Missouri Tigers Baseball Takes On No. 1 Texas A&M

The Missouri Tigers baseball team bolted into the top 25 last week after winning 7 of 9 games during a three-week long home stand in Columbia.

Now, No. 23 Mizzou moves play outside of the Show Me State into the Lone Star State as they take on the No. 1 team in the nation, Texas A&M, at College Station on Friday.

The SEC East leading Missouri Tigers are 19-7, their best start through 26-games since 2008 and it’s by far their best winning percentage since joining the Southeastern Conference. It’s also their best in-conference start since 2006.

The Tigers are on cloud nine right now on the baseball field. Mizzou defeated SEC East rival No. 6 South Carolina a week ago with a 2-1 series win, making it their first series win over a top-10 team in almost a decade.

But the going gets tough for the Tigers. Texas A&M combines a strong pitching rotation with hitters who like to get on base. It will be MU’s defense that will be a deciding factor in whether or not it can keep the Aggies baserunners from scoring.

A&M is the top-ranked team in the nation for a reason.

Mizzou finished a series against Arkansas Pine Bluff with a 9-3 shallacking at Taylor field on Wednesday, wrapping up a 3-1 series win. The victories over UAPB followed their first ever in-conference SEC sweep over Georgia just a week prior. They averaged 6.8 runs per game during those two series, making Missouri a scoring team as well.

The Tigers have seen peaks and valleys in terms of pitching performances so far this year—but more of the former and less of the latter. Statistically, they rank 2^nd in the SEC in pitching, being first in the conference in runs allowed and opponent on base percentage and 4^th in total ERA. Perhaps Mizzou will be able to lean on this staff as they battle one of the more stubborn base running teams in the country.

As the Missouri Tigers fight to move up the rankings, it’s possible that they could earn huge brownie points with a tough-fought series. If they are able to pull off a series win, Mizzou could work its way into the top 15 by the end of next week—something that hasn’t happened since 2003.

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