Courtesy Arkansas State University Athletics Department
Arkansas State (14-6) at Missouri (6-9)
GAMES 21-22
Dates: March 19-20
First Pitch: Tuesday, 6:00 p.m.
Wednesday, 4:00 p.m.
Location:Columbia, Mo
Stadium: Taylor Stadium (3,031)
Radio: East Arkansas Broadcasters
95.3 FM The Ticket
970 AM KNEA
Radio Talent: Matt Stolz
SERIES
ASU vs Missouri.: 6-19 (ASU Trails)
Raffo Record vs Missouri: 0-0
Last Meeting: 2002
Current Streak: ASU 1 Win
MULTIMEDIA
Online Audio: AStateRedWolves.com
Live Stats: AStateRedWolves.com
LEADING OFF: Arkansas State will travel to Missouri for a two-game midweek series with Missouri in Columbia, Mo., at Taylor Stadium. ASU will bring a four-game winning streak into the game, while Missouri dropped two of three games against South Carolina to open SEC league play over the weekend. ASU will start freshman right-hander Derek Birginske on Tuesday. He has made one previous start on the year, going five innings against Missouri State and gave up just one run on two hits. Junior Cody Woodhouse will get the call on Wednesday for the second straight week. Missouri will counter with sophomore righty Jace James on Tuesday. James will be making his third start of the year and has not given up a run in 13 innings of work. Freshman right-hander Griffin Goodrich will get the call on Wednesday for the Tigers.
THE TEAMS: Arkansas State is coming off a three-game sweep against in-state rival UALR and is riding a four-game winning streak. The Red Wolves are 14-6 overall on the season and are 3-2 in midweek games on the year. The Red Wolves rank second in team ERA in the Sun Belt Conference with a 3.46 clip and also ranks second in team fielding percentage with a .979 percentage.
Missouri enters the game with a 6-9 record and is 1-2 in SEC play. The Tigers have a .240 batting average on the year and have scored 56 runs. The pitching staff has a staff ERA of 3.10 and has recorded 102 strikeouts.
ASU/MISSOURI SERIES HISTORY
• This will be the 26th and 27th meetings all-time between ASU and Missouri.
• The first meeting occurred during the 1958 season with the teams splitting a pair of games in the series.
• Missouri leads the all-time series 19-6 over the Red Wolves.
• ASU last victory in the series was a 15-10 victory in 2002.
• This will be A-State’s second matchup against an SEC opponent this season.
SCOUTING THE TIGERS
• Missouri is 6-9 this season, with six of their wins coming at Taylor Stadium.
• The Tigers have given up an average of 3.9 runs a game this season while scoring 3.6 runs per conest.
• Missouri ranks 7th in the SEC in opponent team batting average, allowing teams hit .229 against them.
• Missouri is the only team in the SEC that has not hit a home run this season
• Tuesday starter Jace James has not given up a run in 13 innings so far this season. He has also allowed just six hits on the season.
THREE IS A SPECIAL NUMBER
• Sophomore center fielder Collin Massanelli tied the school record for most home runs in a game by hitting three against UALR on March 16.
• Massanelli is just the third player in school history to hit three home runs in a game. Kevin Kull Jr. hit three at UALR in 2005 and Randy Sugg accomplished the feat against Austin Peay in 1998.
• Massanelli hit a solo home run in the first inning and then had a 2-run blast in the eighth inning that hit off a light pole in right-center field. His third home run came in the top of the ninth and tied the game at 7-7 after ASU rallied from six runs down over the final two innings.
TURNING A TRIPLE PLAY
• ASU turned a 1-5-4-3 triple play in its 6-3 victory over UALR on March 15.
• The triple play occurred when Bryson Thionnet tried to lay down a sacrifice bunt, but instead popped the attempt up in front of Seth McWilliams. The senior right-hander let the bunt attempt fall in front of him and quickly threw over to third base to get the force out. A-State third basemen Claude Johnson then threw to second base to get the force at that base after Blake Johnson did not run on the play. ASU second basemen Alex Potts then threw to first base for the final out after Thionnet never touched first because it was occupied by a UALR player.
• It was the first triple play turned by ASU under the Tommy Raffo era.
DOMINATING THE TROJANS
• ASU extended its winning streak to 12 straight over UALR with a three game sweep over the Trojans on the opening weekend of SBC play.
• ASU has swept UALR in four straight series and has not lost to the school since 2011.
POTTS LAYING DOWN THE SACS
• Second basemen Alex Potts is tied for the all-time record in sacrifice bunts in a single season in ASU history with 11
• He is also leading the Sun Belt Conference in sac bunts and his six more than the next closest player.
SUN BELT CONFERENCE OPENERS
• ASU is 34-27 all-time in Sun Belt Conference opening games.
• In the opening series, ASU is 10-9-2 with six series sweeps.
UXA DOES IT ALL
• Logan Uxa enjoyed one of his best two-game stretches on the base paths against Missouri State March 12-13.
• Uxa tied a career high with two stolen bases on March 12 and the notched just the third triple of his career on March 13.
A MIDWEEK OF FIRSTS
• Freshman Derek Birginske made his first career state on March 12 against Missouri State. He gave up just one run on five hits and struck out six, but did not factor into the decision.
• Freshman Adam Grantham earned his first career save on March 13 against Missouri State when he pitched the final two innings in relief in a 7-5 victory.
UNEARNED RUNS
• Arkansas State and Missouri State combined to score eight unearned runs in ASU’s 7-5 victory over the Bears on March 13.
POTTS STREAK COMES TO AN END
• Alex Potts saw his 15 game on-base streak come to an end on March 12. He had reached base in A-State’s first games before the streak came to an end.
JUST ANOTHER WALK-OFF SINGLE
• Alex Potts lifted A-State to a walk-off single in the bottom of the 11th inning on March 8 to give ASU a 2-1 victory over UAB.
• It was the third walk-off single of Pott’s career. He recorded two walk-off singles during his junior season.
• The first was a walk-off single in the bottom of the 10th inning against UALR on March 17, 2012 to give ASU a 3-2 win.
• The second was a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth against South Alabama to give ASU 1-0 on May 6, 2011.
HAWKINS SHINES IN FIRST START
• Sophomore Chandler Hawkins shined in his first start of the season on March 9 against UAB.
• He pitched a career-high seven innings, faced a career-high 28 batters and allowed just one run on seven and tied a career-high with three strikeouts.
BAKER’S HITS EQUAL RUNS
• Freshman outfielder Austin Baker drove in four runs on three hits on Saturday March 9 against UAB in a doubleheader
• Baker drove in a run on every hit he had across both games on the day.
HAWKINS KEEPING EM’ DOWN
• Sophomore Chandler Hawins has a league leading 0.57 ERA on the season.
• He has has six apperances on the season, five of which have been in relief.
• He has allowed just one run on nine hits, with 12 strikeouts and just six walks in 15.2 innings.
FITZPATRICK FIRST START
• Freshman Kevin Fitzpatrick made his first career start on March 3
• The true freshman made a start in left field and batted in the leadoff position. He went
1-for-4 with two runs scored.
• He recorded his first career RBI on Tuesday, March 5 against UT-Martin.
ASU IN EXTRA INNINGS
• ASU is 2-1 on the year in extra inning games.
• Alex Potts helped ASU to a 2-1 victory over UAB on March 8 when he drove in the winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning.
• The Red Wolves were down to their last out, but rallied from a 2-0 deficit to defeat Memphis 3-2 on Feb. 19.
• Collin Massanelli drove in two runs in the top of the ninth inning to tie the game at 2-2.
• Ryan Emery followed with a game winning RBI single in the top of the 10th inning and Tanner Ring closed out the game in the bottom of the 10th to give A-State the win.
GETTING THE SHUTOUT
• Arkansas State recorded its first shutout of the season on Tuesday, March 5 against UT- Martin. The Red Wolves picked up a 9-0 victory over the Skyhawks and faced just one batter of the mininum.
•The last time ASU shutout an opponent was April 13 of last year when A-State picked up a 5-0 win over Western Kentucky.
• The last time ASU recorded a shutout against a non-conference opponent was against Portland in 2010 in a 7-0 victory.
• It was the first shutout for ASU during a midweek game since 2006 when the team defeated Murray State 11-0 on a Wednesday (The team also defeated Freed-Hardeman 8-0 on Sun, April 16 of that year. ASU played Freed-Hardeman in a Sunday-Monday two game series.)
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