A Tip of the Cap 2013: By the Numbers

288th  Mizzou's RPI ranking on March 4th, out of 296 D-1 teams (BoydsWorld.com RPI)

139th Mizzou's official NCAA RPI ranking  on May 21st.

7 MU's Strength of Schedule ranking among D-1 teams (BoydsWorld.com, 5/22)

18-32  Final W-L record, fewest wins since 1975; Tim Jamieson's fewest wins as head coach

.360  Lowest winning % since 1995

5  Games cancelled

12  Games postponed or rescheduled

20.5 Inches of snow in in the last 8 days of February in CoMo

33.7  Average temperature in March in CoMo

3  Longest MU winning streak, 3/6-3/8 vs. Eastern Michigan (DH) and San Francisco

6  Longest MU losing streak, the first two weekends of the season vs. Southern Mississippi and Memphis

2 Number of games MU lost by just 1 run

15 Home runs for the team, fewest since 1973

64 Doubles, fewest since 1975

205  Runs, fewest since 1973

402 Hits, fewest since 1983

185  RBI, fewest since 1973

161  walks, fewest since 1973

2-9 Rob Zastryzny's W-L record

3.38  Earned runs given up by Rob Z per 9 innings

1.92  Average runs scored by MU in Rob Z's 13 starts

228 Career strikeouts for Rob Z, tied for 8th all-time at Mizzou (tied with Rob Pietroburgo, father of current assistant coach Dan Pietroburgo)

3.87 Team ERA, surpassed only by the 2004-2006 Max Scherzer teams since 1981

484 Hits allowed, fewest since 1993

242 Runs allowed, fewest since 1983

189 Earned Runs allowed, fewest since 1983

152 Walks allowed, fewest since 1983

15  Outfield Assists for Dane Opel in 2013, 1st place in Division 1 for the regular season


30  Career Stolen Bases for Brannon Champagne, tied for 9th all-time at MU

4  Infield Positions played by Josh Lester: 23 1B, 7 2B, 6 SS, 7 3B

30 Games Jake Walsh appeared in, out of 50

.193 MU's batting average in the 2013 SEC Tournament

.359  MU's batting average in the 2012 Big 12 Tournament

1.11  MU's ERA in the 2013 SEC Tournament

2.83 MU's ERA in the 2012 Big 12 Tournament

8 NCAA Regional appearances in 10 years from 2003-2012

1 NCAA Regional appearance in 4 years from 2010-2013

622 Career wins by Tim Jamieson

Conference ISR rankings, as of 5/22/2013

1 114.5 ACC
2 113.0 SEC
3 112.7 PAC 12
4 109.0 Big West
5 108.6 Big 12

3,145 Biggest Crowd at Taylor Stadium in 2013, also biggest regular season crowd ever

127  Smallest Crowd at Taylor Stadium in 2013

19,561  2013 Total Attendance

752   2013 Average Attendance

Past Years' Regular Season Home Attendance

2012: Total: 26,357; Average: 824
2011: Total: 13,334; Average: 476
2010: Total: 19,310; Average: 715
2009: Total: 23,848; Average: 852
2008: Total: 30,687; Average: 1,136
2007: Total: 14,190; Average: 645
2006:Total: 23,906; Average: 885
2005:Total: 16,965; Average: 707

2013 Home Attendance Detail

ATT - DAY DATE OPP3,145 - Fri 3/15 S. Carolina
2,563 - Sat 4/20 Florida
1,263 - Fri 3/29 LSU
1,107 - Sun 3/31 LSU
1,018 - Sun 4/21 Florida
945 - Sat 3/30 LSU
886 - Sun 5/18 Kentucky
879 - Sun 4/28 Auburn G1
879 - Sun 4/28 Auburn G2
850 - Sat 5/17 Kentucky
840 - Fri 4/19 Florida
826 - Sat 3/16 S. Carolina G1
826 - Sat 3/16 S. Carolina G2
750 - Tue 4/30 SEMO
654 - Fri 5/16 Kentucky
544 - SatT 3/9 SF
480 - Fri 3/8 SF
431 - Wed 3/13 Truman St
423 - Tue 3/12 Jackson St
400 - Tue 3/19 Arkansas St G1
400 - Tue 3/19 Arkansas St G2
306 - Wed 4/24 Missouri St
291- Fri 4/26 Auburn
227 - Wed 3/6 E Mich G1
227 - Wed 3/6 E Mich G2
127 - Wed 3/27 Neb-Omaha

Top 10 All-Time Home Attendance

6/2/07 Louisville (Regional) 3,630
6/1/07 Kent St (Regional) 3,481
6/3/07 Louisville (Regional) 3,457
3/15/13 South Carolina 3,145
5/17/08 Nebraska 3,126
5/18/08 Nebraska 2,418
4/25/98 Texas 2,347
4/24/98 Texas 2,372
5/5/12 Texas 2,2104/5/08 Okla St 2,205
6/4/07 Louisville-MU (Regional) 2,199

No Baker's Dozen: Will MU Make the Tourney Cut?

The Tigers (8-19, ..296) are in 12th place right now, ahead of #13 Tennessee (7-18, .280) and #14 Georgia (5-19, .208). Only the top 12 teams, regardless of division, make the SEC Tournament next week.

Mizzou's "magic number" is 3. With 3 SEC games left for each team, any combination of MU wins and/or UT losses equaling 3 or more clinches the #12 spot for the Tigers.

The tie breaking rules (UT beat MU earlier this year) won't come into play because UT has 2 fewer games under its belt due to cancellations, and so there can be no statistical tie. The SEC Tournament Seeding rules clearly state the seedings are based on winning percentage, not on number of wins or number of losses or number of games behind.

The two division champions shall be automatically seeded number one and number two based on winning percentage in Conference competition. The remaining teams shall be seeded numbers three through 10 based on winning percentage without regard to division.

MU plays this coming weekend vs. Kentucky. UK started the season well, but have struggled in the last several weeks, posting a 4-14 record in their last 6 SEC series. Part of that stretch was going 0-3 each against SEC big-boys LSU,South Carolina and Vanderbilt. But it also included 1-2 against Tennessee.

NOTE: The Kentucky series is scheduled for Thursday/Friday/Saturday, not Friday through Sunday. Note also, though, that the forecast is calling for ran and thunderstorms Thursday and into Friday, so the chance of a Saturday double-header exists. I have no doubt both teams are very eager to get all three games in, since both need these games for their seeding and overall W-L records.

Tennessee plays at home this weekend against Texas A&M, which has a similar record to Kentucky, with similar mixed results.

Based on the records of both MU and UT and their weekend opponents as well, it’s going to come down to which team can manage to avoid shooting itself in the foot and which can focus and grit it out enough to grab the brass ring. Well, the #12 brass ring.

♦ What does the SEC Baseball Tournament field look like with 1 weekend remaining in regular season? (al.com)

Below is a look at the SEC Tournament seeding and first two days of competition if the regular season ended today.

SEC Tournament seeding (May 12)
1. Vanderbilt, 24-2
2. LSU, 21-6
3. Arkansas, 17-9
4. South Carolina, 16-10
5. Ole Miss, 14-13*
6. Mississippi State, 14-13*
7. Alabama, 13-13
8. Florida, 13-14
9. Texas A&M, 11-15
10. Auburn, 11-16
11. Kentucky, 10-17
12. Missouri, 8-19
----
13. Tennessee, 7-18
14. Georgia, 5-19

Note: Ole Miss owns a 2-1 record against MSU in conference games.

May 21 (single elimination)
Game 1: No. 6 Mississippi State vs. No. 11 Kentucky, 9:30 a.m., FSN
Game 2: No. 7 Alabama vs. No. 10 Auburn, TBD, FSN
Game 3: No. 8 Florida vs. No. 9 Texas A&M, 4:30 p.m., CSS
Game 4: No. 5 Ole Miss vs. No. 12 Missouri, TBD, CSS

♦ Vanderbilt, You Had Me At 'I'll Be Back' (College Baseball Today)

Dishonorable Mentions: - Kentucky.

I’m not anti-Kentucky, know that from the start here. In fact, head coach Gary Henderson is one of the nicest dudes I’ve dealt with in all my years of covering college baseball. Hell, I’ve got a “Kentucky baseball” magnet on my refrigerator at home… I ain’t lyin’ to ya’. But after looking at their body of work, including this weekend’s sweep at the hands of Vanderbilt, I can’t see how this team deserves to be in the at-large discussion for an NCAA tournament bid. They’re RPI coming into today was No. 29, but just like Maryland in the ACC at No. 26, there’s no way these dudes should be given much credence despite what that whack-B.S. RPI formula says. A poster child for a lackluster big money conference team getting helped out huge by the overall top-heavy state of their league.

Bright side of getting back so late with @mutigerbaseball is McDonald's breakfast starts in 15 minutes!

— Daniel Tappana (@JustTappItIn) May 13, 2013

HI NOTES: Numerology, June Madness

From what I can tell, Keaton Steele is one of just 4 DI players to lead their team in pitching wins while hitting either 3rd or 4th in order

— Shawn Davis (@ShawnDizzle77) April 29, 2013

THE HOME STRETCH

15-24 (.385)  Mizzou Baseball's Current 2013 Record

7-14 (.333) Current SEC Record

5th in SEC East

11th/12th Tied overall in the SEC with Auburn.

Tennessee and Georgia are 13th and 14th.  Of MU's remaining SEC Opponents, Alabama is 6th overall, Kentucky is 9th, Texas A&M is 10th.

10 games remaining on MU's regular season schedule: 3 each vs. Alabama, Texas A&M and Kentucky, plus a single game this week  vs. SEMO.

12  Number of teams that will qualify for the SEC Tournament (the top 12 in the overall SEC rankings, regardless of division)

.500 Winning percentage required to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Regionals.

100% Winning percentage required in the remaining regular season for Mizzou to finish at or above .500

19-34 (.358) Worst record in Tim Jamieson's tenure as head coach at Mizzou (1995, his first season)

3-7 (.300)  Finish required in regular season to finish 18-31 (.367) and beat that worst winning percentage

5-5 (.500) Finish required in regular season to finish 20-29 (.408) and beat that worst number of losses

49 Number of games MU will probably have played in the regular season, out of a scheduled 56 (barring additional games lost)

48 Number of Division I games MU will have played.

POST-SEASON

♦ ESPN to cover all bases on College World Series coverage (USA Today)

...ESPN, in a plan that will be formally announced today, is trying to make that happen with its College World Series coverage. Consider that during first-round coverage starting May 31, ESPN will carry every game from all 16 game sites – up from games at six sites last year, four in 2011 and just two in previous years.

Meaning, ESPN is going all-in on college baseball tournament tonnage. Its coverage of the first round – the Regionals – could include as many as 112 games over four days...

HI NOTES: Satan, Home Stretch, Tep on Top, Gibby on Rehab

This is awesome... Batting average is the devil. mlb.mlb.com/news/article.j…
— Hunter Mense (@Hunter_Mense) April 26, 2013

GAME DAY

Showers will stick around throughout the evening and overnight.Otherwise, lots of clouds as we head into the weekend. Sunshine by Sunday..
— Eric Aldrich (@komuEric) April 26, 2013

Spotty showers will continue into Saturday, but it won't rain all day. More clouds than anything else. Highs in the upper 50s tomorrow.
— Eric Aldrich (@komuEric) April 26, 2013

♦ Missouri aims to make late-season run (The Maneater)

“Honestly, I think if we get enough momentum going, we’ll be a lethal team in the (SEC) tournament like we were in the Big 12,” Zastryzny said, noting the similarities between this year’s team and last year’s.
...
“It’s another opportunity for us to win,” Auburn’s coach John Pawlowski said in a teleconference Thursday. “It’s an important series for us.”

Missouri’s coach Tim Jamieson concurred.

“Auburn, like us, is fighting for one of those last spots in the tournament,” he said. “I anticipate them coming out to play.”...

MIZZOU BASEBALL IN THE MAJORS

♦ Nick Tepesch does job again as Rangers hold off Twins, 2-1 (Dallas News)

Tepesch, who flew ahead of the team the night before to get a good night’s sleep, pitched six strong innings for his second win to lead the first-place Rangers over the Twins 2-1 on Thursday night.

The 24-year-old righty cruised through Minnesota’s lineup for most of the night. He held Joe Mauer, Josh Willingham and Justin Morneau to a combined 2 for 11. Mauer was held hitless for only the fourth time this season.

“Their two, three, four hitters are about the best you’ll see in Major League Baseball,” Rangers manager Ron Washington said. “Going through them three times, he did a good job.”

MIZZOU BASEBALL IN THE MINORS

♦ Lots of good stuff in this Interview: TwinsCentric: Q&A With Kyle Gibson (Minneapolis Star Tribune)

CF - How much of rehab is mental as well as physical?

KG - Good question, if I could say 100 percent and 100 percent I would. I would say getting over the injury is more mental than physical. You do a lot of physical work, but at the end of the rehab, you get to the point when it’s time to let it go, and it’s time to move on from the rehab, and that’s where the mental part comes in. For me, I was able to do that okay because I had an elbow surgery before. My first outing in extended, I was like, here’s a four-seamer, throw it as hard as you can, you get past that and that’s what helped me...

HI NOTES: One Great Game, Tepesch OK

GAME DAY

@mutigerbaseball coach Tim Jamieson confirmed that freshman pitcher Gerrion Grim will leave the team, transfer. More to come. #Mizzou #SEC

— Alex M. Silverman (@AlexMSilverman) April 21, 2013

♦ Mizzou's RPI ranking (according to BoydsWorld.com, rose from  149th to 117th over the past week.  The Tigers' Strength of Schedule rose from 12th toughest to 8th in the nation.  Missouri is one of two SEC teams in the top 10 of Strength of Schedule.  The other is Florida.

Strength of Schedule Top 10

1. Washington
2. Florida
3. Southern California
4. Hawaii
5. Loyola Marymount
6. Oregon
7. UCLA
8. Missouri
9. Miami
10. California

♦ 'Iron Man' Jake Walsh propels Missouri baseball to Sunday victory (Columbia Missourian)

The Tigers hit the ball hard all day Sunday, recording two more hits in nine innings than they had the day before in 15.

But even with the offense clicking, the focus was on Walsh after the game. Missouri junior catcher Dylan Kelly even had a nickname for the weekend warrior.

"The Iron Man, I guess you guys can call him or whatever, because he pitched Friday, Saturday and Sunday," Kelly said. "I thought today was his best day. He came out firm with the fastball, mixed pretty well, we got out when we needed to and he forced contact. He’s a great pitcher we have.” ...

♦ MU baseball wins finale vs. Florida (Columbia Tribune)

Missouri is tied with Tennessee (5-13) for 12th in the SEC standings — though the Volunteers own the tiebreaker — and are one game ahead of Georgia (4-14). Auburn (6-12), which visits Simmons Field for a three-game set beginning Friday, is one game ahead of Missouri. Kentucky and Texas A&M — who both remain on Missouri’s schedule — are two games ahead at 7-11. The bottom two teams do not make the SEC Tournament.

“I think everybody’s starting to calm down a little bit, starting to settle into some roles,” said Pearson, who was 6 for 13 with four RBI in the series. “We understand what it’s like to be in the SEC now and face all this top-notch competition. I think we’re starting to settle down and play a lot better ball than we have been playing.” ...

The Tribune article has several great photos from the game, including a shot of Keaton Steele's great 5th inning catch

♦ Missouri snaps Florida’s eight-game winning streak (The Independent Florida Alligator)

Florida fell behind for the third straight game against Missouri. Unlike the previous two contests, Sunday’s series finale ended in UF’s first loss in two weeks.

The Tigers (12-23, 5-13 Southeastern Conference) plated two runs off right-hander Tucker Simpson in the first inning on Sunday afternoon at Taylor Stadium in Columbia, Mo., to snap the Gators’ (22-19, 10-8 SEC) eight-game winning streak...

MISSOURI BASEBALL IN THE MAJORS

♦ Nick Tepesch expects to make next start Thursday at Minnesota (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)

Nick Tepesch felt a little soreness in his right wrist the morning after taking a liner off it, but he expects to make his next scheduled start Thursday at Minnesota.

The 24-year-old right-hander planned to play catch before Sunday’s game, but the big test will come Monday when he throws a bullpen session in Anaheim. If that goes well, the Rangers won’t have to skip his turn in the rotation.

“It feels all right now,” said Tepesch, who was diagnosed with a contusion on his right wrist...

♦ Tepesch’s injury scary in more ways than one (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)

Montero’s liner through the box appeared to skip off Tepesch’s arm and barely lost any momentum as it bounced into the outfield. Washington and medical chief Jamie Reed all but sprinted to the mound to check on their pitcher.

“He really wasn’t saying anything,” Washington said later. “He wasn’t showing any emotion at all. He’s a tough kid. ‘He said, ‘Let me finish the inning,’ but there was no way I was going to let him do that.”

In the clubhouse later, under prodding, rookie Tepesch showed the damage the ball had done.

“I’m all right,” he announced. “It’s a little sore, but not too bad. I think it scraped me a little more than made solid contact, I guess.”

Scraped would be one description, but a more accurate one might be that the back of Tepesch’s wrist looked as if something had bitten a small, bloody chunk from it...

HI NOTES: Numerology, Sinkology

35>44

Ayy ladies #sashatchatoon vine.co/v/bFI9dwx265H
— Jake Walsh (@JakeWalsh35) April 16, 2013

Click that link to see the original and hear the audio.

STATISTICS

♦ Mizzou's official NCAA RPI ranking (updated 4/16/13): 102nd

MU jumped up from 149th a week ago, after beating Missouri State and being swept, 0-3, by Vanderbilt.

♦ BoydsWorld.com rankings (4/16/13)

• 102nd RPI
• 135th ISR
• 11th Strength of Schedule

♦ BoydsWorld.com now has their RPI Needs Report up. According to the 4/16 update, Mizzou would have to play at a .737 winning percentage the rest of their schedule in order to finish in the top 8 in the RPI rankings. Or...

• .669 to finish in the top 16
• .565 to finish in the top 32
• .513 to finish in the top 45.

Missouri to-date has been winning at a .375 rate

♦  The NCAA Selection Committee will not invite a team with a record under .500.  Currently at 12-20, with 18 remaining games scheduled, that means the Tigers need to finish no worse than 13-5 (.722) to have any hope of the NCAA Regionals ... unless they were to win the SEC Tournament and get the automatic bid.  If the Committee does not include the win against D-II Truman State in their considerations, the Tigers would need one additional win to reach .500.

MIZZOU BASEBALL IN THE MAJORS

♦ Nick Tepesch's lesson: Stick with the sinker (ESPN)

The sinker sunk Nick Tepesch in his second major league start.

It wasn’t that the pitch didn’t work again. It was that he didn’t use it enough.

Where was the darting pitch that so baffled the Tampa Bay Rays last week, when the non-roster Texas Rangers invitee to spring training allowed four hits and one run in 7S dazzling innings to win his major league debut?

It was mostly, mysteriously, in moth balls Sunday in the Rangers’ series finale against the Seattle Mariners.

“It was still good today,” Tepesch said. “I just didn’t throw it as much as I should have.”

That may be why he wasn’t able to make history...

HI NOTES: Tough Row, Rash Rehash, The Rest of Sal's Story

♦ Steele back as Tigers' dual threat (Columbia Tribune)

Baseball boiled down to its simplest form is a one-on-one confrontation — pitcher versus hitter.

In that situation, Missouri sophomore Keaton Steele believes he has the advantage. Because of his role with the Tigers, Steele can stay one step ahead of his opponent.

In his first season with the Tigers, Steele has evolved from an everyday player who occasionally pitches to a pitcher who occasionally hits to Missouri's first true dual power threat since Ryan Stegall in the mid-1990s...

♦ Outfielder says goodbye to Missouri baseball (The Maneater)

...With the extra free time, Belfonte, a communications major, said he’s been focused on trying to get an internship this summer. Belfonte also said that he’s been working out frequently at the Student Recreation Complex and improving his basketball game.

“Now I’m doing my own thing and I’m free,” Belfonte said. “It’s kind of like I’m starting college over right now.”

Belfonte said he liked his time on the squad, which he said accepted him. He holds a lot of good memories from the team but repeated that he felt like it was just his time to go...

STATS

♦ Mizzou's RPI (ranked 124th) and ISR (137th) are still pretty miserable, but the Tigers' Strength of Schedule just keeps climbing. Currently ranked 24th by BoydsWorld.com, it will only go higher as they face teams like Vanderbilt (4th ISR), Kentucky (20th), Texas A&M (27th) and Florida (35th) during the home stretch of the season.

DRAFT

♦ The national media never tires of talking about Missouri's (not Philly's) Alec Rash: College baseball benefiting from MLB draft changes (Sports Illustrated)

Alec Rash is a 6-foot-6 right-hander with the kind of talent that makes professional baseball scouts salivate.
....
Rash, the highest-drafted high school player not to sign a pro contract last year, said the Phillies didn't offer the $750,000 signing bonus he sought. He was the 95th overall selection, and the slot value for that spot was $500,000. Rash enrolled at Missouri instead and is 2-1 with a 3.43 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 21 innings.

He said he probably would have turned pro directly out of high school under the old agreement.

The cap "really makes it difficult for teams to be able to just go out and throw money at someone,'' Rash said. "They have to play more of a game with it. They have to really be smart with their money. Before the new CBA, they could just throw money at someone and make that decision for them.''
...

HI NOTES: Perspective, Pain, Prospects & Pitches

8-14  2013 Record after 22 games
14-8  2012 Record after 22 games
12-10 2011 Record after 22 games

.238  2013 Team Batting Average after 22 games
.270  2012 Team Batting Average after 22 games
.279  2011 Team Batting Average after 22 games

3.42  2013 Team ERA after 22 games
3.94  2012 Team ERA after 22 games
5.03  2011 Team ERA after 22 games

♦ Check out the photo gallery of Saturday's Game 2 at UTSports.com, and click to photo #24 of Shane Segovia at the time of his injury.

Believe me...you don't know pain!!
— Shane Segovia (@Sego_OneFour) March 24, 2013

♦ UT baseball starts with a rally, ends with a blowout in doubleheader split with Missouri (Go Vols Xtra)

Tennessee’s baseball team was pumped Saturday after beating Missouri 7-6 with a two-run rally in the ninth inning.

Too bad the Vols had to play a second game.

Missouri scored 12 runs in the first four innings on its way to a 14-6 victory in the second game of an SEC doubleheader before an announced crowd of 1,560 fans at Lindsey Nelson Stadium...

MIZZOU BASEBALL RECRUITS

♦ Armed and Ready (palitem.com)

Expectations are high at Hagerstown — and for good reason.

Cole Bartlett’s NCAA Division I-bound arm is just one of six all-Tri-Eastern Conference seniors returning for the Tigers, and one of eight returning starters.
. . .
Bartlett set a school record with 99 strikeouts last season and will split time between the mound and outfield...

MIZZOU BASEBALL IN THE MAJORS

♦ Scherzer tweaking pitches (Fox Sports Detroit)

"Pretty good," Scherzer said of his outing. "Obviously, I'm building up my arm strength and now. I was at 85 pitches, so physically I'm in a spot, still tweaking throughout all my off-speed stuff.

"Didn't feel it was quite as sharp as it needed to be (Saturday) where I'm at in spring training. I did finish strong and threw some good sliders at the end. I am making strides to be ready for the season."
. . .
"It's just fine-tuning everything you want to do, all the little executions throughout the whole game," Scherzer said. "That's where you start getting into what makes you ready for the regular season."

♦ An Incomplete Syllogism Concerning Max Scherzer (Fangraphs)

...On the mound, Tigers right-hander Max Scherzer is a purveyor of spiritual delights...

HI NOTES: Tuesday Split,

GAME DAY

♦ Opel homers twice, Mizzou baseball splits doubleheader with Arkansas State (KBIA Sports Extra)

Entering its doubleheader with visiting Arkansas State on Tuesday, the Missouri baseball team had not hit a home run through its first 15 games of the season. On Tuesday, Dane Opel connected for two homers on his own.

Opel had a big day at the plate, going 4-6 with three runs scored and five runs batted in, as Missouri (7-10) split its doubleheader with Arkansas State (15-7)...

♦ Passed ball leads to Missouri collapse in second game of doubleheader (Columbia Missourian)

“Once we tied it, I thought we were gonna win the game, honestly,” Missouri pitcher Jace James said. “Then, all of sudden, it was a snowball effect kind of thing. We couldn’t stop it.”

James watched the second game from the bench after starting the first. The one earned run James allowed was his first in 19.1 innings this season...

♦ Boyd's World now lists Mizzou as having the 27th toughest Strength of Schedule in D-1 Baseball.

@big_byrd18 representing this week at #StarlightReading @mutigerbaseball twitter.com/MUAthleticsTPP…

— MU TPP (@MUAthleticsTPP) March 20, 2013

HI NOTES: Steele SEC POW, MU #1 In SEC, The Anti-Bracket

Along with winning #SEC Pitcher of the Week, it's safe to say @k_steele29 leads all SEC pitchers in RBI. #JackOfAllTrades
— Tigers On Deck (@MUTigersOnDeck) March 18, 2013

♦ SEC Baseball Players of the Week (SEC Digital Network)

PITCHER OF THE WEEK: Keaton Steele • Missouri
Junior • RHP • St. Joseph, Mo.

• Earned the win in the Tigers’ first-ever SEC win in a 4-0 shutout of No. 5 South Carolina in the second game of a doubleheader on Saturday. He pitched six shutout innings, allowing just three hits to the fifth-ranked Gamecocks while striking out seven and issuing just one walk.
• He allowed just four base runners to SC in the six innings and not one base runner advanced past first base in the win. The seven strikeouts in the game are a career-high for Steele as are the 6.0 innings pitched.

After the first week of SEC play, #Mizzou leads the league in ERA (1.00), Opponent BA (.188) and is fourth in Ks (22).
— Mizzou Baseball (@MUTigerBaseball) March 18, 2013

♦ The Extra Nine: A Mizzou Baseball Blog (mutigers.com)

6 - Disarming Gamecocks' Top Guns: The Tiger pitchers did an excellent job this weekend, shutting down a dangerous South Carolina lineup to hold the Gamecocks to a .183 batting average. Specifically, Mizzou did a great job against the Gamecocks' Joey Pankake and LB Dantzler, who entered the series batting .373 and .429, respectively, combining for 10 home runs and 39 RBI on the year. Over the weekend series, Pankake was held to just 2-for-12 with one RBI, and Dantzler was held to 1-for-13 at the plate, including going hitless in his final 11 at bats...

MARCH MADLY

♦ As per my usual practice, I have filled out my bracket as only someone who knows very little about college basketball and a lot about college baseball can do: I determine the winner of each match based on how I think their current baseball teams would do. Unfortunately, Missouri is eliminated by Louisville in the 2nd round by my plan, since Louisville Baseball is currently one of the top teams in D-1 Baseball. My Final Four? North Carolina beats UNLV, Louisville beats Ole Miss, the Tarheels win it all.

But if you think my approach to Bracketology is odd, check out the Mascot Method at House of Sparky, or the Pick Your Favorite Colors method at SportsPickle.com.

And I guarantee you'l like the winner of All 68 NCAA Tournament Schools Ranked By Coolest Person Who Went There from Sports Illustrated Extra Mustard.

HI NOTES: Midweek Marshmallows - Delicious or Damaging?

JACKSON STATE

Really excited to see @mutigerbaseball RHP Alec Rash over next couple of years. Frosh got his first W today with 7 K's in 4 IP vs. JSU. #SEC
— Kendall Rogers (@KendallRogersPG) March 13, 2013

♦ Alec Rash and Jace James were impressive in their innings against the JSU Tigers.  While RAsh is young and needs some seasoning, he obviously has the tools and the "stuff" to be a dominanct pitcher at this level and likely beyond this level.

The Jackson State pitching was pretty poor.  The starter's pitches were so slow that when he hit Shane Segovia with a pitch, the ball did not bounce off the batter, but merely fell to the ground.  Another pitch appeared to have so little speed that the wind grabbed it and sent it dancing away like a Whiffle-Ball.

The Mizzou offense managed 9 hits today, 5 of those in the 1-2/3 innings the starter was serving up softballs.

TRUMAN STATE

Faithfuls: tomorrows game will be a 1 nine inning contest starting at 4pm @ mizzou. Admission is free and loud noises are encouraged. #oops
— TrumanStateBaseball (@TrumanBaseball) March 12, 2013

Come out and cheer me on as I play "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" on the harmonica at tomorrow's #Mizzou vs. Truman State baseball game.
— Jack Witthaus (@JackWitthaus) March 12, 2013

♦ Truman State, a Division II team playing in the MIAA, is currently 2-11 for the season, with a team ERA of 11.44 and batting average of .289. They've played Washburn (going 1-1 against them), SW Baptist (0-1), NE Oklahoma State (1-1), Central Missouri (0-2), and Nebrska-Kearney (0-3)

♦ Mules Baseball scores 41 runs in sweep of Truman State (digitalburg.com)

The fifth-ranked Central Missouri Mules baseball team erupted for 41 runs and 43 hits in a doubleheader sweep of Truman State at Dodson Field on the campus of Southwest Baptist. The Mules won the opener 17-2 before winning the nightcap 24-3. ..

STATE OF MIZZOU

Is it helping the Tigers to play these two games during the week leading up to THE BIGGEST SERIES OF THE SEASON, POSSIBLY IN DECADES, this weekend against South Carolina?

Good: Today's game replaces one of the four games MU has lost due to weather.

Bad: Because Truman State is a D-2 team, the game DOES count in the 56-game maximum but will not enter into consideration in the RPI statistics. So it's generally an empty results game.

Good: Both of these teams provided fairly sure W's

Bad: The risk of playing a D-2 team is always that tiny little possibility that the opposing coach will decide to get attention by throwing his best pitcher against the big guys from the SEC ... and losing a game to a D-2 team would be pretty not good.

Good: Gives the Tiger hitters (currently hitting .229 as a team) live pitching/defense to play/practice against.

Bad: Hitting against half-speed pitchers like JSU's starter and whoever the Bulldogs select from their 10.64 ERA starting staff can actually throw the batting lineup's timing and approach off for days and even weeks. South Carolina's team ERA is 2.03.

Good: It gives Mizzou a chance to give several pitchers some innings against an opponent. Rash and James were able to continue their invisible-ERA pitching against JSU, and several pitchers may get innings today.

Bad: The Jackson State game was a continuation of the bullpen's difficulties. If the bullpen struggles against Truman State, that's not helping their confidence much. On the other hand, if they do well against Jackson State, the experience of defeating a bad D-2 team may not be all that helpful.

In the past Tim Jamieson's approach in situations like this has been that its better to play against a live opponent than to not play at all. Whether that theory holds true will be seen not in today's game, but in how well the team is prepared to face the Gamecocks in the SEC opener this weekend.

HI NOTES: Home Opener Finally? Brock Bond Finally?

Opening Day
photo by hypersapiens flickr.com

At 4:00 yesterday afternoon, when the wind was blowing through me like an ice cold pachyderm, I was glad the home opener was moved to today:  37 degrees, much calmer winds at around 10-13 mph, partly cloudy.  Still much colder than the average baseball fan would choose for a home opener, but Mizzou Baseball fans are not your average baseball fans.

♦ Baseball Tuesday Postponed: Double Header On Tap For Wednesday (mutigers.com)

The Tigers will now play a doubleheader with the Eagles beginning at 1 p.m. Wednesday at Taylor Stadium. Each game will be just seven innings...

♦ Missouri baseball team looking for answers at home (Columbia Missourian)

“Right now we’re like a bunch of Legos, and the pieces aren’t quite meshing,” Miles said. “That’s the best way to describe it. We have very good building blocks except we can’t quite fit them together.”
. . .
“Playing at home is the best cure that we can have right now,” Jamieson said. “Whatever advantage we can gain, we need to take it.”...

♦ And a note about bizarre statistics:  On Monday the Tigers' RPI ranking on BoydsWorld.com was 288th.  On Tuesday, without playing any games, MU's RPI ranking rose to 74th.  Maybe RPIs are not very reliable this early int he season.

MIZZOU BASEBALL SPRING TRAINING

♦ Brock Bond making his case for Giants' roster (McCovey Chronicles)

I always figured that Bond looked like Conor Gillaspie wearing cement shoes on defense, and that's why he's never been up in the majors. But if he's competent, or even better, what in the heck has taken so long? Has it been the lack of power? Because Emmanuel Burriss got over 300 plate appearances over the last two seasons, and he had two extra-base hits. That isn't one of those stupid jokes where hyperbole is used for comedic effect. Burriss had two extra-base hits. So if the Giants were putting up with a player like that, why not add a little OBP? ...

♦ And more Bond quotes from MercuryNews.com:

Brock Bond is in line for plenty of time while Marco Scutaro is gone, and he continues to take advantage. Bond had two more hits today to improve to 6 for 12 this spring, and he also had a pretty slick day on defense. Bond took a poor feed from Kensuke Tanaka and made a twisting throw for a double play. Later, he threw Dewayne Wise out at second when the speedy outfielder tried to take an extra bag on a flare to center that bounced off a diving Gary Brown’s glove...

9 Reasons to Not Give Up on the 2013 Tigers

1 Brett Graves has to be considered the "Ace" of the starting rotation at this point, with a 3.18 ERA and 10 strikeouts in 11.1 innings over his two starts. Opponents are hitting just .159 against him. Ian Kinsler has been quoted as saying Graves is pitching like a big leaguer.

Graves has been very impressive this year with the bases empty, and he was dominant for most of his outing against Memphis as he retired the first 13 batters he faced, carrying a perfect game into the fifth inning. (The Extra Nine: A Mizzou Baseball Blog - Week 2, mutigers.com)

2 Rob Zastryzny has struggled in his first two starts (0-2, 6.75 ERA, 14 hits and 8 earned runs in 10.3 innings), but this is actually pretty much in line what Rob Z did last year. His first 2 starts in 2012 lasted a combined 8.2 innings and netted a 5.78 ERA, but he finished the season with a 3.80 ERA.

3 Eric Anderson had a good start in his first time back on the mound

The highlight of the day for the Tigers was the season debut for redshirt junior Eric Anderson (Highlands Ranch, Colo.), who made his first start and first pitching appearance since March 9, 2012, after undergoing Tommy John surgery in May of 2012. Anderson went 2.0 innings, allowing two hits, a walk and an earned run in his 2.0 innings of work. He threw 31 pitches in the start, 19 for strikes. (mutigers.com)

4 Alec Rash has started the season well (2 APP, 5 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 4 SO, .056 Opp BA) and will continue to get more innings and more appearances.

Mizzou spoiled a great relief outing by freshman Alec Rash (Adel, Iowa), who went 4.0 innings, allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out three. He was a tough-luck loser on the day after the leadoff man in the seventh reached on an error at short and eventually came around to score as the go-ahead run after three wild pitches. (mutigers.com)

5 Jace James has given up 4 hits in his 5 innings over 3 appearances, but has surrendered no runs, earned or not, and only a single walk. He is on his way to being the anchor of the bullpen.

6 Dylan Kelly has gotten off to a good start in the opening weekends. He leads the Tigers in hitting (.412 BA, 7-for-17, 2 R, .444 OBP, 1 BB, 4 SO), and has distinguished himself as a tough take-charge catcher behind the plate.

Arguably the best weekend performance for Mizzou went to catcher Dylan Kelly, who batted an unconscious .556 (5-for-9) at the dish against Memphis. (The Extra Nine: A Mizzou Baseball Blog - Week 2, mutigers.com)

7 Kendall Keeton (.286, 6-for-21, 2 2B, 1 RBI, leads regular starters with only 2 strikeouts) and Dane Opel (.278, 5-for-18, 1 3B, 2 RBI, .458 OBP, 2 BB, 4 HBP, 5 SO)aren't hitting in the .400s like Kelly, but they're doing better than the rest of the lineup, and providing some leadership for the offense.  They've been helped by Keaton Steele, whose .222 batting average may be unimpressive, but his contributions to the offense have come in other ways:

He currently stands at 4-for-7 with runners in scoring position, and he leads the team with four RBI, tallying two RBI in each weekend of the season. (The Extra Nine: A Mizzou Baseball Blog - Week 2, mutigers.com)

8 Breckin Wiliams sticks out among a struggling bullpen with his inning and two-thirds work over two appearances, with only a single hit and no runs - earned or not - to his credit.

9 Missouri seems to always start the season slowly, especially in offense. After the first 9 games in 2012, Missouri's record was 4-5. Scott Sommerfeld and Dane Opel led the team with batting averages of .348 and .333, but from there it went downhill quickly. Ben Turner .276, Brannon Champagne .242, Blake Brown .240, Conner Mach .219, Eric Garcia .219

HI NOTES: Idling in Neutral

WORD ON THE TWEET

Memphis shuts out Missouri for first shutout of SEC opponent since season opener against Alabama in 2006 instagr.am/p/WDp2hnPaHG/

— Memphis Baseball (@UofMBaseball) February 23, 2013

Sometimes, you just gotta sleep some things off and wake up in the morning with a new agenda! #NewDay #DifferentOutcome

— Shane Segovia (@Sego_OneFour) February 23, 2013

NUMBERS

Through 4 games:

.163 Mizzou Batting Average

.275 Mizzou On Base Percentage

37 Strikeouts by Mizzou Batters

.292 Opponents' Batting Average

10 Mizzou Batters Hit By Pitch

5 Opponents' Batters HBP

4 Mizzou Errors

.534 Mizzou ERA

.100 Opponents' ERA

NEWS

♦ Memphis Tigers baseball team shuts out Missouri (Memphis Commercial Appeal)

Tucker Tubbs had a home run and three RBIs and Sam Moll allowed one hit in seven innings as the University of Memphis (2-3) defeated Missouri (0-4) 6-0 at FedExPark on Friday. Moll walked one and struck out five.

Memphis (2-3) scored twice in the first. Carter White doubled, and Tubbs followed with his second career home run to give Memphis the lead over Mizzou (0-4).

♦ Memphis shuts out winless Missouri baseball team (Columbia Missourian)

Right fielder Dan Opel (triple) and and second baseman Kendall Keeton (single) were the only two Missouri players to get a hit. The Tigers were held by Memphis starter pitcher Sam Moll, who pitched seven innings, gave up one hit and struck out five. Conner Porter pitched the final two innings for Memphis.

Missouri starter Rob Zastrysny gave up 10 hits and five runs. He was pulled with one out left in the sixth inning.

HI NOTES: One Tough Schedule, Media Day Whatnot, & Max

STATISTICS

♦ You know it's almost College Baseball Season when you see the First Boyd of Spring, Boyd Nation's 2013 Preseason Intended Strength of Schedule (BoydsWorld.com).  This basically is a calculation of the Strength of Schedule of each team based upon the final ISR numbers at the end of the 2012 season.  Mizzou's overall SoS comes in ranked at 32nd overall, which is pretty tough, but factors in well for the RPI (assuming, of course, a preponderance of W's vs. L's).  MU's non-conference Intended SoS is considerably lower, at 117th.  It should be noted that in this ranking, Missouri comes in with the 7th toughest overall Intended SoS in the SeC (9th in Non-Cofenerence SoS).

2013 MIZZOU BASEBALL

Pitcher of a Horse

♦ Some interesting quotes from Mizzou Baseball Media Day Coverage (mutigers.com)

Scott Sommerfeld: "Honestly you know I've heard a lot of opinions and what not, but I'm just here to play ball. We've got 35 guys fighting for the same goal and I think that's what's important in college baseball."

Dillon Everett, talking about Rob Zastryzny: "Yeah, he's got that swag going into the season which is good"

Rob Zastryzny: "And all of the junior college guys have pretty much stepped up and showed that they're great. Junior college is like the struggle because they don't wash your clothes; they don't treat you like a baseball player. You do everything and they've been through it all so they are ready to come step up and earn their spot and keeps."

Rob Zastryzny, talking about Eric Anderson: "Whatever he is throwing he's just blowing people away. He's a horse up there, that's what I like to call him."

Rob Z again: " I love when we're the underdogs because that's what I've been the entire time. In high school I came from a team that was always supposed to win. And now I'm on a team that's never supposed to win so I've have been on both angles. I would rather be the underdog."

♦ Mizzou baseball full speed ahead, despite devastating Southern Miss. tornado (KBIA Sports Extra)

The tornado touched down on campus in Hattiesburg, Miss., before following a path through a portion of the town. Much of USM’s student body was away from campus due to the Mardi Gras holiday and despite some reported damage to campus buildings, no student injuries have been reported. The school’s athletic facilities were also largely unaffected, and USM has announced that its baseball series with Missouri will go on as scheduled at Pete Taylor Park this weekend.

The Tigers will travel to Hattiesburg on Wednesday as scheduled, but the team is aware that the disaster adds a heavier node to their opening weekend...

MISSOURI BASEBALL IN THE MAJORS

♦ Scherzer healthy, hopeful for long-term deal (mlb.com)

First things first: Max Scherzer's arm is fine. Manager Jim Leyland and Scherzer both said as much. The shoulder issues that hampered him down the stretch last season, they say, are a thing of the past.

"I can tell you this: He's perfectly healthy," Leyland emphasized.

Scherzer's also happy. Nobody had to shout it, but the tone of his conversation on Tuesday morning sounded like somebody in a good place. He could even joke about the best part of his offseason being a ticket out of Cleveland rather than his own vacation in Hawaii...

2013 Rule Changes for Mizzou Baseball

There are rules changes every season in NCAA Division I Baseball. This year is no different, PLUS the Tigers will have to learn a few SEC-specific rules that are not necessarily new to the SEC but will be new to Mizzou.

1954 Rule Book

2013 NCAA Division I RPI Change

♦ RPI formula altering for 2013 season (NCAA.com)

The Division I Baseball Committee recommended changes to the Rating Percentage Index calculation that will be applied beginning with the 2013 season.

The revised RPI formula will value each road victory as 1.3 instead of 1.0. Each home win will be valued at 0.7 instead of 1.0. Conversely, each home loss will count 1.3 against a team’s RPI and each road loss will count 0.7 against a team’s RPI. Neutral-site games will retain the same value of 1.0, but the committee is studying how to determine if a game should be considered a neutral-site contest. The weighting is based on data showing that home teams win about 62 percent of the time in Division I baseball.

An institution’s RPI will still consist of the following three factors:

• Division I winning percentage (25 percent of the RPI)
• Opponent’s Division I winning percentage (50 percent of the RPI)
• Opponents’ Opponents’ Division I winning percentage (25 percent of the RPI)

This RPI formula change could have some impact on several SEC teams, which are notorious over-loading their schedules with home games.


NCAA D-I Rules Changes

From NCAA Baseball 2013 and 2014 Rulebook

The most significant rules changes have to do with putting some teeth into the umpires' ability to enforce the existing rules.

• The NCAA and the umpires will be more rigorous in enforcing the rules about precisely where the 1st and 3rd base coaching box lines are drawn, and that the base coach stay within that box
• Each bullpen have a minimum of two mounds
• Portable pitcher's mounds are legal, provided both teams agree to their use prior to visitors' arrival at the game site
• A pitcher's glove may not be white or grey or in any way distracting
• The catcher shall have both feet in the catcher's box until the pitch is released
• Any player or coach who is ejected from a game is automatically suspended from the next scheduled game
• Any ejected player or coach who returns to the field, the dugout, or the grandstands before the umpires leave the field at the end of the game will receive an automatic 3-game suspension.
• As always, players and coaches are prohibited from deliberately erasing the batter’s box
  or other lines. Umpires must stop the individual from erasing the lines.  The new rules say "the umpire has authority to require the batter to stand in a proper batting position.
  He may require the grounds crew to reline the box. After a warning, individuals who
  repeatedly commit this infraction may be ejected."
• The umpire shall declare intentional interference and award just compensation, be it an out, extra bases, etc., if a spectator intentionally reaches out of the stands or goes out onto the playing field. The ball is dead immediately.
• Conferences are allowed to establish their own travel guidelines/restrictions for the get-away or travel day of a series regardless of the mode of transportation.
• Players or coaches who are ejected for leaving their position and participating
  in a fight shall serve a four-game suspension. If a team does not have enough eligible players available to continue the game, the team shall forfeit the next four contests.
• No member of a team’s personnel may argue or continue to excessively
  express themselves with prolonged actions or offensive language after an
  ejection. PENALTY: An additional two-game suspension
• If a player, coach or team representative is ejected from a contest because of physically abusing an umpire or fighting an opposing player, the following shall be enforced: For the first offense by an individual, ejection plus suspension from the team’s next four contests.
• There are many fine tunings of the rules regarding offensive interference or batter's interference or catcher's interference
• A ball stuck in a fielder's glove remains alive.
• Delay the game at any time. With the bases unoccupied, the pitcher shall deliver the ball within 20 seconds after receiving the ball on the mound; PENALTY—After a warning for each pitcher, a ball will be called each time the rule is violated.
• If the pitcher is not in contact with the pitching rubber, the pitcher may go to the mouth while in the dirt area; however, the pitcher must wipe off the fingers before engaging the rubber
• Team personnel may not come onto the playing field to argue or dispute a warning of their pitcher intentionally throwing at a hitter. After a warning, they are subject to an immediate ejection.
• No replay may be shown in the stadium during a dispute with an umpire.
• Walk-up songs: All music, chants or crowd-cuing messages must stop when the batter enters the dirt circle
• The public address announcer will announce the first batter of the inning immediately after the catcher throws the ball down to second base and announce any following batter no later than when the ball reaches the third baseman or any infielder on a ball being thrown in from the outfield. The public address announcers may not announce a pinch hitter or new pitcher until signaled in from the umpire. Umpires are to be alert for lead-off pinch hitters in the on-deck circle in order to confirm the substitution and have such batter announced on time.
• Once umpires have determined a need to conference to review a play, they shall
  direct the head coach to return to the dugout or coaching box before the crew will begin their discussion.

SEC Baseball Rules

The SEC has several conference-specific rules for baseball, which I've covered in detail previously at SEC Dixie-nary: R is for Rule Book.  Be sure to click and take a look, because some of them are significant.

While you're at it, check out our entire series on the SEC Dixie-nary to learn many more things about our new conference, including geography and weather, history, recruiting footprints and $$$.

HI NOTES: Roster Cuts, More SEC Dominance, More Jersey #s, More Preseason Season

ROSTER

At Saturday's First Pitch Celebration, 38 players were introduced.  The roster on mutigers.com now lists 35,  the mandated limit for roster size.  Missing from the list are Senior LHP Kyle Barbeck, Sophomore LHP Tyler House, and Junior RHP Jeff Oracion.  Here's a SimmonsField.com Tip of the Cap to those three Tigers, for all the effort they've put in.  There may be a Jake Walsh in that group.

SOUTHERN EXPOSURE

♦ The SEC "Numbers Game": The Beginning (SECDigitalNetwork.com)

The SEC is pretty good in football, right?

Anyone familiar with the SEC has heard the laundry list of achievements experienced in football. Seven straight National Championships, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner and unmatched depth. Many argue that this year was the SEC's most dominant, with at one point six of the top nine teams in the Bowl Championship Series standings coming from this conference.

Consider this though. Is the SEC just as dominant in baseball?

SEC baseball teams have won nine of the last 22 national championships, having finished runner-up six times during that span. That includes South Carolina in 2012, which fell two wins short of winning their third straight title. Although LSU and the Gamecocks have won eight of those championships, this isn't a case of two teams dominating while the rest coast on that reputation...

♦ Realignment Shuffles Plenty Of Conferences (Baseball America)

BOTTOM LINE FOR BASEBALL: The rich get richer with these additions...So while Mizzou should reap some recruiting advantages by moving to the league's best conference, this move is a net loss for it...

PRESEASON SEASON

Only 3 days until the end of the Pre-Season Season

♦ 20 Mondays - No. 1 (College Baseball Today)

Check out Eric Sorenson's first "Baldcast" video of the season. He talks about the new RPI formula that rewards wins on the road.

♦ More Eric Sorenson in College Baseball's Preseason Top 25 for 2013 (Athlon Sports)

♦ And the absurdity begins, before a single game has even been played: 2013 NCAA Baseball Preseason Regional Projections (College Baseball Daily)

The season hasn’t kicked off yet but it is time to start looking at how a potential 64 team bracket would look right now based on our preseason expectations of each conference. The last two years, we have hit on 20 out of 31 hosts (ASU appeal is the outlier). Remember, that these are just based on our projections and expectations for what we will happen come May 27th. We will release our new projections every Tuesday until the end of the season.

And, don't even ask where Mizzou fits in on the bracket.

JERSEY NUMBERS

♦ Thanks to MU Journalism grad and CNN photojournalist Jeremy Harlan for providing me with some jersey numbers from the early 90's, which I've updated on our historical list of Mizzou Baseball Jersey Numbers. Anyone else who has some jersey numbers to add to our list, let me know at simmonsfield@hotmail.com.

#3 - Justin Towe '93-'96
#4 - Jeff Terrell '95-'97 Drafted Phillies
#10- Justin Hellman '96
#14- Chris Giuliani 94-96
#15- Tom Buchman '95-'96 Drafted Twins
#16- Jay White '93-'96
#22- Brian Jorgensen- 93-96
#23- Aaron Akin '96 Drafted Marlins
#24- Bryan Seymour '94-'97
#26- Matt Nivens 94-97
#30- Keith Massa- 93-96

Welcome Sam Nasci to SimmonsField.com

I'm pleased to announce a new contributor and new feature for SimmonsField.com this season.

Sam Nasci

Sam Nasci is a junior at Mizzou, studying sport management and statistics.

"I've been involved in baseball my entire life, and have had season tickets to the Seattle Mariners ever since I was three years old. I attended Eastlake High School in Sammamish, WA and while I was there, I lettered my last two years in high school, making the conference all-star game in my senior season. Instead of playing baseball after high school, I decided to come to Mizzou to focus on an education.

Sam has a great interest in baseball statistics and analytics. He is a member of the Society for American Baseball Research, and looks to apply his interest as a contributor to SimmonsField.com.

Our plan is to feature a blog post by Sam at noon the day before each series starts.  He will provide analysis and a preview to each opponent the Tigers face this year.

I'm very pleased to have Sam as a contributor.  Not only does this relieve some of the workload from my shoulders during the season, it will provide our readers with a level of coverage I've not been able to do.

So join me in welcoming Sam Nasci to the SimmonsField.com team.  He plans to be at as many home games as possible this season, so stop and introduce yourself when you see him around the ballpark.

You can also follow Sam on Twitter: @nasci

MYTH-ZOU: MU vs. SEC Baseball

SEC Baseball

Myth #1 – There’s no way Mizzou Baseball can compete in the SEC.

"If Missouri entered the deep end of the pool in SEC football, they're jumping off the platform in baseball"

(Gabe DeArmond, PowerMizzou.com )

"Our challenge will be to stay out of the cellar in baseball. based on how the football and basketball teams have conducted themselves, I rather doubt that they will"

"In baseball, we are going to get drilled often in the SEC."

(Tigerboard All Sports Board)

Fact: The SEC is currently the best conference in Division I Baseball.

Fact: The SEC is not, however, a “monster conference”, not the equivalent of a Double or Triple-A Minor League, not “head and shoulders above all other conferences”. If you want to look at the statistics and the history in detail, check out our January 1st post, SxSE: Where does Mizzou Baseball rank in the SEC? 

In that post we summarize and rank the rest of the SEC teams and their performance over the past decade, including their post-season success rate, how they’re trending, the 10 year average W_L records, and a look at the BoydsWorld Conference ISR numbers for the past decade. Go ahead, click and read our earlier post, and you’ll learn two things:

1. The SEC as a conference has only a slight edge in the past decade, and in fact have not been the #1 conference statistically in any one of the past 10 years. Their average ranking is 3.2, while the Big 12’s average was 3.4.  The SEC is indeed the best baseball conference, but only in the same way that a NASCAR driver can be in first place in points by finishing second in most of the races while no one else consistently takes 1st place.
   
2. Missouri comes in at around 7th or 8th in the SEC over the past decade. So we all need to readjust our thinking and consider that as the starting point at which MU enters the conference, not at the bottom of the pile.

With those two truths in hand, I can confidently draw two conclusions:

1. Mizzou will likely compete in the SEC with approximately the same success rate they competed in the Big 12.
   
   In the Big 12 the Tigers were sometimes struggling to make the cut for the conference tournament, occasionally they finished in the upper half of the conference, and were in the Big 12 Tournament Championship game 3 of the past 4 years, winning their final game last year.
   
   The Tigers proved they can make the conference tournament and that, once there, Jamieson and company have learned how to make the most of the opportunity in competing for that trophy.  Just as in NCAA Basketball, learning how to succeed at the end of the season is an important step in the upward progress of a program.   Repeating that sort of conference tournament success in the SEC Tourney will no doubt help the coaches and the players learn to do better in the NCAA Tournament, and will go a long way toward garnering the Tigers attention and respect.
   
   



Chutes and Ladders by Hasbro

2. Having made an educated evaluation that the Tigers begin their SEC journey around 7th or 8th overall, it's important to note that’s just a starting point in the game of SEC Chutes & Ladders. It will be up to the 2013 team and their coaches, as it will be every year, to move up the ladder from that starting point, and to do what it takes to avoid sliding down the chutes into the lower depths of the conference.
   
   Recruiting top prospects is key, but the everyday performance and quick development of those recruits is just as important. A certain amount of luck can help the rise, and a bunch of injuries can knock them down a notch (I almost wrote a “rash” of injuries, but decided that was a poor choice of words for this particular team).

Other questions remain, though.

• Can the Tiger staff attract the kind of recruits they need to the coldest school in the SEC? 
• Will Mizzou Baseball be able to attract the kind of support and attendance from the students and from the community that other SEC schools enjoy? 
• Does Tim Jamieson have what it takes to be an SEC coach?

We’ll take a look at those questions in more MYTH-ZOU features this week.

Northern Exposure: Succeeding at College Baseball Outside the Sunbelt

Missouri is not really a northern school, but faces some of the same challenges those teams face as they prepare to compete in the Southeastern Conference.  Here are some good reads about the state of college baseball in the winter wonderlands, offered up by the always informative Chris Webb (follow Chris on Twitter)

♦ Q&A with ESPN college baseball analyst Kyle Peterson (b1gbaseball.com)

CW: While the Big Ten and northern baseball may never relive the glory days of true regionals, the current state of baseball in the region has to be the healthiest in many years and moving in the right direction, correct?

KP: I would agree. In the Big 10 in particular, you have significant money being spent at numerous schools to upgrade facilities. This is an important step, as it has proven to be vital across the country. Kent State and Stony Brook in the CWS last year is a greater indication of the state of the game across the country right now. Given the lower scoring games and importance of pitching/defense, parity will remain within the game for a long time. The national start date a few years back is a positive step as well. The revised RPI formula should aid northern schools starting this year. There will always be an inherent climate advantage with the southern schools but positive steps have been taken to lessen the gap.

Read the rest HERE

♦ Inside the Numbers: Coaching Salaries (BuckeyeStateBaseball.com)

The extension increased Stricklin’s annual salary to $300,000, more than double the $145,000 salary his previous contract offered. Stricklin’s prior contract was not one that was out-dated, he entered it on July 1, 2011 after leading Kent State within one game of a Super Regional appearance -finishing as runners-up of the Austin Regional, but it was one that was necessary.

For the past three seasons, with every opening at a BCS school Stricklin’s name was instantly attached, whether or not he had any interest in the position. While Stricklin interviewed and was eventually passed over at Michigan State and Ohio State, the last three offseasons saw national scribes mention him at vacancies at Notre Dame, Tennessee, and Michigan.

Each successive season Stricklin guided Kent State deeper into the postseason, the pressure for an athletic department with a fat wallet and desire to revive its baseball program increased.

Read the rest, including a good analysis of comparative coaching salaries, HERE