Tiger baseball's finish in tournament brings optimism
The Tigers finished well despite being eliminated from Big 12 championship contention.
Published June 2, 2010
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Missouri junior catcher Brett Nicholas leaps in the air to catch an overthrown ball during the game against Kansas on Wednesday at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. The junior will continue playing with the Tigers next year.
The Missouri Tigers baseball team beat Texas Tech 7-3 Saturday to conclude a disappointing season for the Tigers, in which they finished 29-26 and eighth in the Big 12 with a 10-16 conference record, missing out on NCAA regional’s for the first time in eight years. But a 2-1 finish in the Big 12 tournament, including a victory over top-seeded Texas, gives Missouri some optimism heading into the summer.
Missouri will lose just two players to graduation this offseason, and both will be missed next season. Senior first baseman Aaron Senne leaves Missouri as the all-time hits leader at the school with 291 career hits. Senne led the Tigers in almost every offensive category this season, with a .400 batting average and 16 home runs.
Senior shortstop Michael Liberto will be the only other player that Missouri loses to graduation this summer. Liberto batted .317 with 31 RBI this season, and was the Tigers leadoff hitter for much of the season.
Although a lot of production will be lost without Senne and Liberto, the Tigers will return with the rest of their offense, including junior Brett Nicholas. Nicholas, a junior college transfer, batted .352 and led the team with 64 RBI in his first season at Missouri. Nicholas played third base and split time at catcher with Ryan Ampleman this season. Ampleman will also be a senior next season.
In the infield, sophomore second baseman Connor Mach came on at the end of the season with a .364 batting average and five RBI in five conference games. Mach played in just 21 games this season after playing in 37 games as a freshman in 2009.
The Tigers' primary second baseman Eric Garcia had a solid freshman season. Garcia hit six home runs and 31 RBI in 46 games. Garcia, who got some playing time as shortstop towards the end of the season, could take over there for Liberto next season. Missouri also brings back two experienced infielders in Andrew Thigpen and Jesse Santo, who will both be seniors.
Missouri should also have all of their outfielders back next season. Freshman right fielder Dane Opel hit .326 in conference play, and sophomore left fielder Ryan Gebhart hit .328 after returning from an injury in early April. Junior Jonah Schmidt, sophomore Russell LaFleur and freshman Blake Brown each played in more than 35 games this season and should be back next season.
The biggest positive for the Tigers this offseason is the entire pitching staff should return next season. Ace pitcher Nick Tepesch will try to build on this season’s success as a senior next season. Tepesch recorded 75 strikeouts this season, including five in a complete game victory over Texas on Wednesday.
The Tigers also hope that pitcher Eric Anderson can rebound from an injury and pitch well as a sophomore next season. Anderson was a big recruit for Missouri, but he went just 1-4 before his freshman season ended in April due to injury.
In addition to all of the returning players, Missouri will also hope to get production from incoming players, the same way they got production from Nicholas, Garcia and Opel this season.