILL be on ESPNU.  Considering that ESPN has been bouncing around and switching games on and off their networks according to where the action is, we probably will just have to wait and see.

I'll be listening to Tex and Hunter on  KTGR  like I always do, no matter where I can or cannot find the Tigers on video.

Sunday, June 3
Game 5: Missouri vs. Louisville - elimination game (ESPN3, 6 p.m.)
Game 6: Arizona vs. Game 5 winner (ESPN3, 10 p.m.)

Monday, June 4
Game 7: Game 6 winner vs. Game 6 loser (ESPNU/ESPN3, 6 p.m.) (if necessary)

♦ TOUR DE FORCE:The Arizona Junior Brigade (College Baseball Today)

With all apologies to Ryan Arrowood and Nick Vander Tuig, who were both stellar in their no-hit attempts today, the funnier super-heroes known as Robert Refsnyder, Joey Rickard, Alex Mejia and Seth Mejias-Brean have been putting on a clinic in Tucson. In the two wins over Missouri and Louisville, they’ve combined to go 22-for-38 and are responsible for 16 runs batted in. In essence, they’re a demolition squad. ESPNU should run a placard before each of their games saying “Hard hats required when tuning into these games.”

MU 6, NMSU 2

♦ Just-the-facts reports:

• Missouri baseball team defeats New Mexico State in elimination game (Columbia Missourian)
• Missouri rallies past New Mexico State in College World Series (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
• MU beats New Mexico State in NCAA baseball regional (Kansas City Star)

♦ The Columbia Tribune's Matt Nestor has more, though, in Missouri contemplates pitching options (including a good look back at the last time Mizzou and Louisville met in a Regional)

It would not be unprecedented for the Tigers to turn to a freshman in this situation.

At the Malibu, Calif., Regional in 2006, Missouri lost the opener to host Pepperdine and survived a 14-inning marathon to beat UC-Irvine in the second round.

Then-freshmen Rick Zagone and Aaron Crow pitched the Tigers through the losers bracket.

♦ NMSU eliminated from tournament by Missouri (Fox Sports Arizona)

"It was just baseball luck," head coach Rocky Ward said. "We had a 2-1 lead and we had momentum early in the game. We left a lot of people on base, and the No. 2 offense in the nation never showed up. That's the bottom line. We couldn't get the breakthrough hit we needed to carry momentum late in the game."

♦ Backs against the wall? Mo. doesn't care (Arizona Daily Star)

"We saw (the team's resolve) in the Big 12 tournament," Jamieson said. "Pretty much every game was an elimination game, so they're used to that.

"The first seven innings were frustrating offensively, but that's why you play nine."

UofA 16, UofL 4

♦ Louisville baseball falls to host in regional (Louisville Courier-Journal)

Saturday night must have felt like getting thrown to the bottom of the mountain.

The Cardinals were walloped 16-4 by regional host and top seed Arizona, which battered UofL pitchers for 23 hits that were sprayed to all corners of Hi Corbett Field's ample outfield.

"That's not a fun one to recap," Cardinals coach Dan McDonnell said. "We struggled on the mound and struggled at the plate. It was just a disappointing night all around."

Tucson Regional: "A Good Old Fashioned Butt-Kicking"

The Tigers play New Mexico State at 6PM CT. Like last night, the game will be live on ESPNU, ESPN3 and KTGR 1580 AM and KTGR.com.  Unlike last night, it will be easier to stay awake for the whole game.

And hopefully that's not the only way today's game will be unlike last night.

UofA 15, MU 3

How many different ways can you say "blowout"?  Apparently a lot:

♦ The Columbia Missoruian emphasizes the positive with Missouri trounced by Arizona 15-3, one loss away from elimination

Missouri’s euphoria of a five-game winning streak is gone and its improbable run through the Big 12 tournament is an afterthought.

♦ The Columbia Tribune goes with a just-the-facts-ma'am Tigers drop opener of Tucson Regional

“I didn't expect them to hit that many” balls in the gap, Blake Brown said. “The first few innings, they hit a lot of ground balls to start off with. I started shading in a little bit because they weren't putting balls over our heads. Right when that happened, they started hitting the gap.”

♦ AZCentral.com adds Arizona Wildcats baseball opens regional with rout of Missouri and then gets into the down and dirty of why:

Arizona has a unique advantage, and it's not just the 100-degree heat that's been beating down on Mizzou, New Mexico State and Louisville over the last two days.

Hi Corbett's infield is rock hard and its outfield so large -- 410 feet to left-center field, 405 to right-center -- that it behooves them to hit the ball on the ground. Their first nine hits Friday were singles; three of them were infield hits.

♦ AZStar Net (which seems to be sort of the same thing as AZCentral, above) gets more colorful: Wildcats seize the mo while Mo. seizes up

♦ Sticking with the theme, the Tucson Citizen says Home field helps Arizona cruise past Missouri in NCAA regional opener

So, this is why Arizona Wildcats coach Andy Lopez wanted to play home games in the postseason.

The Wildcats bounced some key hits off their rock-hard infield and sprayed liners all over the outfield, where Missouri miscalculated by often playing too shallow in spacious Hi Corbett Field.

Meanwhile, pitching ace Kurt Heyer would have been dominant anywhere.

The Tucson Citizen also has available the Live Blog from last night's game, in case you wan to relieve the experience

♦ Fox Sports Midwest goes with the "R" word as well in UA routs Missouri in NCAA tournament opener, but I like Coach J's terminology better:

The Wildcats turned the game into a hit parade midway through and finished with three doubles, three triples and 20 hits. It was their most since setting a season high with 27 hits against East Tennessee State on April 29 in a 21-6 win, and it was Missouri's biggest loss since a 15-1 blowout against Indiana State in early March.

“It was a good old-fashioned butt kicking,’’ said Tigers coach Tim Jamieson.

LOUISVILLE 3, NEW MEXICO STATE 2

♦ Card Chronicle chalks it up to pitching with Tingle shines in 3-2 win over New Mexico State

♦ Fox Sports Arizona points out it was a close game in NMSU comes up just short in NCAA opener

"It was a well-played game from a pitching standpoint," NMSU head coach Rocky Ward said. "Their ball landed down the left-field line and ours didn't. Our pitching staff did a good job and gave us a chance to save pitching, while keeping us in the game and giving us a chance to win the game late."

♦ The El Paso Times, the closest big city newspaper to NMSU, says Louisville comes back, beats Aggies

When the Aggies had a chance to deliver a knockout blow on Louisville starting pitcher Justin Amlung on Friday, he managed to scoot away from danger.

In turn, the Cardinals came back from a 2-0 deficit in an NCAA Regional game to win 3-2 over New Mexico State -- in a game the Aggies could have won, but didn't.

Tucson Regional: Wild Ride on the Road to Omaha

"There comes a time when all the cosmic tumblers have clicked into place — and the universe opens itself up for a few seconds to show you what’s possible."  (quote from Field of Dreams)

It was more like a nightmare for Tiger Baseball as the Arizona Wildcats' offensive explosion (20 hits) gave them a 15-3 victory last night. In the earlier game Louisville squeaked out a win against New Mexico State 3-2.

SCHEDULE

Saturday, June 2
Game 3: Game 1 New Mexico State vs. Missouri - elimination game (ESPNU/ESPN3, 6 p.m.)
Game 4: Game 1 Louisville vs. Arizona (ESPNU/ESPN3, 10 p.m.)

Sunday, June 3
Game 5: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loser - elimination game (ESPN3, 6 p.m.)
Game 6: Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner (ESPN3, 10 p.m.)

Monday, June 4
Game 7: Game 6 winner vs. Game 6 loser (ESPNU/ESPN3, 6 p.m.) (if necessary)

WORD ON THE TWEET

@MUTigersBaseball: Here's a shocker, Arizona native Dillon Everett got the loudest applause as #Mizzou was announced here at Zona.

@ChasingOmaha: Blake Brown is a homer and single away from the cycle. It's only the 2nd inning. #Mizzou

@efrey14: So pumped! Just got #ktgr radio on the bus back to mobile! Tuned in to @Hunter_Mense and @TexLittleSS let's go @MUTigerBaseball

@MUTigersBaseball: Dillon Everett just locked up the No. 2 play on Sportscenter tonight. I'm guessing Santana will be No. 1

@uberscholar: Can #Mizzou chop its way to 7 runs, too?

@MUTigersBaseball: The nine runs given up for the Tigers are their most since April 7 against Baylor (12 total).

@MZUMAT: Mizzou probably won't win this game, but it's better than being kansas.

@ACastilloCockrm: #mizzou CF Blake Brown has gotten onbase ever AB tonight. 3b, 2b, 2 bbs. Could be a nice draft pick for mlb team come Monday. #mlbdraft #cws

@bmweiss18: Tigers give up 15 for the second time this season, last time was against Indiana State when Mizzou lost 15-1.

ELSEWHERE IN NCAA REGIONALS

It was a wild night on the first day of the NCAA Regionals.

• In the Gainesville Regional, 1-seed Florida's Jonathan Crawford threw a no-hitter for the 4-0 win against 4-seed Bethune-Cookman.  7th in NCAA post-season history, first since 1991.  Crawford is the Gators' #3 starter.  
• On the same night, Johan Santana of the New York Mets threw a no-hitter against the Cardinals.
  
• In the Gary Regional, 2-seed Kentucky and 3-seed Kent State took a 5-5 tie into the 18th inning before Kent State finally scored.  And then Kentucky scored, sending it to the 19th inning tied 6-6.  
• The game finally end in the 21st inning after 6 hours and 37 minutes, Kent State 7, Kentucky 6
• @ChrisWebb on Twitter: Did Kentucky really lose? Idk, they were outside in Gary for 6.5 hours and nobody was robbed nor stabbed. That's a W in the game of life IMO
  
• A big upset at the Waco Regional:  1-seed Baylor lost to 4-seed Oral Roberts. 

Tucson Regional: Hot Tigers in the Desert

The Tucson Regional begins tonight, with Misouri Baseball's first game at 10PM CT (8PM Tucson time). The games will be on TV on ESPNU and on radio/streaming at KTGR.

Also, The Mizzou baseball NCAA Regional game against Arizona tonight will be broadcast on three additional Tiger Radio Network affiliates. In addition to airing on both Zimmer Radio stations in Columbia, the broadcast can be heard on KTRS (St. Louis), KASR-FM (Conway, Ark.) and KYMO-FM (East Prairie, Mo./Cape Girardeau area) beginning at 9:30 p.m. (CT) tonight.

The weather forecast (see below right) shows the temps in the 100's.  But good news:  the forecast for game time this evening is for a temp of "only" 97.  And if the Mizzou Tigers keep winning, they keep getting that late game time in the "cool" of the evening for Saturday's game.

Tucson Weather
weather.com
Friday 108 / Sunny
Saturday 105 / Sunny
Sunday 102 / Sunny

MIZZOU BASEBALL

♦ Good time for Missouri baseball team to get hot (Columbia Missourian)

Also, no Tiger pitcher had an ERA over 4.50 last week, and the staff allowed just 11 earned runs over four games.

Friday will be an exciting day for Missouri.

"This program has always taken pride in what it can do in the postseason," Jamieson said Sunday. "I thought we played like a regional team all week."

Still, the Tigers are far removed from the conversation about a possible NCAA Tournament winner.

♦ Garcia uses glove, bat to lead MU baseball (Columbia Tribune)

Just 22 games into the season, Garcia had already made 13 errors and had a head-scratching .881 fielding percentage.

"I let my feet get lazy early in the season," Garcia said. "Heard it from Coach" Evan "Pratt a little bit. Gotta keep my feet moving. We worked on it a lot in practice.

"Being able to know I did wrong and to adjust for my mistakes is kind of the bigger thing."

He shored it up quickly. Since March 27, Garcia has a .957 fielding percentage with just eight errors in 179 chances in 36 games.

♦ New program helps Missouri's pitchers with recovery (Columbia Tribune)

So the Tigers go through what they call a flush: A workout designed to keep the pitchers fresh and healthy over the course of a season.

"The main idea is to maintain and help work out soreness," trainer Matt Long said. "You want to speed up recovery and get them ready for the next outing."

The idea of a flush is not original to Missouri, but this season's program was designed and installed by Long, who has culled ideas from other collegiate programs as well as former Tigers now pitching for professional organizations

♦ Newnan's McGraw helps lead Mizzou to NCAAs (Newman Times-Herald)

By the final inning of Missouri’s Big 12 conference championship game against Oklahoma, Newnan junior Michael McGraw was beginning to think he was becoming a bit of a curse for his baseball teams.

Twice before as a high school sophomore and junior, McGraw had played in state championship games with The Heritage School only to come up short in both. Now the junior college transfer, who had been a two-year standout for Bossier Parrish (La.) and had helped put the Tigers in the title game with 3 RBIs during a semifinal win over Kansas, watched as a designated hitter from the bench as Oklahoma pulled within one run after Missouri built a 7-2 lead.

”It seemed to take forever for that final out. After two state championship games that same feeling sort of came over me a little bit. I wondered if I was putting a curse on the team,” he said.

♦ Mizzou Network miked up Tim Jamieson during MU Baseball practice a the Tucson Regional


TUCSON REGIONAL PREVIEWS

♦ Tim Jamieson previews the Tucson Regional on Mizzou Network

"They've already played in tougher tournament than they'll play in this weekend."

♦ BA's Aaron Fitt provides a very detailed - and worth clicking and reading - 2012 Tucson Regional Preview (Baseball America)

Coach Andy Lopez usually builds his teams around shut-down bullpens, but this year's bullpen has been inconsistent and lacks a true stopper.

♦ PG's Kendall Rogers delivers a stats-heavy (and stats-reliant) Preview: Chapel Hill/Tucson (Perfect Game)

Even with an RPI in the 80s entering the NCAA postseason, the Tigers definitely are an interesting team to watch this weekend. With their season on the line in Oklahoma City last week, the Tigers played an outstanding brand of baseball. Missouri enters the weekend hitting .274 with some solid hitters to watch, such as Scott Sommerfield, Blake Brown and Ben Turner.

♦ Not to be outdone, College Baseball Daily presents an even longer and more detailed 2012 NCAA Regional Preview: Tucson Regional

Getting on the board first will be vitally important to Missouri as they’re 20-6 when they score first but just 12-20 when their opponent scores first. The score after six innings will also be an important number to watch as Arizona is just 2-11 when trailing after six inning but is 32-5 when leading after six innings.

♦ Distiller's Dozen:  64 teams hope they don't fall into a guetapens (College Baseball Today)

Most Dangerous 4-seeds:

Missouri. The Tigers have put it together here in the late stretches of the season, completing a Big 12 title run last weekend. Beware Arizona.

Safest Bets to Advance:

Arizona. Caveat to the Cats moving on: If they get past Missouri in Round One. Then they should have no probs. And yes, that’s a big if.

UA, NMSU, UL

♦ Arizona, Missouri baseball take similar paths to NCAA Regional (Arizona Daily Wildcat)

Coming off a run like that to end a season, one would think Arizona has all the momentum heading into tonight’s game. The problem with that theory is that the NCAA sent Missouri, one of the hottest teams in the country to play in Tucson.

Missouri was just one game over .500, 27-26, and just 9-14 in conference play at the start of the Big 12 baseball tournament. Following a sweep of the competition, Missouri enters the Tucson regional as a four seed, but one that has had the same sense of urgency Arizona has in its final games.

♦ The Arizona Daily Star has a great profile of the 'Zona Coach in Andy Lopez found his calling in 'that game'

♦ Three keys for NMSU in this weekend's NCAA Baseball regional (Las Cruces Sun-News)

A new leaf: The Aggies essentially had two seasons - strong at the outset, before tailing off badly down the stretch. But the team seemed to be in good spirits since qualifying for postseason play as an at-large bid, and perhaps will play loose and with a healthy respect for the opposition,now that they have nothing to lose.

FIRED

♦ There is a continually growing list of College Baseball Coaches who have gotten the pink slip, some of whom will be familiar to MU Tigers fans:

• Northwestern State - J.P. Davis
• Ball State - Alex Marconi
• Duke - Sean McNally
• Oklahoma State - Frank Anderson
• UNC Greensboro - Mike Gaski
• Brigham Young - Vance Law
• UT-San Antonio - Sherman Corbett
• Texas Tech - Dan Spencer
• West Virginia - Greg Van Zant

One name I've heard in the mix for potential head coaching candidates is former MU Baseball Assistant Tony Vitello.

NOT BASEBALL

♦ And on a sad note, the Deseret News mourns the passing of a great sports figure: Remote control inventor changed face of sports viewing

But for my money, the person I'll mourn the most is the late, great Eugene Polley.

Now there's a guy who changed life for the better. No, he didn't invent the 24-hour drive-through. He created the remote control.

HI NOTES: Wildcats, Aggies, Cardinals & Tigers

The Bloggers' Curse:
May you blog in interesting times

TUCSON REGIONAL

♦ Full Schedule for the Tucson Regional, with TV coverage (times all in CT).  IT's a brutal broadcast schedule for Midwest fans if Mizzou stays in the winners' bracket (which they need to).

Friday, June 1

• Game 1: No. 3 Louisville (39-20) vs. No. 2 New Mexico State (35-22) (ESPNU/ESPN3, 6 p.m.)
• Game 2: No. 4 Missouri (32-26) vs. No. 1 Arizona (38-17)* (ESPNU/ESPN3, 10 p.m.)

Saturday, June 2

• Game 3: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser (ESPNU/ESPN3, 6 p.m.)
• Game 4: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner (ESPNU/ESPN3, 10 p.m.)

Sunday, June 3

• Game 5: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loser (ESPN3, 6 p.m.)
• Game 6: Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner (ESPN3, 10 p.m.)

Monday, June 4

• Game 7: Game 6 winner vs. Game 6 loser (ESPNU/ESPN3, 6 p.m.) (if necessary)

♦ Tex Little on Twitter: Tomorrow's Mizzou/Arizona pitching match up is lefty Blake Holovach (7-4) for the Tigers and right handed Kurt Heyer (11-2) for Arizona.

Tim Jamieson, on KOMU, explained that Rob Z has started on short rest his last three starts, and it's better for the staff as a whole to give him the extra rest.  

♦ The Louisville Slugger All-American College Baseball Team was released today by Collegiate Baseball.  It includes several players in the Tucson Regional:

• SS Alex Mejia, Arizona (1st Team; also named Player of Year Pacific-12 Conference).
• RHP Kurt Heyer, Arizona (2nd Team)
• RHP Justin Amlung, Louisville (3rd Team)
• C Zac Fisher, New Mexico State (3rd Team)
• 3B Seth Mejias-Brean, Arizona (3rd Team)

♦ A look at Arizona's Hi Corbett Field (YouTube)

♦ Tucson Regional Preview (Chasing Omaha)

The Wildcats earned a share of the Pac 12 title on a walk-off single by one of the team’s leading hitter, Johnny Field (.379 average, two homers, 31 RBIs) following a season where they went 18-12 during conference play. Arizona finished the season with a .325 team batting average (sixth in the nation) that featured five hitters that hit better than .340 – Field, Robert Refsnyder, Alex Mejia, Seth Mejias-Brean and Bobby Brown – and a pitcher who is one of 30 Golden Spikes Award Finalist in Kurt Heyer.
. . .
Sleeper: Missouri – Anyone who has followed Missouri baseball in recent years has to be happy for Tim Jamieson’s squad. The Tigers had fallen short in last year’s Big 12 Tournament Championship Game by almost upsetting Texas A&M but couldn’t close out the game, but that wasn’t the case this year as they defeated Oklahoma in the title game to claim their first tournament title. Winning the tournament was Missouri’s only ticket to the NCAA Tournament, which in turn knocked out Texas, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Tigers’ continue to build upon the momentum they built up in Oklahoma City.

♦ Big 12 title heals wounds for Missouri (Fox Sports Midwest)

"I've always been a fighter and never wanted to give up and wanted to be focused for 27 outs on every game," Jamieson says. "I think if nothing else, it supports those things."
. . .
"I think the Big 12 championship run," Jamieson says when asked how his current team will be remembered. "If we get to Omaha (for the College World Series), then it will be that. But anything that's between now and Omaha, it's what we just did — what we accomplished and how we did it and who we had to beat and what we had to go through last year, because it was incredibly similar. But we still have baseball ahead of us."

Missouri's fight continues, and that's Jamieson's greatest achievement of the spring.

♦ From the UASports.net Forum:

Rob Zastryzny is a decent pitcher.

If you just look at ERA compared to Heyer, I suppose you can take that to a Vegas sports book and hand them some of your money. But, he strikes out a lot of batters. If he's on, and I assume he has been during Missouri's current hot streak, his ERA is better than his season-long total. The Big XII may not be having a vintage year, but he still has seen plenty of quality teams over the course of the season. Missouri won't be intimidated about playing at Arizona after playing the likes of Texas, Texas A&M, etc. We've had our problems with good pitchers against UCLA and Oregon this year. And he's a lefty, and we've sometimes had problems with that. If we were seeded higher and got a sacrificial cupcake in our first game, I might feel more like it's a lock. But Missouri isn't a cupcake.

Don't take anybody lightly. Just win and move on.

♦ Arizona baseball looking forward to home regional (wildcat.arizona.edu)

The slogan Lopez uses, and the slogan he has used for the past 36 years is surprisingly simple. “Play good baseball,” Lopez said.

“It gets involved and intricate,” Lopez said. “I make them tell me what good baseball is. They all know it; they better know it. If you do that, everything else is secondary.”

♦ New Mexico State: KTSM.com has a video of the "healthy Aggies" in practice. (Around 1:15 to 1:30 on that video you can catch a glimpse of former Tiger Trevor Coleman behind the plate for the Kansas City T-Bones). The Las Cruces Sun-News thinks NMSU may benefit from two-and-out WAC Tournament, because it allowed them to get a longer rest before the Tucson Regional.  And the Sun-News talks about Tanner Rust, the Aggies' first baseman who also plays other infield positions.

Rust is batting .338 on the season, with two home runs, 26 RBI, 35 runs scored and 13 doubles.

♦ Louisville: Like the Tigers, the Cardinals are happy to be back in the NCAA Tournament (Louisville Courier-Journal) after missing out lst year. You can watch the obligatory players react to selection video at UofLCardGame.com. And did you know the Cardinals ended up winning 10 Big East titles during the 2011-12 season, setting a new school record (espn.com). Of course, they're moving to the Big East next year.

MU IN THE MINORS
♦ Tepesch keeps eye on big-league goal while enjoying stay in Myrtle Beach (Blue Springs Examiner)

“Nick is a guy who usually gets stronger as the year goes on,” Rangers Director of Minor League Operations Jake Krug said. “He’s off to a good start and we feel like this year will only get better for him. He’s got four solid average to plus pitches. He’s a great make-up kid who we feel has a chance to be a durable starting pitcher in the big leagues.”

♦ 4 TinCaps get tossed in another ugly loss (Fort Wayne Journal Gazette)

Bowling Green’s Matt Rice hit a fly ball down the left-field line in the eighth inning Tuesday against Fort Wayne.

Home plate umpire Alex Tosi ruled it was fair for a home run.

Pitcher Matt Stites immediately complained and was ejected. Manager Jose Valentin also argued the call and was thrown out too.
. . .
“I shouldn’t have thrown the pitch,” Stites said. “I made a mistake of saying the wrong thing to the umpire, and I got what I deserved.

Mizzou in the MLB Draft

While the Tigers are focused on this weekend's Tucson Regional, there's another event going on after the weekend that might impact several of the Tigers.  19 current Tigers and ALL of Mizzou's incoming recruiting class are eligible for the MLB draft.

The MLB Draft is coming up this week on June 4th, 5th and 6th.

• June 4, 6 PM CT Round 1
• June 5, 11 AM CT Rounds 2-15
• June 6, 11 AM CT Rounds 16-40

All rounds can be followed live on MLB.com.  I will be monitoring the draft and posting Mizzou-related updates here at SimmonsField.com and on Twitter (follow @trripleplay)

By the rules of the draft, the following players are eligible to be chosen in the draft:

• High school players, if they have graduated from high school and have not yet attended college or junior college;
• College players, from four-year colleges who have either completed their junior or senior years or are at least 21 years old; and
• Junior college players, regardless of how many years of school they have completed

The following current Tiger players are eligible to be drafted:

• Eric Anderson

• Kyle Barbeck

• Blake Brown

• Kenny Burton

• Justin Byrd

• Brannon Champagne

• Jeff Cline

• Ryan Clubb

• Jeff Emens

• Eric Garcia

• Blake Holovach

• Conner Mach

• Dane Opel

• Andreas Plackis

• Dusty Ross

• Scott Sommerfeld

• Gavin Stark

• Ben Turner

• Jake Walsh

Missouri also has several high school and junior college players who have signed letters of intent to play at Missouri next season. Some of them may, however, be drafted. They will have until July 13th to make up their minds whether to to sign a professional contract or continue on to Mizzou. The following are on the recruits list we have compiled:

• Paxton De La Garza, SS; Coronado HS, Lubbock, TX
  
  
• Peter Fairbanks, RHP; Webster Groves, MO
  
  
• Matt Garringer, RHP; Surprise, AZ
  
  
• Griffin Goodrich, RHP/OF; Kirkwood, MO
  
  
• Gerrion Grim, RHP/OF: Zumwalt South HS (StL)
  
  
• Dane Gronewald, LHP; Jefferson College (StL); Winfield HS
  
  
• Hunter Haynes, LHP: Mexico, MO
  
  
• Bralin Jackson, OF: Raytown South HS (KC)
  
  
• Ryan Phillips, RHP/SS; Rock Bridge HS (Columbia, MO)
  
  
• Alec Rash, RHP: Adel DSM HS (Adel, IA)
  
  
• Austin Tribby, LHP; Springfield Catholic HS (MO)
  
  
• Sean Ullrich, CF; Marquette HS (St. Louis)
  

♦ Alec Rash Perfect Game profile

Position: RHP
Height: 6-5
Weight: 200
Bats/Throws: R/R
Birthdate: March 20, 1994
High School: Adel-DeSoto-Minburn (ADM)
City, State: Adel, Iowa
Travel Team: Iowa Select
Commitment: Missouri
Projected Draft Round: 1S, 2

Alec Rash first appeared on the Perfect Game radar as a slender 6-foot-2, 165-pound Des Moines (Iowa) area sophomore throwing up to 87 mph in the 2009 Perfect Game Fall League. At that point Rash threw from an extended over the top release point with a hard downhill angle to the plate, and while he was a primary fastball pitcher, he’d mix in a very occasional downer curveball around 72 mph.

♦ 2012 MLB Draft Q&A: Alec Rash (Scout.com)

Rash has been rumored to being moving up on some draft boards and is ranked by Scout's Frankie Piliere as the draft's number 98 prospect.

♦ OF Bralin Jackson (Raytown South HS, MO) is the most prevalent name mentioned in Missouri. Like Ross, Jackson shined at the Area Code Games, where he showcased his plus athleticism and bat speed. Jackson, a Missouri recruit, has the high-end tools to keep him in the mix. (Prep Baseball Report)

HI NOTES: Mediocre teams need love too

♦ Is Big 12 slump perception or reality? (ESPN.com)

For the first time since 1997, only four Big 12 teams will participate in NCAA regionals. And had Missouri not secured an automatic berth by winning the Big 12 tournament, that number could have easily been three.

Big 12 regular-season champion Baylor is one of the eight national seeds. Texas A&M also earned the right to host a regional. And Oklahoma, which lost to Missouri in the conference tournament title game, also advanced to the postseason thanks to its late-season surge.

But the rest of the league will watch the regionals from home, including the Cowboys and Longhorns, who both went two-and-out in the Big 12 tournament to seal their exclusion.

Now it's up to the four in the regionals to prove the Big 12 is still one of college baseball's top conferences.

♦ SEBaseball.com's Annual NIT Field (SEBaseball.com)

Teams are celebrating all across the nation as they saw their names flashed inside SEBaseball.com's annual NIT bracket Wednesday.

The teams will meet in the familiar NCAA style format before finally culminating in an eight-team final in Quahog, Rhode Island. Sponsored by the Happy-Go-Lucky Toy Factory and the Pawtucket Brewery, the NIT field has become synonymous with the best of second-tier sporting events like the World Cup, the NBA Finals, and a heavyweight boxing title fight.

To be eligible for the 64 team NIT, teams needed at least a .500 overall record, an impressive resume, and a lack of representation on the NCAA Selection Committee.

HI NOTES: Tucson, Big 12, SEC

Tucson building shaped like a clipper ship.
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NCAA REGIONAL

♦ Shawn Davis on Twitter: The @MUTigerBaseball bullpen has a 1.91 ERA over its last 22 games, spanning 89.1 innings. #NotTooShabby

♦ Breaking down NCAA bracket (ESPN.com)

Easiest Regional Honorable mention: Tucson

No. 2 seed New Mexico State started 30-11 but struggled down the stretch and gave up 30 runs in its two WAC tournament games. If Missouri stays hot, the Tigers could be the biggest risk to Arizona.

♦ Toughest Regionals:  #3 Tucson (Perfect Game)

The Wildcats were one of the final teams to earn an NCAA Regional host, and as expected, they received a legitimately tough field of teams. The Wildcats will have to get through red-hot Missouri in the first game, while New Mexico State, which is very good offensively and Louisville, which is very balanced, will be waiting in the wings. It wouldn’t be a huge surprise if the Wildcats get tripped up this weekend.

♦ Aggies baseball lands NCAA at-large bid (Las Cruces Sun-News)

The Aggies enter the NCAA Tournament 5-5 in their last 10 games, but NMSU closed the regular season 5-9.

Yet Ward had a good feeling as the team convened at Las Cruces restaurant The Game on Monday to watch the NCAA Selection Show. That is until the network revealed a list of "Bubble" teams that included New Mexico State in the first segment.

"How can a team be a bubble team if its a No. 2 seed," Ward said. "That was what made me nervous."

In the end, the Aggies' body of work got them in, not to mention their geography in the West.
"I thought we deserved a No. 2 seed but was shocked that they did it," Ward said. "That's important for the psyche of the team that national baseball people did that. They understand how important it is for programs. Baseball is unique in that way."

NMSU was 12-10 this year against NCAA Tournament teams Arizona (Pac 12 champions), New Mexico (Mountain West Tournament champions and co-regular season champion), Sacred Heart (Northeastern Conference Tournament Champion) and Kent State (Mid Atlantic regular season and tournament champion).

The Aggies beat Regional host Arizona twice in March at Hi Corbett Field when the Wildcats were ranked No. 5 in the country.

♦ Arizona Wildcats baseball: Seth Mejias-Brean providing spark at right time (Tucson Citizen)

At 6 feet 2 inches and 210 pounds, the Cienega High graduate fills out a uniform better than anybody on the team. Pro scouts love his projectability, whether it’s at third base, in the outfield or at catcher – a position he’s never played before.

“I mean, look at his body,” shortstop Alex Mejia said. “You can see him playing in the big leagues, like, next year.

“I’ve never seen a player like him. When he hits it, and the ball’s flying out, it’s hit so hard. … Really, it’s almost like the thing is yelling.”

♦ Louisville baseball happy to be back in the NCAA Tournament (Louisville Courier-Journal)

The Cardinals shared the Big East Conference regular-season championship but come into the NCAA off a disappointing showing in the conference tournament. U of L lost twice Friday, finishing the event 1-2 as the top seed.

“We have to get down to business,” Amlung said. “Our showing at the Big East Tournament, that really wasn’t Louisville baseball. We’re working hard, and we’re definitely going to come out this weekend and play good ball.”

U of L, which is 9-6 this season against teams that made the NCAA, is ranked No. 22 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll and has an RPI of 42.

♦ VIDEO: Watch what Arizona baseball player Bobby Brown says about Pac-12 superiority to the Big 12. (BlubergOTB at twitvid.com)


SEC

♦ MU athletic director sees big differences between Big 12, SEC (Kansas City Star)

But even though they are the new kids on the block (along with Texas A&M), Alden insists they have already been made to feel welcome. While MU and A&M officials have repeatedly indicated a desire to be seen and not heard — “you don’t want to come right in pounding the table,” joked A&M coach Kevin Sumlin — Alden says he’s already been asked his opinions on certain matters.

“(They) might turn and say ‘Mike, what are your thoughts, what did you experience in the Big 12 that can help us here?’ ” Alden said.

And while some of that surely has to do with the fact Alden has been around a while and worked with several SEC administrators for years — you get to know people if you chair the right committees, he said — there’s one thing about it that gives him faith, that lets him know Missouri’s new conference experience will be a good one, perhaps better than its last.

“That stuff,” Alden said, “happens all the time.”

♦ Mizzou senses more harmony in the SEC (St. Louis Post Dispatch)
"In my opinion, it comes from (Commissioner) Mike Slive; I think he's one of the great leaders in college sport, maybe all of sport," said Alden, further noting that Mizzou and A&M are just the third and fourth additions to the SEC since it was founded in 1932. "And nobody's leaving. Nobody's looking to. ...

"What I love about it is these schools, they don't talk about just living in the moment. They talk about what's good for the league a decade from now, 20 years from now, 30 years from now.
"And I'm not used to that. We're used to being in reactive mode vs. being in proactive mode. And I don't say that negatively. That's a fact."

BIG 12

♦ Oklahoma State fires Frank Anderson (Baseball America)

Oklahoma State fired coach Frank Anderson on Tuesday after nine seasons. Anderson led the Cowboys to a 329-208 record (123-113 in the Big 12), including a 32-25 mark this season. The Cowboys made regionals in six of his nine seasons, including last season, but a poor Ratings Percentage Index ranking kept them out of the NCAA tournament this season after a fifth-place finish in the Big 12.

♦ For an entertaining read, check out the twitter stream over the lsat few days of @OlsenSection203, the Aggie heckling group that cheered on the Tigers at Bricktown

♦ VIDEO: Best plays from Baseball's Championship (Mzzou Network)