Diamond Sports Update

Mizzou Baseball

I'm sure you've been following Uribe's fantastic livethread updates, but in case you weren't Mizzou whipped out a can of whoop-ass and got something they've been needing for a while: a 3-game sweep.

• Friday: Mizzou 18, Texas Tech 7
• Saturday: Mizzou 9, Texas Tech 4
• Sunday: Mizzou 15, Texas Tech 2

I adjusted the Rachel Phelps Watch to 12 wins Friday morning, which means the sweep knocked it into the single digits.  They need to win 9 of the remaining 15 guaranteed games--three midweek games (Eastern Illinois, SMS, @SMS), three games next weekend at Nebraska, three the next weekend hosting Kansas, three hosting CS-Bakersfield to end the regular season, and three guaranteed Big 12 Tournament games.  If Johnny Wholestaff comes through and Mizzou can sweep the three midweek games, that means they just have to go .500 the rest of the way.  Midweek games are tricky, though, so we'll hope for 2-1, plus 2-1 versus Bakersfield.  That leaves a 5-4 record against remaining Big 12 opponents.  All of this is very much doable, thanks in part to the sweep of Tech.  Way to go, boys.

Mizzou Softball

The ladies of the diamond, however, did not fare so well.  Halfway through Wednesday's doubleheader, Ehren Earleywine's softballers had a 10-game winning streak and a stranglehold on the Big 12 lead.  Four days later, they have a 3-game losing streak and are 1.5 games out of first place.

• Saturday: Oklahoma 6, Missouri 2
• Sunday: Oklahoma 4, Missouri 2

Here are the current Big 12 standings:

Oklahoma 13-4
Missouri 11-5
Texas 11-6
Baylor 11-6

What makes this weekend's results so disappointing is that, at best, Mizzou can hope to tie for the conference lead...but OU just swept, so Mizzou can do no better than the 2-seed at the Big 12 Tournament.  OU faces OSU in Stillwater Wednesday night on ESPNU.  If they win that, they've got the title outright.  If they lose, Mizzou has to sweep Nebraska in Columbia next weekend to tie for the title.  Assuming they escape this sudden funk, Mizzou's solid mix of pitching and hitting shapes up well for the postseason, but this has still been a very disappointing few days for the ladies.