Quotes & Notes: Bull Dogs, Sun Devils & a Crow

■ Perspective: Fresno State baseball started the 2008 season 1-3. The Bulldogs did not rise above the .500 mark until they were 13-12, nearly halfway through the season. After 9 games (the # of games MU plays on this opening road trip), Fresno State was 3-6. Anybody know the final outcome of Fresno State's season in 2008?

■ CollegeBaseball.Rivals.com has dropped Mizzou out of their Top 25.

■ While the Tigers were struggling to find their footing this weekend, their next opponent, Arizona State, completed a weekend sweep of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, according to AZCentral.com:

For the series, ASU scored 53 runs and hit .355, and the pitchers allowed 16 hits and one earned run in 36 innings.

■ Baseball America has a feature (subscription only) that examines the upcoming months for two pitching prospects who were drafted last year and did not sign: Tanner Scheppers, a second-round pick of the Pirates, and Aaron Crow MU, '05-'07). These comments from the Washington Post in regard to that feature:

"He needs to pitch and basically demonstrate that he's as good or better than he was last year," Randy Hendricks said. "And I'm quite confident that that's what he's going to do."

Hendricks also indicated Crow's price hasn't come down, and said if teams aren't willing to meet that price, "Don't draft him."

Crow is confident things will work out.

"I should be in the best shape of my life this season," he said. "I don't feel like I'll be behind at all. I know all the other people that got drafted last year, they got in a couple of more months (of pro experience). But I can make up that quickly. I'm still working out and getting my body ready for the season. So I don't think I'll fall behind at all."

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