HI NOTES: Mizzou-Aggies, MU Recruits

Brannon Champagne
Missouri Baseball on Facebook

THE SEASON

♦ Baseball performance through March (RockMNation.com)

In all, this seems to be a team that will do better than last year's abysmal 11-15, 8th place conference finish. How much better will probably be determined by the pitching. There's no Scherzer, Gibson, or Crow here, but developing a third option on par with the first two could give them the depth to grind out their share of series wins through the Big 12 season. I'll try to do this again at the end of April, and we can see what trends emerge from the bulk of the conference season.

♦ Mizzou Links (RockMNation.com)

The Mizzou bats looked pretty damn good this weekend, however. That is a lovely sign. In all, if you were looking for signs that this Mizzou team was absolutely improved over last year's (their record is better, but the non-conference schedule was pretty weak), there were some pretty definitive ones this weekend.

♦ And if you missed it, scroll down to Mizzou Baseball 2012 A-z at the Halfway Mark

SUNDAY

♦ Olsen magic needed for Ags to win series (WTAW.com)

The Aggie baseball team got the series win over Missouri yesterday with the Olsen Magic they didn’t get Saturday.

It was almost a second straight ninth inning heartbreak for A&M but the deja vu turned Maroon Sunday when Krey Bratsen got the RBI the Aggies didn’t get Saturday and the Ags beat the Tigers 7-6.

That ended a ninth inning that up til then had been an Aggie nightmare. Missouri scored five runs in the top of the ninth inning to erase a 6-1 Aggie lead and tie it 6-6. Then in the bottom, A&M got the winning run on second twice, the first time it was picked off but the second time it was Charlie Curel scoring on Bratsen’s winning hit.

♦ No. 8 A&M edges Missouri after wild ninth inning (Houston Chronicle)

On one hand, No. 8 Texas A&M must address its ability to close out alleged blowouts following its late-game ineptitude on Sunday against Missouri. On the other, the Aggies would've never enjoyed a genuine mob celebration on the infield without their ninth-inning follies.

"It's never over until it's over," a relieved A&M coach Rob Childress said after the Aggies prevailed 7-6 in the bottom of the ninth. "I wouldn't have expected anything different in this series."

♦ Missouri baseball team loses series finale at Texas A&M (Columbia Missourian)

The Missouri baseball team lost in disappointing fashion Sunday at Texas A&M. After coming back to tie the game, the Tigers let up the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning, falling 7-6 at Blue Bell Park in College Station, Texas.

Trailing 6-1 entering the top of the ninth, Missouri loaded the bases with one out. The Tigers then scored three runs on a pair of fielder's choice plays by Aggies shortstop Mikey Reynolds. Neither play resulted in an out and the second was an error that allowed two runs to score. A pair of wild pitches then led to the next two runs, and Missouri tied the game at 6.

SATURDAY

♦ The Big Guns From the Outfield (CollegeBaseballToday.com)

Two outfielders had the dream situation fall their way today by throwing out would-be baserunners at home plate to preserve wins in the final outs of the day.

Missouri centerfielder Brannon Champagne had a day to dream about, leading the Black & Gold at the dish with a 2-for-4 day with one RBI and also scoring a run. But it was his golden right arm that was the deciding factor when he threw a strike from his post in the meadow to nab Texas A&M pinch runner Jace Statum for the final out of the game at home plate to preserve the 4-3 win.

♦ Fortunes slide in Mizzou's favor as A&M falls (MySanAntonio.com)

Texas A&M and Missouri, future Southeastern Conference members, have played 50 games as opponents in the Big 12. Each team has won 25 games, and the teams offered up a prime example of the series' traditional intimacy Saturday.

With a slide at home capped by a controversial call to decide the game.

“His hand hit the corner,” contended A&M's Mikey Reynolds of teammate Jace Statum's wide slide that left Blue Bell Park fans howling at the outcome.

♦ Aggies fall to Tigers, 4-2 (WTAW.com)

A final Aggie rally fell just short when the tying run was gunned down at the plate for the game’s final out in the bottom of the ninth inning Saturday afternoon as the No. 6 Texas A&M baseball team saw its seven-game winning streak snapped during a 4-3 loss to Missouri.

“There weren’t a whole lot of opportunities for us today,” Texas A&M head coach Rob Childress said. “Their left hander did a real nice job. We hit a lot of balls hard; unfortunately they were all right at them and they made all the plays.”

FRIDAY

♦ Aggies Defeat Missouri 8-6 (iamthe12thman.com)

Texas A&M won a tough matchup with a game Missouri team 8-6 tonight, as they took the opener of the three-game Big 12 weekend series. Missouri hit Aggie ace Michael Wacha early, tagging him for six singles ion the first three innings, and scoring three runs in the third. The Aggies got on the board early, with a Jacob House home run in the first inning bringing in two runs and giving them the early lead. After an unearned run in the second gave the Ags a 3-0 lead, Missouri responded with a 3-run third inning, tying the game. The Aggies would briefly take a one-run lead in the bottom of the third before Missouri scored two runs in the top of the fifth to take a 5-4 lead. The Aggies scored two runs in the bottom of the 6th and two runs in the bottom of the 8th to take a final 8-6 lead. Kyle Martin gave up 3 hits in the final 1 2/3 innings but no runs to earn the win, putting him at 2-2 on the year. Michael Wacha ended the night giving up 12 hits, 4 earned runs, and striking out 5.

♦ Tigers can't keep up with Aggie offense in loss to Texas A&M (The Maneater)

Junior right fielder Blake Brown had two hits and extended his hitting streak to 12 games, the longest Missouri has had this season.

Sophomore starter Rob Zastryzny worked through 5.2 innings, allowing six runs on eight hits. He struck out six batters to lengthen his team-leading total to 39.

The Tigers headed to the bottom of the eighth tied at six. The Aggies loaded the bases with the help of junior pitcher John Miles’ throwing error before junior pitcher Jake Walsh balked in the go-ahead run. Miles received the loss due to being responsible for both runners that scored.

MU RECRUITS

♦ Hazelwood West Wins Baseball Home Opener Over Rival McCluer North (patch.com)

McClellan also expects to get a big season from junior Devin Williams, a talented CBC transfer, who back in February gave a verbal commitment to the University of Missouri, for whom he plans to pitch after he graduates in 2013.

"He's a good athlete," McClellan said. "He's got a lot of ability on the field, and it's good to have him.

"He's going to be a big part of our team, both on the mound and in the lineup."

On Thursday, Williams didn't pitch, but he did make a big impact on the game.

The 6-foot-3, 155-pounder reached base all three times he batted, drove in a run, stole two bases, and scored two runs.

♦ From Twitter:

@PGIowaLeagues: Mizzou commit Alec Rash sitting at 93-94 MPH touching 95 MPH. Solid control so far today! #PGUSA