The weather has been an icy thorn in Missouri baseball's side this week, wiping out one game and forcing two start time changes. That said, though, the Tigers seem poised to actually play a game for the first time since Saturday at South Dakota State.
MU begins a three-game series with Northwestern (4-6), which also had a midweek game banged due to weather. The Wildcats' Tuesday tilt with common MU opponent Illinois-Chicago in Evanston was postponed.
Northwestern still has yet to play a game at home, by virtue of Tuesday's cancellation, playing opening weekend in Arizona and going on the road to face Duke in Durham, North Carolina, and Georgia Tech in Atlanta. The Wildcats dropped all three series they played, winning one of three games against BYU, the Blue Devils and Yellow Jackets; they beat Cal in a one-off game in Tempe, Arizona on Feb. 17.
Missouri and Northwestern haven't faced off since a 2003 neutral-site contest in Phoenix. The Tigers lost that game but hold a narrow 3-2 edge in the all-time series.
In WarrenNolan.com's ELO metric, the Tigers are ranked at a middling No. 109. Northwestern is just above at No. 105, so this portends to be a close series at Taylor Stadium. WarrenNolan.com projects MU to sweep the series.
The three-game set begins at 3 p.m. Friday at the top of the hill. Saturday's game is also at 3 p.m. and Sunday's series finale is at 1 p.m.
Lefty ace TJ Sikkema starts Friday night, junior transfer left-hander Jacob Cantleberry gets the ball Saturday, and Sunday's starter is to be announced, though coach Steve Bieser said it will be either senior LHP Tyler LaPlante or junior transfer LHP Art Joven. So again, it's a lot of lefties for the Tigers on the weekends.
Friday's and Sunday's games can be watched on SEC Network +. All three games can be heard on KTGR, or the Mizzou Radio Network (105.1 FM, 100.5 FM; 1580 AM).
Projected starting Missouri position players:
C: Chad McDaniel, So.
1B: Tony Ortiz, Sr.
2B: Mark Vierling, So.
SS: Chris Cornelius, Jr.
3B: Austin James, Jr.
LF: Connor Brumfield, Sr.
CF: Kameron Misner, Jr.
RF: Clayton Peterson, So.
DH: Luke Mann, Fr.
Projected starting pitchers
Friday: 3 p.m. start
Missouri: Junior LHP TJ Sikkema (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
Northwestern: Junior RHP Hank Christie (0-1, 5.17)
Saturday: 3 p.m. start
Missouri: Junior LHP Jacob Cantleberry (1-0, 1.08)
Northwestern: Junior LHP Sam Lawrence (1-1, 7.71)
Sunday: 1 p.m. start
Missouri: TBA
Northwestern: Sophomore LHP Quinn Lavelle (1-0, 1.10)
MU begins a three-game series with Northwestern (4-6), which also had a midweek game banged due to weather. The Wildcats' Tuesday tilt with common MU opponent Illinois-Chicago in Evanston was postponed.
Northwestern still has yet to play a game at home, by virtue of Tuesday's cancellation, playing opening weekend in Arizona and going on the road to face Duke in Durham, North Carolina, and Georgia Tech in Atlanta. The Wildcats dropped all three series they played, winning one of three games against BYU, the Blue Devils and Yellow Jackets; they beat Cal in a one-off game in Tempe, Arizona on Feb. 17.
Missouri and Northwestern haven't faced off since a 2003 neutral-site contest in Phoenix. The Tigers lost that game but hold a narrow 3-2 edge in the all-time series.
In WarrenNolan.com's ELO metric, the Tigers are ranked at a middling No. 109. Northwestern is just above at No. 105, so this portends to be a close series at Taylor Stadium. WarrenNolan.com projects MU to sweep the series.
The three-game set begins at 3 p.m. Friday at the top of the hill. Saturday's game is also at 3 p.m. and Sunday's series finale is at 1 p.m.
Lefty ace TJ Sikkema starts Friday night, junior transfer left-hander Jacob Cantleberry gets the ball Saturday, and Sunday's starter is to be announced, though coach Steve Bieser said it will be either senior LHP Tyler LaPlante or junior transfer LHP Art Joven. So again, it's a lot of lefties for the Tigers on the weekends.
Friday's and Sunday's games can be watched on SEC Network +. All three games can be heard on KTGR, or the Mizzou Radio Network (105.1 FM, 100.5 FM; 1580 AM).
Projected starting Missouri position players:
C: Chad McDaniel, So.
1B: Tony Ortiz, Sr.
2B: Mark Vierling, So.
SS: Chris Cornelius, Jr.
3B: Austin James, Jr.
LF: Connor Brumfield, Sr.
CF: Kameron Misner, Jr.
RF: Clayton Peterson, So.
DH: Luke Mann, Fr.
Projected starting pitchers
Friday: 3 p.m. start
Missouri: Junior LHP TJ Sikkema (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
Northwestern: Junior RHP Hank Christie (0-1, 5.17)
Saturday: 3 p.m. start
Missouri: Junior LHP Jacob Cantleberry (1-0, 1.08)
Northwestern: Junior LHP Sam Lawrence (1-1, 7.71)
Sunday: 1 p.m. start
Missouri: TBA
Northwestern: Sophomore LHP Quinn Lavelle (1-0, 1.10)
