Showing posts with label LSU Tigers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LSU Tigers. Show all posts

Monday, April 1, 2013

HI NOTES: LSU Forfeits Weekend; Mizzou Awarded 3-0 Sweep


♦ LSU fans invade Taylor Stadium for shutout of Missouri baseball team (Columbia Missourian)
"Root, root, root for the road team."

This could have been the refrain Saturday at Taylor Stadium, where No. 2 LSU clobbered the Missouri baseball team 8-0. Even after a five-hour rain delay, which several LSU fans spent tailgating under cover in the parking lots along Carrie Francke Drive outside the stadium, hundreds of purple-and-gold clad fans filled the seats behind the LSU dugout along the first-base line.

"We want a home-field advantage and, hell, we felt like we were in Alex Box," MU outfielder Logan Pearson said. "Their fans stomped our fans today."...

♦ Eades, LSU rip Missouri, 8-0 (The Advertiser)

♦ Powerful outburst ignites LSU against Missouri, Ryan Eades strong again in an 8-0 win (NOLA.com)

♦ Mistakes cost Missouri baseball its early lead against No. 2 LSU (Columbia Missourian)
Unexplainable errors like Opel's and Segovia's seem almost routine for Missouri baseball. In its 6-5 loss Sunday against No. 2 LSU, Missouri was virtually handed an early four-run lead before letting it slip away in the very next inning.

The mistakes piled up quickly for Missouri in the top of the third inning. With a 5-1 lead, freshman pitcher Alec Rash put LSU's first two batters on base before surrendering a three-run bomb to Mason Katz. Katz's third home run of the weekend was swiftly followed by Segovia and Opel's errors.

"If you look throughout the course of the season, we’ve had a lot of big numbers happen after mistakes," Jamieson said. "It’s a trend that has to stop. That should’ve been a two-run inning, or no runs scored after the home run."...

♦ LSU Baseball tam completes sweep of Missouri (The Advocate)

♦ Sweep complete: LSU storms back for a 6-5 win behind Mason Katz, Sean McMullen and the bullpen (NOLA.com)


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Saturday, March 30, 2013

HI NOTES: Run Support, Weather Report



♦ No run support again for Zastryzny in Missouri baseball loss (Columbia Missourian)
“His record’s not indicative of how he’s pitched,” Missouri coach Tim Jamieson said. “It’s indicative of the competition that he’s pitched against, and the fact that we haven’t given him a whole lot of run support on Fridays.”

In Zastryzny’s six starts this season, Missouri’s offense has generated a total of nine runs, six of which came in a win at home against San Francisco. Since that lone win for Zastryzny, he has received only one run of support in three outings...
♦ No. 4 LSU beats Missouri 2=0 (Columbia Tribune)
Through the first seven innings, Zastryzny never faced more than four batters in a frame. LSU scored a run in the eighth when a chopper bounced off second baseman Kendall Keeton's glove.

Each team had six hits, but Missouri couldn't string enough of them together and whiffed on two primary chances...
♦ LSU baseball: Aaron Nola dazzles, Mason Katz smacks his 11th HR in 2-0 win against Missouri (NOLA.com)
No matter how it's wrapped, what it looks like when it's over and how a team arrives at the destination, an SEC win is an SEC win. So don't expect No. 2-ranked LSU to sweat much over a close-call win in a strange place against a team not familiar to anybody in road grays.
. . .
"This is the way SEC baseball games are," LSU coach Paul Mainieri said. "Every one of them is tough, and any time you win one, you take a deep breath and you're proud of yourself."...
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Friday, March 29, 2013

HI NOTES: 3rd Base Sliders, Game 2 Time

3rd Base Sliders
Tucked down the left field line at Taylor Stadium, next to the McArtor Building, is a new concession stand called 3rd Base Sliders.  Operated by Levy Restaurants, the concession contractor for MU Athletics, this food cart and grille set up offers a different sort of ballpark food than Mizzou Baseball fans are used to.

The usual hamburgers, hot dogs and nachos are still available at the main concession stands on the concourse, but here at 3rd Base Sliders the fare includes Philly Cheese sliders, Hot Ham & Swiss sliders, Classic American all beef sliders, Tiger dogs (with buffalo sauce and blue cheese slaw), North Sider dogs (Chicago style hot dogs), and other items (including bottled sodas).

I ordered the Philly Sliders and had to wait while Levy Restaurants Chef Travis Taylor grilled the beef and onions and cheese from scratch and then cut the normal-sized Philly sandwich into three slider-sized portions and skewered them together with dill spears and plenty of grilled onions and kettle-style chips.  The result was well worth the wait, and for a reasonable price for ballpark fare.

Most fans seem unaware there's such a treat available down the third base line -- the workers had plenty of time to  grant ample attention to each of their customers.  There really should be more advertising and mention made of this new feature.

3rd Base Sliders will be serving up their specialties at every weekend SEC home game this season.  Be sure to check them out and tell your friends.  Just carrying the sliders back to your seat in the grandstands will serve as an attention-grabbing advertisement that there's something different available.

Game Day

Remember: Saturday's game starts at 1:00 PM, not 2:00. Changed because it is nationally televised on Fox Sports and ESPN3.



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GAME DAY: Tiger v Tiger




♦ Weekend Weather from ABC 17 News:
TODAY: Morning showers near I-44 with partly cloudy to mostly sunny and high temperatures near 60 with easterly winds at 5-10 mph.

TONIGHT: Partly cloudy with low temperatures in the mid 40s.

EXTENDED: A warming trend will continue into the weekend with high temperatures reaching near 60 Saturday and Sunday. Showers and t-storms are likely from Saturday afternoon through Saturday night. Easter Sunday looks dry with afternoon highs in the upper 50s to near 60 under mostly sunny skies. Much colder air will move in Sunday night into Monday dropping our high temperatures to the upper 30s for the start of next week. There is a chance of light rain or snow from Sunday night through Monday.
♦ MU baseball team shows signs of heating up (Columbia Tribune)
"That Tennessee series helped us gain a lot of confidence," Everett said. "It's been building up over the last few games. Past couple weeks, we'd been swinging it pretty well, but it's just getting timely hits and getting the ball to fall."

After getting shut out Friday in the opener at Tennessee, Missouri split a doubleheader with the Volunteers on Saturday, including a 14-6 pounding in the series finale. The Tigers had thought they were on the verge of breaking out — "We're right there" was a weekly mantra. But injuries and slumps forced lineup changes, which stood in the way of consistency.

"We knew we were a really good offensive team," senior Dane Opel said. "It's just starting to come around. We're taking better approaches at the plate, better swings, and it's all starting to come together."...
♦ LSU baseball team is hot, and so is freshman Alex Bregman (The Advocate)
Katz attributed Bregman’s success to Bregman being the baseball equivalent of a gym rat.

“He’ll go in and hit at all times of the day,” Katz said. “When he gets bored he just comes and hits and he’ll text me four times a day and say, ‘I’m at the field hitting. You want to come?’ ”

Katz joins him, and after they’re finished, they’ll leave. Thirty minutes later, Katz says, he’ll find out that Bregman returned to the cages.

“He’s like, ‘Yeah, I got bored again,’ ” Katz said. “The guy hits nonstop. He doesn’t get tired.”...
♦ Better Know An Opponent: Missouri Tigers (And The Valley Shook)
Mizzou gets LSU at home, which is certainly a boost. Last week, I was openly calling for LSU to get that sweep against Auburn, but I think that's a bit unreasonable this weekend. Roadtrips are never easy, and the local crowd should be pretty esxcited to see one of the premier programs in the country. You have to figure LSU is going to get Mizzou's best shot. The question is, what is that? They took only one game from South Carolina, which is understandable, but then lost a series to Tennessee, which is not.
...
I think Mizzou is better than their record and their ranks, but LSU looks every bit as good as theirs. The False Tigers steal a game on Saturday or Sunday, but the Good Tigers come home with another series win...
♦ MU not afraid to let it fly (Columbia Tribune)
It’s becoming a more common sight as teams continue to test the Tigers. Led by Dane Opel’s five assists, Missouri’s outfielder have thrown out nine baserunners this year — including seven at home.

Opel and Pearson each had an assist in Wednesday’s 11-4 victory over Nebraska-Omaha.

“They’ve got good arms. Dane’s really had a good spring,” said Missouri Coach Tim Jamieson, whose Tigers (9-12, 2-4 Southeastern Conference) host fourth-ranked LSU (23-2, 5-1) in a three-game series scheduled to begin at 6 tonight. “Of course, Logan’s got a good arm. We’ve got the capability.”

But it’s a high-risk, high-reward proposition...
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SEC Weekend: LSU @ Missouri

♦ Be sure to check out Sam Nasci's Mizzou Matchup preview of the South Carolina Gamecocks here at SimmonsField.com

♦ Also check out our off-season South By Southeast posts about South Carolina Baseball:
♦ And for you LSU fans coming into Columbia, MO, for the weekend, check out The SEC Fan's Guide to Mizzou Baseball for everything you need to know

♦ Be sure to take a look at Missouri Baseball Lookalikes at TigerDroppings.com.  Some of the links are broken, but its still funny.  Ed Harris as Tim Jamieson?

♦ Freshman pitcher Mitch Sewald inspires team with speeches (LSU Reveille)
Mitch Sewald is the only LSU baseball player that hasn’t seen an inning of play this season.
For now, the freshman right-handed pitcher’s words are stronger than his pitch — he has the prominent role of delivering postgame speeches to the Tigers.
. . .
The team coined the Twitter hashtag #SpeechbyMeech to celebrate the weekly dialogue. After LSU’s 2-0 victory against Nicholls on March 3, Twitter was abuzz with shout-outs to Sewald. Bregman tweeted, “Big Meech was incredible today. Purely #Inspirational.”

But content of the speech — like the rules of Fight Club — cannot be spoken of.

It’s for team ears only. Sewald disclosed that he sometimes discusses the team’s upcoming matchups, but that’s all he’ll say...
♦ New trio has LSU baseball team on fire (The Town Talk)
...Freshman shortstop Alex Bregman of Albuquerque, N.M., freshman center and right fielder Mark Laird of Monroe and junior college transfer third baseman Christian Ibarra are three reasons why LSU has such a glimmering look to it early on as they complement crusty senior left fielder Mason Katz and senior first baseman Raph Rhymes, who are performing like Brandon Larson and Eddy Furniss in '97...
♦ LSU Impressive In Sweep of Auburn (And The Valley Shook)
LSU did just about everything well this weekend. They outscored Auburn 22 to 7 and racked up 34 hits in the process. LSU made just one error on the weekend, which was a booted grounder by Jacoby Jones on Sunday. On the very next batter, Jones turned a double play to wipe out his mistake. Lastly, LSU's starting pitching went a combined 21 innings and allowed a total of just five earned runs.
...
Next weekend, LSU travels to Missouri to face a pretty weak team. Missouri has managed to win their Sunday game against both South Carolina and Tennessee for a 2-4 conference record. LSU has a great opportunity to have seven or eight wins in their first nine conference games before the schedule really toughens up.
NOT THE NY YANKEES, JUST A BUNCH OF COLLEGE GUYS



MIZZOU & THE SEC

♦  Current SEC Rankings:  Missouri is 2-4 in the SEC, putting them tied for 4th in the SEC East; tied for 9th overall

♦ According to the latest Division 1 Baseball Attendance Report from Sportswirters.net, LSU has averaged 10,713 in attendance for their first 20 home games so far this season.  That puts them in 1st place on the list.

Missouri's average attendance at Taylor Stadium in 2012 was 824.

Taylor Stadium attendance in 2013 is not at all a clear picture at this point.  Mizzou had 15 home games on their schedule to-date.   4 of those were cancelled outright, one of those replaced by a D-II game. 5 were rescheduled (some were rescheduled more than once), resulting in no less than 3 double headers (all three in chilly conditions).  The end result is that the records for attendance at the 12 home games are incomplete at this time.  The all-time record attendance of 3,145 for that Friday game against South Carolina is less than one third of LSU's average attendance.
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Thursday, March 28, 2013

MIZZOU MATCHUP: Louisiana State Tigers

Head Coach: Paul Mainieri 
(277-124-2 in 7th season as LSU Head Coach)

 Taylor Stadium – Columbia, MO
Friday @ 6 PM CT
Saturday @ 1 PM CT (SPSO TV)
Sunday @ 1 PM CT

 LSU (23-2, 5-1 SEC) @ Missouri (9-12, 2-4 SEC)

Missouri’s tough conference schedule continues with LSU, who have been in Baseball America’s Top 25 ever since the first week of the season. This will be only the second time they will be on the road for a series this season, after they opened their SEC schedule taking two of three from Mississippi State two weekends ago and then swept Auburn last weekend.

Position Players

 Leading off for LSU is Baseball America’s First Team Preseason All-American JaCoby Jones, who has failed to live up to his expectation this year, as he has an average hovering around .250 to start the year.

The man who has set up the middle of the order recently for LSU has been right fielder Mark Laird. Laird is one of the five regular Tiger starters that are hitting well above .300, the other four following him directly in the lineup.

Shortstop Alex Bergman leads LSU in average so far, and is a well-rounded player. Bergman is the jack of all trades offensively, as he hits for average, power, and has yet to be caught stealing.  He was named the SEC Player of the Week after going .632 (12-for-19) in the Tigers’ four wins last week with two doubles, three RBI and six runs scored.

The most decorated Tiger is cleanup hitter Raph Rhymes. He earned SEC Player of the Year honors in 2012, as well as a spot on Baseball America’s Third Team All-American Team. While his play this year has been stellar, the man that comes after his is making a SEC Player of the Year run himself.

First baseman Mason Katz has dominated pitching during 2013. He has almost half the amount of homers as he does games played, leads the team in RBI and SLG, and is one of the top hitters for average in this intimidating LSU lineup. It seems that there is almost never a time when he is up to bat that there is not somebody on base for him.

Projected Lineup (stats as of 3/27)
2B JaCoby Jones (R) .202
RF Mark Laird (L) .359
SS Alex Bregman (R) .443
LF Raph Rhymes (R) .354
1B Mason Katz (R) .396
3B Christian Ibarra (R) .342
DH Tyler Moore (L) .275
C Ty Ross (R) .203
CF Andrew Stevenson (L) .241

Pitchers

 The three LSU weekend starters have been nothing short of dominant in 2013. Ryan Eades and Aaron Nola both have more strikeouts than innings pitched, Sunday starter Cody Glenn pitches more to contact, but does not walk very many, much like the other two.

Projected Matchups (stats as of 3/21)
LHP Rob Zastryzny (1-3, 4.05 ERA) vs. RHP Aaron Nola (3-0, 3.29 ERA)
RHP Brett Graves (0-2, 2.45 ERA) vs. RHP Ryan Eades (5-0, 1.63 ERA)
RHP Alec Rash (2-1, 0.53 ERA) vs. LHP Cody Glenn (4-1, 2.27 ERA)

Matchup Wrap-up

 Just like with South Carolina, Mizzou will have to be solid on every aspect of the game if they want to take at least a game against 4th ranked LSU. They are one of the top teams in the nation so far in 2013, and the middle of their lineup shows why. Strong outings from Mizzou starters will be a necessity or the heart of the order will make them pay.

Other SEC games this weekend:
Alabama @ Auburn
(25) Mississippi State @ (15) Arkansas
(11) Ole Miss @ Florida
Georgia @ (8) Kentucky
Texas A&M @(17) South Carolina
Tennessee @ (3) Vanderbilt

Rankings from Baseball America
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