■ Championship Game: 1:00 PM Sunday
■ Post-Game Press Conference Quotes (Big12Spots.com)
• Tim Jamieson, on Kelly Fick's pitching: "To be quite honest with you, we wouldn't have given him the ball if we didn't think he could do it, but to think he was going to give us seven innings, that's beyond expectations. He hasn't done that all year. He's not conditioned to do that. He was very efficient with the pitch count. He had a good outing against Nebraska last weekend where he got extended a little bit but I didn't expect this. I expected him to compete and I expected him to do well, I just didn't expect him to go seven innings."
• Kelly Fick, on the Missouri jersey from Joplin hanging in the dugout: "The tragedy in Joplin and the devastation there really puts life in perspective. We don't have too many days left with me and Phil (McCormick) being seniors and it shows me that
you can't take everything for granted in life. Look at the small things in life and be thankful for what you do have becauseyou never know when it could happen to you or your family."
• Phil McCormick, on the Missouri jersey from Joplin hanging in the dugout: "It really makes you appreciate the escape of the game. We're out here for six hours on the field just being kids; doing what we love and you think about the people in Joplin and they're rebuilding their lives one day at a time. We're trying to take the same approach with staying alive on the field and we want to play one more day just like they want to keep rebuilding one day at a time."
• Augie Garrido, thoughts of the game: “I think it was a game that was unlike what anyone would have expected. That’s part of championship baseball – the unexpected. That’s what happened today. I don’t think anyone would have looked at what was left of each pitching staff and expected great pitching by both teams, solid defense. (Missouri) was very opportunistic with their hits; at the time that they had three, they had converted them into two runs. They made key defensive plays, especially in the sixth inning when we had runners in scoring position. (Mark) Payton hits the ball right on the nose; the third baseman makes a great reflex play to catch the line drive. Tant (Shepherd) follows him with a hard hit ball and they made a great play out of the hole, short hop to first, scoop to first, gets him by a step. It was that kind of game. It was an exciting baseball game, and I think to say anything negative from our point of view would take away from the greatness of the victory from Missouri. That’s really the way I feel about it. They earned that from every point of view. It shows the value of the tournament, in my opinion. It reinforces the importance of it. This gives them the chance to win the tournament, grab the automatic berth and put another team from the Big 12 that’s capable of winning into the regionals. That’s what this is all about, in my opinion.”
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Mizzou pitching takes down Longhorns (Big12Sports.com)
About two weeks before Big 12 Conference play started, Missouri coach Tim Jamieson gave his players an honest assessment.
"I told them the way we were playing we weren't going to win a Big 12 game," he said.
The Tigers started 2-9 in Big 12 play and while Jamieson's "oh fer" prediction wasn't accurate, they didn't appear capable of finishing in the top eight to qualify for the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship.
So, guess who's playing for title Sunday (1 p.m., FSN)? Missouri. The Tigers are the first No. 8 seed to reach the championship game and will face second-seeded and regular-season co-champions Texas A&M.
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Missouri reaches Big 12 baseball championship game (TigerExtra.com)
“I was able to keep my pitch count down and change speeds,” Fick said. “My fastball really helped today, so I was able to go deeper in the game.”
Fick also got some defensive help in the sixth inning after Jacob Felts' leadoff single. With one out Mark Payton smoked a line drive that third baseman C.J. Jarvis snagged to save a run. Tant Shepherd hit a hard grounder that shortstop Santo snagged deep in the hole and made a strong throw to nail the runner at first.
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Tigers playing with Joplin on mind (ColumbiaTribune)
Hanging in Missouri's home dugout is a No. 21 jersey from the 2002-03 era that was discovered among the rubble in Joplin.
A photo was posted online, and catcher Ben Turner sent a text message to his father, Mark, who had driven into St. Louis on Friday to watch his younger son play a high school game. Mark Turner stopped in Joplin between 11 p.m. and midnight on the drive back to Oklahoma City to pick up the tattered jersey.
That was the only piece of property former KOMU reporter Brandon Spiegel, now working in Joplin, could find in the remains, miles away from his home.
“He goes, 'Take it and put it in their dugout,'” Mark Turner said. “ 'It kind of represents what you guys have done this year between the first half and the second half of the season.'”
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