Monday, October 27, 2008

Tigers Coast to 11th Straight Triumph at Iowa State

(Columbia Daily Tribune, Monday May 24, 1954)

The conference season behind them, Missouri's Big Seven champion Tigers today turned their thoughts toward the NCAA College World Series at Omaha, where they'll take an 11-game winning streak when the tournament opens June 10.

Jerry Schoonmaker, Missouri's slugging center fielder, walloped three home runs as the Tigers coasted to conference win No. 11 by trouncing the Iowa State Cyclones, 12-1 at Ames Saturday. Schoonmaker's three round-trippers gave him a total of nine for the season and boosted his runs-batted-in mark to 26 in 20 games.
The Tigers clinched the conference crown on Friday, so the game meant nothing to them so far as league standings are concerned, but Coach John Simmons found another front-line pitcher in Norman Stewart, sophomore right hander, who was making his first start of the season. Stewart scattered seven Cyclone hits and had a shutout going into the ninth, when Ray George homered for the only Iowa State tally.

Todd Sickel and Buddy Cox also homered as the Tigers landed on Bill Postma and Steve Kostakos with a 16-hit attack. Sickel's homer was his first of the season, Cox' his second. Postma, incidentally, was the hurler who handed the Bengals their only conference loss when they bowed to the Cyclones here, 4-1.

A walk to Dick Dickinson, Sickel's homer, a single by Musgrave, and error and Jerry Schoonmaker's sacrifice fly gave Missouri a 3-0 lead in the first. Schoonmaker's first homer followed a single by Sickel in the third for two more, and his second came with the bases empty in the fifth.

Sickel's double, Musgrave's single and a two-bagger by Bob Schoonmaker produced a pair of runs in the seventh, and in the eighth, Emil Kammer tripled and counted on Stewart's sacrifice fly.

Schoonmaker homered again with the bases empty in the ninth, after which Bob Schoonmaker reached first on an error and Cox hit one over the fence to wind up the Missouri scoring.

The defeat eliminated Iowa State's hopes of a second-place finish as Oklahoma completed a sweep of its two-game series with Colorado by winning, 5-1, at Boulder.



Missouri had already won the Big Seven, so Coach Simmons let me pitch. I had them shut out through eight innings and we were up 12-0. I went out to pitch the ninth, and I got the first guy out. I was feeling pretty good.

I threw two balls to the next hitter. No big deal, right? Coach Simmons came out, and, in the damnedest oratory I ever heard, began to chew me out. Now I had heard people swear. I knew every swear word, so there weren’t any knew ones. It was just the wat Simmons delivered it. He told me if I threw one more ball, my ass was coming out. And he walked back to the dugout.

I was amused, but he’d made his point. So I threw it right down the groove and the guy promptly jacked it over the left field fence. The next voice I hear is Coach Simmons.

“By golly, that’s the way to go. If they hit four or five more like that, then I’ll take you out. Just keep throwing them strikes and make them hit it.”

I got them out and we beat them 12-1. Point proven: Do what your coach says, and everything will be all right.”
(Norm Stewart, Stormin' Back)




Big 7 Officials Discuss Possible Entry of A & M

BOULDER, Colo. - Big Seven conference faculty representatives discussed "unofficially" the possible admission of Oklahoma A&M to the league, a spokesman said Saturday at the end of their two-day session.

Reaves E. Peters, league executive secretary, said "the matter of Oklahoma A&M was not on the agenda. There was no official request from the school, therefore we were in no position to talk about it officially."

In response to a reporter's question, Peters said there was some "unofficial conversation."

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