(Columbia Daily Tribune, April 15, 1954)
Coach John Simmons made a couple of switches in the Missouri Tigers' batting order today as he mapped strategy for a two-game series with Oklahoma A&M at Stillwater tomorrow and Saturday.
Outfielder Jerry Schoonmaker, who hit two homers against Arkansas last weekend, moved up one notch to the cleanup spot and catcher George Gleason, heretofore the No. 8 batter, will hit fifth. Gleason leads the club in hitting with a .462 mark.
Simmons and a 21-man squad set out today for Stillwater, where the Tiger mentor hopes to reduce the 6-1 edge the Cowpokes hold over the Bengals in the all-time series. Emil Kammer, with a 2-0 record, will pitch the opener for Missouri and southpaw Ed Cook is scheduled to start Saturday's game.
The biggest worries on Simmons mind at the moment are a pair of left-handed hitting Cowpokes - first baseman Phil Finegan and outfielder Ron Bennett. When the teams split a series here last year, Finegan had five hits in seven trips and Bennet had four for seven.
Still seeking a third outfielder who can hit consistently, Simmons plans to send Sam Sayers back to left field and move Bob Musgrave to right. Sayers started the season in left, was benched for two games, but came through with a pinch-hit homerun against Arkansas last Saturday.
The Tigers will return to Columbia on Sunday afternoon and will play a two-game series with the Sedalia Air Force base team here on Monday and Tuesday.
The Missouri batting order, with averages to date:
Dickinson, ss (.250)
Sickel, 3b (.150)
Musgrave, rf (.385)
J. Schoonmaker, cf (.267)
Gleason, c (.462)
Cox, 2b (.143)
R. Schoonmaker,1b (.264)
Sayers, lf (.286)
Kammer, p (.200)
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