"Struggling between the ears"

■ Kansas baseball upends Mizzou, 1-0, at the K (KansasCity.com)

The biggest moment in Blankenship’s save appearance came when Missouri’s Aaron Senne, who brought a Big 12-leading .449 average into the game, led off. The count went 3-0 before Blankenship took a pair of strikes. He then went down swinging, capping a hitless evening.

“We need to do a better job,” Missouri coach Tim Jamieson said. “We’re struggling between the ears right now.”

■ MU-KU Photo Gallery at KansasCity.com

■ Bats unable to get going as Kansas drops Missouri 1-0 at Kauffman stadium (KMOV.com)

Despite solid efforts from five different pitchers and solid all-around defense, Missouri only could muster five baserunners over nine innings of scoreless ball against Kansas, losing 1-0 and falling to 19-17 on the season.

Possibly worse were the 10 strikeouts by Missouri's offense, which came on the heels of an eight-strikeout game against Oklahoma State Sunday.

[More game photos with this article]

■ Missouri baseball team loses to rival Kansas (Columbia Missourian)

Had the Missouri baseball team defeated Kansas on Wednesday night at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, coach Tim Jamieson said there’s no way his team or its fans would have charged the field in celebration.

“No, because you’re supposed to beat these guys,” Jamieson said. “This isn’t a special win. It’s just another game. We won’t do that unless we win a championship.”
. . .
Nicholas said the rivalry isn’t as intense as basketball or football, but the teams will never be seen eating at a restaurant or going to the movies together.

■ Border war rivals need a victory at Kauffman (KansasCity.com)

“We’re starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel,” Jamieson said. “For us right now, it’s about a shortened focus, one weekend at a time… we have to think about getting to the Big 12 tournament.”

Missouri is one of 14 teams nationally to have played in the previous seven NCAA Tournaments. Kansas got there last year for only the fourth time in school history and wants to make it a habit.

“It’s our goal,” Price said.

Game Day: MU vs. KU at Kauffman Stadium

■ Big 12 Mid-Season Report (FoxSportsSouthwest)

It looked like KU would be a surprise Big 12 title contender after taking two of three from LSU in Baton Rouge over Spring Break just before Conference play began. The Jayhawks have now taken two Big 12 road series, over Baylor and Nebraska, and managed a rare split of a 3-game series with Texas A&M when the score was still tied after 11 innings in the Sunday game and began to conflict with KU’s travel plans to return home, not to mention Big 12 rules for travel concerning missed class time. Of the Hawks’ next five league series, three are exclusively at home, while they will split with K-State – one in Lawrence, two in Manhattan. KU is still in the running for an NCAA bid.

■ Baseball team powers past Nebraska (kansan.com)

“We needed that series win about as bad as any team in the country needed a win,” coach Ritch Price said.

The weekend didn’t begin as intended for the Jayhawks, as the Cornhuskers lit up junior T.J. Walz on Friday night.

■ Baseball team testing the waters (kansan.com, 4/13)

Kansas won’t have Bochy available if they need to nail down a victory in the final innings.

Except this time he’s not just resting a tired arm – he’s out for the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, a type of reconstructive elbow surgery, over the weekend.

“Obviously, it’s a devastating loss for our team and one that will not be easy to overcome,” coach Ritch Price said.

With the Jayhawk’s dominant closer shelved, there’s suddenly a large hole to fill at a position that had been a constant.

■ Getting back to form (Ping! Baseball)

So, what happened to [Tony] Thompson? “I fouled a ball off of my kneecap, and had a hairline fracture on my knee” Thompson explained.

The injury would cost Thompson the first month of the season. When he was finally able to come back and get back on the field it was on March 23rd. He confessed he was not on top of his game, not that he couldn’t deny it; through April 14th (15 games) he was batting just .231 with only a pair of homeruns . . .

■ And in case you've forgotten this, it never gets old:

Mizzou Baseball Quotes & Notes

■ Missed it by that much (ColumbiaTribune.com)

Tim Jamieson said his Missouri baseball team has a knack for playing just poorly enough to lose. Yesterday was a case in point.

■ Mizzou's Tepesch is staying afloat (SportingNews.com)

His two-seamer, which sits at 90-92 mph, can become a plus pitch as he adds velocity. Tepesch is plenty strong, but he has room to add muscle to his 6-5 frame.

His changeup and cutter are both at least average, and they can better than that on a given night.

The team that draft him also will smooth out his mechanics; it will remove some recoil and fix how he plants his front leg.

Mizzou Baseball Quotes & Notes

Game Day

■ Outfielder returns from injury in Missouri baseball team's loss (Columbia Missourian)

With the bases loaded in the second inning, Gebhart came up for his first at-bat. He gave it his all, but he struck out swinging in his long-awaited return.

Gebhart said though it wasn’t an ideal position to return to, he was excited to see his name in the lineup.

“It was definitely tough,” Gebhart said. “My adrenaline was flowing, maybe too much. It’s one at-bat, and I know the guy behind me is going to pick me up.”

MU in the Minors

■ GreenJackets take home opener (Augusta Chronicle)

The GreenJackets' designated hitter did just that in the 5-2 win. His shot to the gap in right-center field scored teammates Tommy Joseph and Ryan Lollis [PHOTO] to take the lead. Liles later stole third base, then scored when the throw from catcher Kyle Higashioka skipped into left field.

■ Keys blank Pelicans, 6-0 (minorleagebaseball.com)

Backed by great pitching, the Frederick Keys improve to 4-2 on the season, as they defeated the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, 6-0, on Wednesday night at Harry Grove Stadium. Rick Zagone and his counterpart, Randall Delgado, both pitched gems, as neither allowed a run in five innings of work. Zagone struck out six, walked one, and allowed just two hits over his five innings while Delgado struck out five, walked two, and allowed three hits. Both pitchers exited the game with no decisions.

Game Day: Unrealized opportunities

I've been away from the computer most of the weekend, so there's plenty to catch up on.

■ Good things come to he who waits (Columbia Tribune)

“He has an approach. He knows exactly where he wants the ball and what type of pitch he wants,” junior catcher Brett Nicholas said. “And he’s stubborn up there. If he doesn’t get it first pitch, he’ll wait to get it second pitch. If he doesn’t get it then, he’ll get it the third or the fourth. He’ll have a few at-bats that are six, seven, eight pitches long.

“But once he gets that pitch, he takes advantage of it.”

Sunday,OSU 4, MU 3

■ Mizzou baseball vs. Oklahoma State rubber match live blog (LMOV.com)

Bottom 8—Dane Opel gets hit by a pitch with two out to load the bases but Russell LaFleuer grounds out to third to end the inning. The three men left on base pushed Missouri's LOB total to 14. If Missouri ends up losing this one, they're going to look back on a lot of unrealized opportunities they had to put themselves ahead.

[Trrip notes: As usual, great game photos wit this article]

Saturday, OSU 10, MU 7

■ After one ptcher's tossed, another comes through in Missouri baseball loss (Columbia Missourian)

In a gutsy move, the Cowboys sent pitcher Brad Propst to the plate in the bottom of the fourth inning. In his first at-bat of the season, Propst launched a two-run homer to deep left field, over Missouri’s bullpen and into the football team’s practice field.

The bomb made the score 10-2. The next batter was plunked by Scardino. Scardino, known for his excellent control, was immediately tossed.

■ Mizzou baseball vs. Oklahoma State game two live blog (KMOV.com)

Home plate umpire Ken McQueen immediately ejected Scardino, obviously thinking he was retaliating for Propst's home run. We'll try to find out more after the game, but with Missouri down 10-2, McQueen wasn't wrong to think there coud've been some intent. I don't think there was—and if there was, we probably get a straight answer from the coaching staff (understandably so—they'd want to protect their pitcher).

[Trrip note: Umpire McQueen has a long-standing reputation of having a short fuse and quick to eject]

Friday, MU 9, OSU 2

■ Tepesch in command (Columbia Tribune)

Missouri starting pitcher Nick Tepesch lauded his defense. The junior right-hander said that his pitching style is to “hunt contact” and let the fielders make the plays — which the Tigers did a stellar job of last night.

But when that philosophy didn’t quite work out, Tepesch took matters into his own arm

■ Pitcher finally shows dominance in Missouri baseball team win (Columbia Missourian)

Coach Tim Jamieson has been reluctant to name Tepesch his ace. The team has had clear number one pitchers in years past. Jamieson has seen electric pitchers such as Max Scherzer, Aaron Crow and Kyle Gibson take the ball on Friday nights and lead the Tigers to consistent victories.

Jamieson had hoped Tepesch would continue the trend. Jamieson said Friday was certainly a step in the right direction.

■ Tepesch leads Mizzou baseball to pivotal victory(KCTV5.com)

Blue Springs South alumnus Nick Tepesch helped lead the Missouri (19-13, 3-7) baseball team to a 9-2 victory over the Oklahoma State Cowboys (19-14, 4-6) on Friday night.

Prior to this game, the Tigers had not won a conference game on a Friday night, which is crucial since it is usually the first game of a three game series.

Coach Tim Jamieson felt Tepesch's performance was one of the best in his career. He thinks it is essential to have a go-to starter to be successful in the postseason and says Tepesch looked like he could fill that role after Friday's performance.

"Nick was definitely a legitimate No. 1 tonight," Jamieson said

■ Mizzou baseball vs. Oklahoma State series opener live blog (KMOV.com)

I don't know if this has been pointed out already, but Kelly Fick easily has the best intro music of any player on the team — he comes out of the bullpen to the theme song from "Dexter." That's just outstanding.

[Trrip note: More great photos with this blog]

Mizzou Baseball Quotes & Notes: Baseball Fun

■ Cowboys seek better pitching at Missouri (ocolly.com)

OSU is third in the Big 12 with a collective .323 batting average, with six of its ten regular starters batting over .300 and the other four within 11 points or less of .300.
Its .982 fielding percentage leads the Big 12.

That leaves the question of why they have a losing Big 12 record.

The answer lies mostly in the pitching staff. OSU ranks ninth in the Big 12 with its 5.11 ERA.
. . .
“You’re as good as your next guy that’s on the mound,” Anderson said.

■ Thoughts on tactical decisions . . what would you do? (TigerBoard.com)

MUStatCat: For sake of discussion... Anyone have thoughts on the tactical decisions we have seen over the course of this season?

Mizzou Astro: He has a very short leash for pitchers, particularly out of the bullpen . . .

MUStatCat: If I were TJ, Id play LaFleur until Brown comes out of the K zone, and maybe even after that if he continues to progress.

TigerNation25: The team is 7-0 when Brannon Champaigne bats leadoff . . . I'm not a huge fan of running 28 different starting line-ups out there. . .

SuperTone: Stop looking at 3rd strikes

Big Time: Free beer at games has worked for SEMO. I would focus everyone on having a good time. Game day should make Chicago Cub fans look old & dour.

■ Fun-loving shortstop makes life for Missouri baseball team (Columbia Missourian)

“I try to be a little spark plug,” Liberto said. “Try to get us going. I’m not that much of a rah-rah kind of guy. I do like to be the guy on Friday night to get the first hit. Especially on the road to stick it to the other crowd.”

Jamieson said that Liberto’s patience with the bat has also helped him gain the role.

“He doesn’t chase a lot of bad pitches,” Jamieson said. “That’s what you want at the top of the lineup, is a guy who’s going to see a lot of pitches, has a high on-base percentage and then can run.”

■ Speaking of fun-loving baseball players . . . You thought that Jayhawk Baseball video was strange, check out this one from UCSB. You've got to admire them for actually being creative in promoting a college baseball game, something seldom seen around these parts.

MU in the Minors

■ Sources tell me that Nathan Culp (04-06) is being promoted by the San Diego Padres organization to the Triple A Portland Beavers of the Pacific Coast League.

■ Keys win fourth straight (fredericknewspost.com)

Second-year starter Rick Zagone (06-08) rebounded nicely from an opening-night loss. He and relievers Jose Duran and Brandon Cooney combined to strike out nine batters and allow only three hits.

"We are getting ahead (in the count) and the key about it is we are throwing some breaking balls and off-speed pitches for strikes," Gomez said.

"When you can locate those breaking balls and get ahead with breaking balls, it makes the hitter think even more at the plate. We are pitching well to both sides of the plate."

Zagone threw 73 pitches, 48 of them for strikes, before coming out after five innings. He allowed only two hits and a walk while striking out six.

"I just felt a little more comfortable out there," he said. "It was my second start. The first start, you are always a little more apt to" give up some runs.

■ Other Baseball Stuff

■ Game Theory (Hemisphere Magazine) explores 6 Myths about Baseball [link nabbed fromCollegeBaseballToday.com]

MYTH: SOMETIMES BUNTING IS A GOOD MOVE.

REALITY: Along with the knuckleball and Bob Uecker, the bunt is one of the most misunderstood phenomena in baseball. Typically, when a batter bunts, his goal is to move the runner to the next base while conceding the out at first. It’s a trade-off. A sacrifice. An out for a base.

[Trrip note: This writer obviously never watched former Tiger Jayce Tingler bunt for a hit]

Game Day: Oklahoma State @ Simmons Field

■ Black & Gold Game highlights action-packed Saturday (mutigers.com)

The headline event on Saturday, April 17th, is the Black & Gold Spring Game, which is set for a 1 p.m. kickoff at Memorial Stadium/Faurot Field.
. . .
Parking for the spring game is open and free to the public, with the exception of Lot S, located behind the south endzone stands. All other lots around the stadium complex are open for fan parking. [Trrip Note: This means, of course, that parking for the MU Baseball game could be . . . complicated]

Other events taking place Saturday on the Mizzou campus include exciting Big 12 action with the 11th-ranked Mizzou Softball team against Texas Tech (2 p.m. at University Field), as well as the Mizzou Baseball team taking on Oklahoma State (3 p.m. at Simmons Field/Taylor Stadium).

■ OSU numbers

• Record: 19-12, 3-6 Big 12

• Boyd's World Pseudo-RPI: 142nd

• Boyd's World ISR: 107th

■ Cowboys prevail in 10 innings(NewsOK.com)

Tuesday night’s Bonus Bedlam baseball clash was following right along with the season script.

For Oklahoma: big flies and a bold rally.

For Oklahoma State: another bullpen breakdown.

Except the Cowboys rewrote the ending, pulling out a 7-6 win in 10 innings with an unearned run started by a two-out error and finished on a wild pitch.

■ R I P home losing streak (ocolly.com)

Junior Mike Strong started for the Cowboys and pitched seven innings, with six strikeouts.

Catcher Kevin David said it was unfortunate they couldn’t get the win for Strong, but said Strong’s priorities lie elsewhere.

“It’s kind of been that way for most of our starters this year,” David said. “They pitch really well and we can’t get a win for them. He’s just happy we can win as a team.”

In the ninth inning, the Cowboys were two strikes away from ending it, but a single up the middle tied the game at six and sent it into extra innings

■ Big 12 Stock Report (NewsOK.com)

Thomas Keeling, LHP, gave the Cowboys a boost, dominating Nebraska in last Friday’s series opener with 7 1/3 scoreless innings and 11 strikeouts in a win. Baseball America listed him as one of its "Three Up” draft prospects after the performance. Keeling has always had the stuff, he’s just struggled with command. If he finds it consistently, he could be a difference maker for the Pokes.
. . .
After breaking through to win a much-needed Big 12 series against Nebraska, Oklahoma State lost back-to-back mid-week games to Wichita State and Missouri State. The Cowboys have also lost mid-week games to the likes of Alabama A&M and Florida Gulf Coast this season, exposing their lack of depth.

■ Baseball Bears lasso Oklahoma State (OzarksFirst.com) has a video report of the OSU-MSU game

■ Cowboys stick together (ocolly.com, March 4, 2010)

Eleven players on the OSU baseball team rejected major league draft offers to continue playing with the Cowboys this season

MU Baseball Quotes & Notes: Smaller sports & Kauffman tickets

■ I couldn't have said it better myself: The hunt for happiness: 15 simple ways to add a little delight to your day (Vox Magazine)

Be a fan of smaller sports:

The joy in being a personal fan of a smaller sport instead of an anonymous number in a more popular sport will invigorate an ordinary day. Feeding your inner underdog and witnessing the purity of sports on a small scale is like listening to a favorite undiscovered band on a weeknight. The intimate setting invites access often unavailable in a roaring crowd and gives you personal connections to the athletes. “With the smaller sports, people go to watch the skill of the athletes,” Silverman says.

■ Discount tickets for the Wednesday, April 21st MU-KU game at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City are available for $7 each ($5 youth) at Kansas City Royals Ticketing. All tickets are General Admission.

If that link doesn't work for you, try this one

Game Day: Evening descends on Hammons Field . . .

■ Bears trip up Missouri (News-Leader.com)

"It felt good, especially coming against Mizzou," Maddox said. "They were talking a lot."

Maddox had the final word. He blasted a one-ball, two-strike pitch from Missouri closer Jeff Emens over the left-field bullpen.

Some good game photos at News.Leader.com

■ Walk-off homer does in Missouri baseball (Columbia Missourian)

The Missouri baseball team hasn’t played in a lot of close games this season.

That's probably why closing pitcher Jeff Emens only has three saves this season. On Wednesday, he had the chance to make it four, but Missouri State ruined his chances.

■ Your Missouri State vs. Mizzou live blog (TAG Magazine)

Mizzou, meanwhile, was burned by mediocre clutch hitting and a poor tactical decision to pull a still-strong Jeff Scardino to bring in relief in the seventh.
. . .
7:50: Evening descends on Hammons Field as the glow of the stadium lights takes over visibility duties. The breeze is blowing out slightly, which would be really helpful for carrying a baseball further–say, out of the stadium–if the Bears get to using that .324 staff average.

■ 2010 Draft Preview part 5: Persons of Interest(VivaElBirdos.com)

I'm just going to say it: Tepesch is one of my favourite players in this entire draft. I love his arm, I love the movement on his pitches, I love the fact he's a localish kid. What I don't love is the tepid results Tepesch has achieved in his college career.
. . .
I know it's been mentioned here in conversations, but for a pitcher with a fastball he should be able to just cruise behind, Tepesch seems intent on throwing an awful lot of offspeed stuff, especially early in the count.