Mizzou has won 9 of the last 14 meetings with Texas. UT beat MU 3 of 4 times in 2009, after Mizzou took 3 of 4 in 2008.The Tigers have played the Longhorns very well at Simmons Field since 2004, going 7-2.
■ Texas Longhorns by the numbers:
- Record: 43-8 (21-3 Big 12)
- NCAA RPI ranking: 6th
- Boyd's World RPI: 6th
- Boyd's World ISR: 3rd
Through 49 games, the Longhorns' pitching staff has an ERA of 2.14. In 2009, Texas finished with a 2.95 ERA.
This season the Longhorns have a fielding percentage of 97.9. In 2009, it was 96.7.
They have a batting average of .288, the same average they finished with in 2009.
. . .
The biggest difference this year is the power numbers. The Longhorns have 62 home runs. They had 53 in 67 games last season.
"I don't think that we have more ways to beat you, I just think that our lineup from top to bottom is better than it was last season," Loy said. "We don't have the highest batting average. Our team average is still below .300, but we have a lot of power."
. . .
"It's not a big deal, and I think we all know that," Shepherd said. "We have bigger goals here than winning the Big 12 or winning the conference tournament. We take it one game at a time, but the goal is always to get to Omaha and win the College World Series."
■ Five pressing questions for UT Baseball (statesman.com)
The Longhorns ace hasn't been bad. In fact, he's been really good. He has the 23rd-best ERA in the country. He just hasn't been as dominant as he was in Game 2 of the College World Series finals against LSU.
The reason for that is Jungmann (4-2) is trying to be too careful. He's a step behind the Longhorns' Saturday starter, Cole Green, who's learned that it's OK if he gives up hits or batters make contact.
Jungmann's not behind Green in terms of his ability or the quality of his pitches. It's just his approach. He's trying to be too fine, too perfect, trying to paint the corner just right.
Jungmann has a 2.36 ERA this season, and opponents are hitting just .206 against him. Those are great numbers. But he's walked 32, and he's hit seven more.
. . .
The biggest worry is that the offense could revert to its beginning-of-the-season form.
With a less talented pitching staff, Texas probably would have had five or six more losses early this season. Looking ahead, if the offense continues to score four to six runs per game, the Longhorns should be fine.
■ Longhorn baseball wins Big 12 title (Barking Carnival)
We took 2 of 3 from Purple Kryptonite, secured a Big 12 Title that Augie will shrug about and probably use the trophy as a place to hang his car keys (our 6th Big 12 title in 14 years)
. . .
Texas lost the opener 2-1 with flaccid offense and an inability to string together hits. Stranding eleven runners on base won’t get it done. It happens. Jungmann had control issues, but wasn’t hittable (he pitched a one hitter with 7 walks, a wild pitch, and a hit batter – a young Nolan Ryan stat line). It felt like a game that we should have won 5-1, but we lacked sufficient team Wa and the baseball gods punished us for our impertinence.
. . .
Overall, the diffused power of our line-up continues to hold (our 7 most prolific HR hitters go: 11, 9, 8, 8, 7, 7, 6) and though our bats do go cold, we’ve got seven guys in the line-up at any given time who can deposit the ball in the cheap seats if you make a pitching mistake. Not a bad thing to pair with an elite pitching staff.
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