Mizzou in NCAA Tourney

Mizzou will travel to Fullerton, Calif. this weekend for NCAA Regional play. It will be the third-consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament for the Tigers, which is a first in school history. MU is one of just two Big 12 schools who have made the NCAA Regionals in the last three year with Texas being the other. Missouri will begin play in Fullerton at 6 p.m. CST on Friday against Arizona. That game, along with all of the Fullerton Regional games, can be seen on ESPNU (Ch. 609 on DirectTV). EIGHT TIGERS NAMED ALL-BIG 12 Mizzou sophomore right-hander Max Scherzer was named the Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Year, as announced prior to last week`s Big 12 Tournament. A total of eight Tigers earned All-Big 12 recognition. Scherzer is the first Tiger to be named the Pitcher of the Year in the Big 12 Conference. He is 9-3 on the season and leads the Big 12 in both ERA (1.52) and strikeouts (128). Scherzer earned Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Week twice this season and has set a new school record for strikeouts in a season. Joining Scherzer on the All-Big 12 First Team was junior James Boone. This is the second All-Big 12 honor for Boone and the first time he has earned first team honors. Junior Taylor Parker and sophomores Nathan Culp and Hunter Mense were named to the All-Big 12 Conference Second Team. It is the second honor for Culp, who was an Honorable Mention selection last season. Juniors Zane Taylor and Andrew Johnston and freshman Jacob Priday were named as All-Big 12 Honorable Mention selections. ON THE RECORD The 16 wins in the Big 12 this season are the most conference wins for Mizzou since the 1998 team went 17-12. Missouri also had 16 wins in 1997, the first year of the Big 12 Conference. The 17 in wins in 1998 are the most for the Tigers in the 10 years of the Big 12 Conference. Last year, Mizzou was 12-14 and finished seventh in the Big 12 regular season, but advanced all the way to the championship game of the Big 12 Tournament. STAT TRACKS, PART I At the completion of the regular season, Missouri had the fifth best ERA in the nation and the 15th best runs per game average, according to stats released by the NCAA. The Tigers also rank 16th in the national statistics with 0.43 triples per game. Individually, junior James Boone is tenth in the nation with an average of 1.38 RBI per game. Sophomore John McKee ranks eighth in hit by pitches and is ninth in walks on the season. On the mound, sophomore Max Scherzer has a 1.52 ERA, which is the sixth best mark in the nation. His 11.4 strikeouts per game average is 11th best in the national standings and his 120 strikeouts is fourth most in the nation. STAT TRACKS, PART II Mizzou`s pitching staff ranks third in the Big 12 Conference with a 3.08 ERA led by sophomore Max Scherzer, who leads the Big 12 with a 1.52 ERA on the year. Scherzer also leads the Big 12 Conference with 128 strikeouts. His 11.4 K`s per game average is more than one strikeout per game ahead of second place. He also leads the league with an opponents` batting average of just .152. Junior James Boone is sixth in the Big 12 with a .356 batting average and sophomore Hunter Mense ranks 16th with a .337 average. Boone has 70 runs batted in, which is second in the Big 12, one spot ahead of Priday who has 64 RBI. The Tigers lead the Big 12 in runs scored with 486 and have four players in the top 10 in runs scored led by junior Derek Chambers who has 60. Mense is fourth with 59 runs, while sophomore John McKee`s 54 is fifth best in the Big 12 and Boone`s 53 runs ranks ninth. McKee is second in walks (53) and is eighth in on base percentage (.448). Boone is third in on base percentage with a .476 mark and Mense is seventh with a .449 on-base percentage. HONOR ROLL With the season coming to a close, the watch lists for several postseason awards have begun to surface. Sophomore Max Scherzer has been named to the watch list for the Xanthus Dick Howser Award, the Golden Spikes Award and Wallace Award. He has also been named one of 10 semifinalist for the Clemens Award. Junior James Boone joined Scherzer on the Howser Watch List. Scherzer and Boone are two of 64 on the Howser Watch List. The winner will be announced during the College World Series on June 17. Scherzer is among 40 named to the Golden Spikes Award Watch List. That award will be handed out in July and the Wallace Award will be handed out on June 16 in Omaha. TO THE MAX Sophomore Max Scherzer set a new MU school record for strikeouts in a season as he recorded his Big 12 leading 128th strikeout of the season last Thursday against Texas Tech. He passed John Dettmer`s mark of 127 set in 1991. He not only leads the Big 12 Conference, but is sixth in the nation with a 1.52 ERA. Included in the nine victories is a combined no-hitter on April 1 against Texas Tech, in which he went seven innings and struck out a career-high 14 batters. Scherzer added a complete game to his resume as he went the distance against Nebraska on May 6 in Lincoln, Neb. Scherzer struck out nine and allowed just one run on four hits in the victory over the Huskers. On May 13, he pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing only two hits and striking out 10 to defeat Kansas and move to 8-2 on the season. Prior to the Big 12 Tournament, Scherzer was named the Conference Pitcher of the Year, becoming the first Tiger to ever claim that honor. He was named the Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Week and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers` Association National Pitcher of the Week after the no-hitter on April 1. Collegiate Baseball Newspaper also named Scherzer among the National Players of the Week. He was named the Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Week for a second time on May 17 after the win over KU. AT THE POLLS The Tigers are ranked No. 16 ranking in Baseball America and No. 22 by the National Baseball Writers` Association, according to polls released on Monday. Mizzou is also receiving votes in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches` poll. MU has been ranked as high as No. 13 in both the Baseball America poll and the Collegiate Baseball poll, its highest ranking since it reach the 13th spot in 1981. NO PLACE LIKE HOME Mizzou closed out the home portion of the 2005 schedule with a 4-3 win over Kansas on May 15. The Tigers finished 21-5 at Taylor Stadium this season. Last season, MU was 17-10 at home. MU won each of its home series this season, including Big 12 Conference series wins over Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Kansas. Missouri also took sweeps in three of their home series in 2005. HITS KEEP ON COMING Junior Derek Chambers carries a 10-game hitting streak into this weekend`s regional, matching his longest of the season. Junior James Boone has a five-game hitting streak currently in tact and junior Zane Taylor has had a hit in each of the last four games prior to NCAA Regional play. The l