HI NOTES: A Great Day to be a Tiger

Coach Mac:  Look there! 
We won the Big 12!
Coach Hi:  The Big What???

BIG 12 CHAMPS

♦ A great day to be a Tiger (KRCG)

Sunday, however, was a very good day for the Black and Gold.

The Missouri Tigers were the No. 6 seed in the Big 12 baseball tournament, so they figured to go out with a season-ending whimper in the Big 12 before heading to the SEC.

The whimper turned into a See Ya! --- and we'll be taking that trophy on our way out.

♦ MU Tiger Baseball: Road to the Big XII Championship (youtube)

Entertaining video. Be sure to watch it all the way to the guest appearance at the end

While you're sampling videos, check out another video by Tiger Crew member and J-School student Ashley Arp, MU Baseball 2K12, if you haven't seen it before.

♦ Tigers close door on Big 12 era with unlikely first-ever league crown (The Maneater)

A raucous, ecstatic celebration on the field and customary Gatorade shower for coach Tim Jamieson followed. Missouri, which will officially become a member of the Southeastern Conference on July 1, had departed the Big 12 in style.

It was this Missouri team, one that entered the tournament following a tumultuous 27-26 overall record, that would ensure the school’s final Big 12 sporting competition ended with a trophy.

“We got rid of a lot of demons,” Jamieson said in a news release. “Big 12 demons, and then also we’ve had a hard time putting Oklahoma away over the years. It’s a great feeling.”

♦ Missouri goes out a winner in Big 12 (St. Louis Post Dispatch)

The Tigers had been within one strike of winning the Big 12 tournament in 2004 and last season, and Jamieson recalls looking over his shoulder both times to see officials with championship hats and T-shirts waiting to be passed out.

This time, he paced in the dugout when pinch-hitter Chase Simpson got two strikes on him and grabbed a bottle of water and sat down after the next two pitches were balls. He checked twice to see if there was anyone holding championship gear, and didn't see anyone.

After 24 years of trying — six as an assistant coach and 18 as the head coach — he finally got to see his players celebrate with black-and-white caps and bright gold T-shirts stamped "Big 12 Champions."

♦ Coach Tim Jamieson, Missouri baseball leave conference on top (NewsOK.com)

This was his last chance.

Spanning 18 seasons as the head man in Columbia, from the Big Eight days to the digital age, Jamieson has grown fond of the conference he grew up watching.

But the guy who proudly waves the Big 12 flag is gone, heading to the SEC, just another innocent victim of the realignment mess.

And now, after Sunday's thrilling 8-7 win over Oklahoma in the Big 12 Tournament Championship, Jamieson leaves on top, with his first conference title coming in his

NCAA REGIONAL

♦ Take a look at the boydsworld.com ISR-Based Probabilities for 2012 NCAA Tournament

Mizzou has the third highes odds of winning their Regional among 4-seeds, but that's only 3.3. MU's odds of winning the Super Regional or CWS are a tidy 0.0.

Then again, I would guess the Tigers' odds of winning the Big 12 Championship were pretty slim.

♦ For UA, what a difference a stadium has made (Fox Sports Arizona)

Andy Lopez knew the first day his Arizona Wildcats stepped into Hi Corbett Field that it would work.

His team's hard-work mentality would fit right in with the history of the facility. And maybe -- hopefully -- the hysteria would ensue.
. . .
Eventually, Arizona's dream team brought out the scream team. UA's three-game series over the weekend against Arizona State was a perfect example. More than 13,000 fans went through the gates, increasing the season total to 86,132 fans, an average of more than 2,400 a game.

♦ Arizona baseball: Relaxed Cats get their guest list (Arizona Daily Star)

• Fourth-seeded Missouri will face the UA at 8 p.m. Friday following a whirlwind few weeks. The Tigers won the Big 12 tournament Sunday in Oklahoma City, then returned to Columbia, Mo., to celebrate. They were rewarded Monday with a 1,361-mile trek to Tucson.

• Third-seeded Louisville traveled to Pittsburgh and Clearwater, Fla. the last two weekends with hopes of landing an at-large bid. They'll travel to Tucson this week, covering 1,700-plus miles by plane.

• Second-seeded New Mexico State spent the month of May shuttling between Las Cruces and Honolulu, Albuquerque, San Jose, Calif., and Mesa. Despite losing in the Western Athletic Conference tournament, the Aggies earned an at-large bid.

♦ UT passed over for spot in NCAA tournament (Austin American Statesman)

"They look at whether you are going in a positive direction at the end of the season or a negative direction," Garrido said. "We lost enough games, and we lost enough people, especially at the end. And with Missouri winning, I think that was the final blow. We gave the committee a lot to work with in leaving us out."

♦ Interesting note: In addition to Missouri, the Arizona Wildcats, Oregon Ducks, Michigan State Spartans are all in the 2012 NCAA Baseball Regionals and also mad eup half of the field of 8 for the 1954 College World Series.

♦ Nine Innings:  Finishing second or next to last (SEBaseball.com)

So, Texas. You think you can push us around? Just jump around flexing your muscle and breaking up conferences. You started your own network. Sure, more people watch the reality show, Physics with Snookie, but the Longhorn Network caused plenty of ruckus.

The Big XII always seemed to get the benefit of some Weise decisions in recent years. Check out that committee list again folks. You think Texas was getting the benefit of the doubt? Payback's a female dog with PMS and thorn in her paw.

It didn't matter that Texas finished third in the Big XII. It didn't matter that they played Stanford, Cal, and the Astros College Classic which should meet the non-conference strength of schedule criteria.

This was about an opportunity. Again, make the decision and then find statistics to justify it. It's not that difficult.

♦ Would Hugh Hefner be proud of these NCAA Selections? (College Baseball Today)

To refresh, while most national writers were lauding the committee with praise last year, I gave the committee got a C- grade. This year is a little bit better. Here’s the break down.

Spreading the regionals: B
Dispersion of teams: B
Treatment of mid-majors: B-
Treatment of undeserving: B-
Choosing of the teams: D
Common sense factor: D+
Overall grade for the selection committee: C+

MU IN THE MINORS

♦ Mathis rolling in May (Providence Journal)

Nothing felt right for Doug Mathis coming out of spring training.

Because Mathis wasn’t ever really a candidate for the major-league roster, he found himself pitching on an unpredictable schedule so as to make sure the Josh Becketts and Andrew Baileys of the world got consistent work.
. . .
But as Mathis got into a routine and got his legs under him, his results began to improve. Heading into his start against the Norfolk Tides on Monday, Mathis has a 2.86 ERA with just seven walks in 28 1/3 innings pitched in five starts in the month of May.

“My command is a lot better,” he said. “Earlier in the year, I was walking a lot of guys. Now I’m relying on my command and throwing a lot more pitches for strikes, being aggressive with everything. Before, I was nibbling too much. It’s just because I didn’t have confidence in my stuff because it wasn’t as good as it is now. I have a lot more confidence now.”