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  1. <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
  2. <feed xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xml:lang="en">
  3.  <title>Rock M Nation -  All Posts</title>
  4.  <subtitle>A Blog for Ol' Mizzou</subtitle>
  5.  <icon>https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/50319/rmn-fav.png</icon>
  6.  <updated>2024-05-04T23:13:52-05:00</updated>
  7.  <id>http://www.rockmnation.com/rss/current/</id>
  8.  <link type="text/html" href="https://www.rockmnation.com/" rel="alternate"/>
  9.  <entry>
  10.    <published>2024-05-04T23:13:52-05:00</published>
  11.    <updated>2024-05-04T23:13:52-05:00</updated>
  12.    <title>Rustad’s Relief Helps Missouri Baseball Beat South Carolina, 8-3</title>
  13.    <content type="html">  
  14.  
  15.    &lt;figure&gt;
  16.      &lt;img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/9R9eAZHLnU53zzTFTwvSgFvRVSM=/0x444:3250x2611/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73327875/1320_04052024_mubb_scar.0.jpeg" /&gt;
  17.        &lt;figcaption&gt;Missouri pitcher Carter Rustad entered in the first inning in relief, and allowed three runs over 6.2 innings, earning the win. | Cal Tobias/Rock M Nation&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  18.    &lt;/figure&gt;
  19.  
  20.  &lt;p&gt;Pitching, defense, and hitting all came together for the Tigers on Saturday afternoon.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p id="eDgsxO"&gt;Carter Rustad knew he was supposed to pitch on Saturday; he just didn’t expect it to be so early. Nineteen pitches into Saturday’s game, Missouri’s starter, Javyn Pimental, walked off the mound with an elbow issue, and Rustad (6-6, 5.32 ERA) knew he was the next man up. Even worse for Rustad, Pimental had left the bases loaded, leaving a difficult situation for him to handle.&lt;/p&gt;
  21.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  22.        &lt;img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/pLIoxxN1D45UcsP88-q4XiK_rGk=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25433955/0297_04052024_mubb_scar.JPG"&gt;
  23.      &lt;cite&gt;Cal Tobias/Rock M Nation&lt;/cite&gt;
  24.      &lt;figcaption&gt;Javyn Pimental lasted just nineteen pitches before removing himself with an elbow issue.&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  25.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  26. &lt;p id="TMZLeK"&gt;He was given just a few minutes to warm up before being sent in to clean up the mess. The result? He got out of the jam quickly on a strikeout and a double play. Then, he retired twelve of the next thirteen batters he faced, putting four innings’ worth of zeroes on the scoreboard.&lt;/p&gt;
  27. &lt;p id="r8wDW3"&gt;Coach Kerrick Jackson said his gameplan was always to use Rustad after Pimental’s day was over, though neither he nor anyone thought his day would end in the first inning.&lt;/p&gt;
  28. &lt;p id="hQLOls"&gt; “[Rustad] was going to be the first guy that we were going to go to today,” he said. “So when [the early exit] happened, his mind was already there. Unfortunately, just earlier than we anticipated.”&lt;/p&gt;
  29. &lt;p id="FH0dD6"&gt;By the seventh, the Gamecock offense had begun to wake up, tagging Rustad for three runs. However, Missouri’s offense had left South Carolina in the dust by then, scoring eight runs to put MU up by five. Brock Lucas took over in the eighth and threw two scoreless innings to seal the victory for the Tigers.&lt;/p&gt;
  30.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  31.        &lt;img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/BgClH1_8jHl3kNVu1XQbcMJCSr8=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25433953/1781_04052024_mubb_scar.JPG"&gt;
  32.      &lt;cite&gt;Cal Tobias/Rock M Nation&lt;/cite&gt;
  33.      &lt;figcaption&gt;Brock Lucas finished the game out for Missouri.&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  34.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  35. &lt;p id="JwNL0p"&gt;Coach Jackson said that Missouri (21-17, 7-16 SEC) appeared Saturday as an entirely different team than the one which lost Friday’s game 10-2.&lt;/p&gt;
  36. &lt;p id="vrOLjE"&gt;“What they did last night, I don’t know what worked for them to put them in the mindset that they were in today, but you saw two completely different teams [on Friday and Saturday,]” said Jackson. &lt;/p&gt;
  37. &lt;p id="QGE3hD"&gt;Missouri’s offense showed up early and often, starting the first inning with a four-run base-hit brouhaha. Brock Daniels led off with a double which just barely eluded the glove of Carolina third baseman Gavin Casas, and then three of the next four Tigers singled.&lt;/p&gt;
  38.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  39.        &lt;img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/iMSw-81JqcQtZ5qh3ENU6Ab5srQ=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25433750/0492_04052024_mubb_scar.JPG"&gt;
  40.      &lt;cite&gt;Cal Tobias/Rock M Nation&lt;/cite&gt;
  41.      &lt;figcaption&gt;South Carolina third baseman Gavin Casas barely misses a ground ball by Missouri first baseman Brock Daniels, who turned the hit into a double.&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  42.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  43. &lt;p id="OHO0DR"&gt;Another single, by Drew Culbertson, scored Jackson Lovich from second for the fourth of four runs.&lt;/p&gt;
  44.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  45.        &lt;img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/hQp4NXAGdbDF4ecWR-lDQ3NoIfk=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25433753/0761_04052024_mubb_scar.JPG"&gt;
  46.      &lt;cite&gt;Cal Tobias/Rock M Nation&lt;/cite&gt;
  47.      &lt;figcaption&gt;Missouri center fielder Jackson Lovich (18) scores in the first inning off of Drew Culbertson’s single on Saturday. Lovich went 2-for-5 and also had a two-RBI triple.&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  48.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  49. &lt;p id="PcWNUx"&gt;They tacked on three runs in the next three innings through— you guessed it! Four more singles. Eight of MU’s 12 hits were singles. Small-ball lovers everywhere rejoiced.&lt;/p&gt;
  50. &lt;p id="1WbGGY"&gt;Culbertson, in particular, had an impressive game. Twice in the game, the Gamecock coaches ordered their pitcher to intentionally walk Matt Garcia in favor of Drew Culbertson with men on base. On both of those occasions, Culbertson smacked RBI singles instead of going out easily.&lt;/p&gt;
  51. &lt;p id="mFasvC"&gt;In the type of complete performance that Coach Jackson has been reaching towards all year, Missouri showed out on defense with some web gems across the diamond. Matt Garcia and Justin Colon both turned hard-hit grounders into impressive jump-throw putouts, and Jackson Lovich, as if he hadn’t impressed enough with his two-RBI triple, dove for an impressive catch in center field.&lt;/p&gt;
  52.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  53.        &lt;img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/L88agitIbI2OmJP8R_euAUNoXYQ=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25433756/1334_04052024_mubb_scar.JPG"&gt;
  54.      &lt;cite&gt;Cal Tobias/Rock M Nation&lt;/cite&gt;
  55.      &lt;figcaption&gt;Missouri second baseman Matt Garcia (4) throws out South Carolina center fielder Austin Brinling in the sixth inning on Saturday.&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  56.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  57. &lt;p id="exrfrD"&gt;Meanwhile, the Gamecocks failed to impress on defense, committing two costly errors. A misplay of a fly ball off the wall by left fielder Kennedy Jones let Brock Daniels score to start off the four-run first. Later in the third, third baseman Gavin Casas made a throw that was way off of first, allowing Mateo Serna to advance to third and load the bases.&lt;/p&gt;
  58. &lt;p id="cFS31E"&gt;That inning then took a turn for the worse, and thus discounted the game from being a “complete” performance. Drew Culbertson singled to score Serna from third, but the other two runners were derailed by baserunning miscues. Jeric Curtis, who was on second, rounded third, bound for home plate, but then changed his mind and instead retreated to third. Matt Garcia had also decided to head to third, and by the time he realized it was occupied, he had already been tagged out.&lt;/p&gt;
  59. &lt;p id="T6dKK6"&gt;Indeed, Missouri pitched well, hit well, and defended well, but their only mistakes came on the basepaths.&lt;/p&gt;
  60.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  61.        &lt;img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/S0CtRl4j0vygjktziLctsUGFfs8=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25433948/1024_04052024_mubb_scar.JPG"&gt;
  62.      &lt;cite&gt;Cal Tobias/Rock M Nation&lt;/cite&gt;
  63.      &lt;figcaption&gt;Matt Garcia finds himself trapped in between two South Carolina fielders, as he assumed Jeric Curtis would round third to score. When Curtis retreated to the bag, Garcia was left the odd man out.&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  64.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  65. &lt;p id="a2xky2"&gt;Jackson said the mistake was indicative of faults he has seen all year. &lt;/p&gt;
  66. &lt;p id="aGyEA8"&gt;“It worries me as much as us being inconsistent all year worries me. And that falls under the category of playing good baseball,” he said. “It’s just baseball IQ and understanding the situations.”&lt;/p&gt;
  67. &lt;p id="St9j5u"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Norm Makes Appearance&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  68. &lt;p id="UcTQmy"&gt;Many Missouri baseball alumni showed out for Alumni Day, including legendary MU basketball coach Norm Stewart, who was a member of the 1954 College &lt;a href="https://www.sbnation.com/world-series"&gt;World Series&lt;/a&gt; championship team.&lt;/p&gt;
  69.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  70.        &lt;img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/-OBdfLcC1Oi6jEOr0QHjCpkmIBk=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25433749/0053_04052024_mubb_scar.JPG"&gt;
  71.      &lt;cite&gt;Cal Tobias/Rock M Nation&lt;/cite&gt;
  72.      &lt;figcaption&gt;Legendary MU basketball coach Norm Stewart, left, is presented by MU baseball coach Kerrick Jackson with a replica jersey similar to those worn by the 1954 College World Series champion Missouri team.&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  73.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  74. &lt;p id="XDlkMX"&gt;Coach Kerrick Jackson said that his ultimate goal at Missouri is to achieve success at the level that Stewart did. The Missouri native, 89, won the Big Eight tournament six times and made the Elite Eight three times. Stewart has been &lt;a href="https://www.columbiamissourian.com/sports/mizzou_mens_basketball/norm-stewart-inducted-into-hall-of-famous-missourians/article_571e83fe-75db-57d0-8b39-19b137701b21.html"&gt;in the news lately&lt;/a&gt;, as he was inducted into the Hall of Famous Missourians in Jefferson City on Wednesday.&lt;/p&gt;
  75. &lt;p id="Flhz6T"&gt;“Being able to attempt to emulate what he did over that time is always the ultimate goal,” said Jackson. “And he did it for a long period of time and kind of set a standard in the precedent of what Mizzou athletics is supposed to be about.”&lt;/p&gt;
  76.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  77.        &lt;img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/vcSO4WgAhlXRO66HuyKU-DJLt-s=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25433754/1247_04052024_mubb_scar.JPG"&gt;
  78.      &lt;cite&gt;Cal Tobias/Rock M Nation&lt;/cite&gt;
  79.      &lt;figcaption&gt;Kerrick Jackson gives advice to his batters in the dugout.&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  80.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  81.  
  82.  
  83. </content>
  84.    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.rockmnation.com/mizzou-baseball-2/2024/5/4/24149204/rustads-relief-helps-missouri-baseball-beat-south-carolina-8-3"/>
  85.    <id>https://www.rockmnation.com/mizzou-baseball-2/2024/5/4/24149204/rustads-relief-helps-missouri-baseball-beat-south-carolina-8-3</id>
  86.    <author>
  87.      <name>CalTobias</name>
  88.    </author>
  89.  </entry>
  90.  <entry>
  91.    <published>2024-05-04T22:35:52-05:00</published>
  92.    <updated>2024-05-04T22:35:52-05:00</updated>
  93.    <title>Mizzou Basketball 2024 Transfer Tracker</title>
  94.    <content type="html">  
  95.  
  96.    &lt;figure&gt;
  97.      &lt;img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/u7vCPRC3txlaOPhjj1mff407bkA=/0x0:4254x2836/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73212807/CAL_1210.0.jpg" /&gt;
  98.        &lt;figcaption&gt;Cal Tobias/Rock M Nation&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  99.    &lt;/figure&gt;
  100.  
  101.  &lt;p&gt;It’s transfer portal season already, and while we don’t expect a ton of movement we do expect Mizzou to be very active. &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p id="dNGlW8"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Update — May 4: &lt;/strong&gt;UC Irvine transfer Bent Leuchten &lt;a href="https://x.com/JonRothstein/status/1786920151469752472"&gt;reportedly withdrew&lt;/a&gt; from the portal to rejoin the Anteaters for his senior campaign. Leutchten and South Carolina’s Josh Gray were the two leading options at this point to fill Mizzou’s last roster slot and need for a big man. While MU could attempt to pivot, the portal is closed and the board thin at this point in the cycle. At this point, it’s logical to keep tabs on Gray. &lt;/p&gt;
  102. &lt;p id="6jEdBW"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Update — May 3:&lt;/strong&gt; Carlton Linguard has &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/jeffborzello/status/1786440596019626433"&gt;committed to San Francisco&lt;/a&gt;, we believe Mizzou has focused it’s&lt;a href="https://www.rockmnation.com/mizzou-basketball-recruiting/2024/5/1/24142607/where-can-mizzou-hoops-find-a-center"&gt; pursuit of bigs to just a couple now&lt;/a&gt;, with Kasean Pryor still on the list but on the outside as he’s going through the draft process. &lt;/p&gt;
  103. &lt;p id="OOIKJo"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Update — May 2: &lt;/strong&gt;The portal is closed, and Missouri suffered no last-minute defections. That leaves one spot and one need — a big man. It may take a couple of days for new names to formally hit the portal, and it could potentially expand the board. We’ve also posted scouting profiles of &lt;a href="https://rockm.plus/forums/viewtopic.php?t=236"&gt;Bent Leuchten&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="https://rockm.plus/forums/viewtopic.php?t=217"&gt;Josh Gray&lt;/a&gt; over on the hoops board at RockM.plus.&lt;/p&gt;
  104. &lt;p id="4NQgqS"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Update — April 22-28: &lt;/strong&gt;The week began with Jevon Porter &lt;a href="https://x.com/JonRothstein/status/1782473099176206697"&gt;signing with Loyola Marymount&lt;/a&gt;, ending the possibility of a homecoming to Missouri. Meanwhile, the Tigers started reconfiguring their recruiting board and assessing new options in the post. They reportedly touched base with UTSA’s &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/ThePortalReport/status/1782509951128354879"&gt;Carlton Linguard&lt;/a&gt;, Wright State’s AJ Braun, UC Irvine’s &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/JamieShaw5/status/1783135699769716928"&gt;Bent Leuchten&lt;/a&gt;, and South Carolina’s &lt;a href="https://x.com/ThePortalReport/status/1783664399787385018"&gt;Josh Gray&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;
  105. &lt;p id="yj9vVb"&gt;It’s our understanding that Braun won’t be an option moving forward, meaning it might be best to monitor Leuchten and Gray. If you’ve checked the &lt;a href="https://rockm.plus/"&gt;forums at RockM.plus&lt;/a&gt;, you’d know that the demand for post players remains robust, and the shelves have been emptying quickly over the past 10 days or so. At the moment, it appears MU is eyeing players we might classify as depth pieces. Matt Harris has also posted an in-depth scouting report of what Gray might bring to the table. &lt;/p&gt;
  106. &lt;p id="P0JJ3i"&gt;Looking ahead, the transfer portal closes on Wednesday. We’ll be keeping watch to see if what kind of talent jumps in late. &lt;/p&gt;
  107. &lt;p id="u02bFJ"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Update — April 15-21: &lt;/strong&gt;It’s an understatement to call this week productive. Mizzou closed three recruitments, landing &lt;a href="https://www.rockmnation.com/mizzou-basketball-recruiting/2024/4/15/24127943/missouri-tigers-basketball-recruiting-transfer-commitment-tony-perkins-iowa"&gt;Tony Perkins&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="https://www.rockmnation.com/mizzou-basketball-recruiting/2024/4/17/24129096/missouri-tigers-basketball-recruiting-transfer-marques-warrick-commitment"&gt;Marques Warrick&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href="https://www.rockmnation.com/mizzou-basketball-recruiting/2024/4/19/24128841/missouri-tigers-basketball-recruiting-transfer-mark-mitchell-duke-commitment"&gt;Mark Mitchell&lt;/a&gt;. Meanwhile, big man Tarris Reed &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/TiptonEdits/status/1780627293016109187"&gt;spurned a homecoming&lt;/a&gt; to play for the reigning national champions. Those roster moves required some departures from Columbia. John Tonje, who missed the bulk of last season with a foot injury, entered the portal early in the week. On Friday, Jordan Butler decided to leave and swiftly opted to return home to play at South Carolina.&lt;/p&gt;
  108. &lt;p id="j0D8vS"&gt;Butler’s exit puts more pressure on MU to close this portal season with a quality addition along the front line. If you’ve checked the &lt;a href="https://rockm.plus/"&gt;RockM.plus forums&lt;/a&gt;, you’d know that South Florida transfer Kasean Pryor is a name to monitor, and MU&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/RockMNation/status/1781683591962824904"&gt; is in contact&lt;/a&gt;. Some other names to monitor include UC Irvine’s Bent Leuchten and Ohio State’s Felix Okpara. Meanwhile, the odds of Pepperdine transfer Jevon Porter coming back to Columbia got murkier as his recruitment stretched past 40 days — unusually long when it comes to transfers.&lt;/p&gt;
  109. &lt;p id="4bPkJ8"&gt;On paper, coach Dennis Gates and his staff have built—for now—a top-10 transfer class to complement a top-10 prep group. Now, we’ll see what kind of big man they bring in to round it out.&lt;/p&gt;
  110. &lt;p id="6t0wuu"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Update — April 8-April 14: &lt;/strong&gt;The biggest news recently is likely surrounding Mark Mitchell, Mizzou has made contact and &lt;a href="https://rockm.plus/forums/viewtopic.php?t=138&amp;amp;sid=8f995eef323a9300562defa813e8da2d"&gt;we have full details on the RockM+ Forums&lt;/a&gt; (link for subscribers). With Marques Warrick on campus, things have been a little quiet this weekend as we wait to hear if Warrick liked things enough to commit. Matt Harris dropped a deep dive into Warrick on the Forums this week. &lt;/p&gt;
  111. &lt;p id="f1gyiW"&gt;This morning Kylen Milton from Arkansas Pine Bluff committed to Murray State. He was seeking a larger role than many high majors would be willing to provide. Several other prospects came off with the board this week with J.P. Pegues committing to Auburn, Bashir Jihad going to Arizona State, and Christ Essandoko joining Kim English and Providence. &lt;/p&gt;
  112. &lt;p id="O26xS7"&gt;We’ve also reported on the Forums and &lt;a href="https://www.rockmnation.com/mizzou-basketball-recruiting/2024/4/13/24129014/re-playing-the-recruiting-misses-greatest-hits"&gt;I wrote about it Saturday&lt;/a&gt; that interest in Tarris Reed seems to have waned a bit while both Mizzou and Reed explore options. Things aren’t completely shut off, but I would be surprised if Reed ended up at Missouri at this point. &lt;/p&gt;
  113. &lt;p id="1S2Skj"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Update — April 1-April 7: &lt;/strong&gt;The week was pretty quiet with coaches spending some time around the Final Four and it being a recruiting dead period. However there was some movement amongst a few players the Tigers had made contact with. &lt;/p&gt;
  114. &lt;p id="InzGx3"&gt;Mizzou was named as a finalist for Iowa transfer guard Tony Perkins fresh off his visit, as well as Northern Kentucky guard Marques Warrick. They made contact with FAU guard Nick Boyd, Albany guard Sebastian Thomas, St. Joe’s big Chris Essandoko, and Kentucky wing Adou Thiero. They were eliminated from contention by J.P. Pegues, Sam Alexi, Amari Williams, and Zeke Mayo. &lt;/p&gt;
  115. &lt;p id="D72QE0"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Update — March 25-March 31: &lt;/strong&gt;Missouri turned its attention to the backcourt this week as higher-quality wings and ball-handlers started hitting the portal. One of those targets also made his way to Columbia. Iowa transfer Tony Perkins ventured south for an official visit. The Tigers touched base with South Dakota State transfer Zeke Mayo, but a quick process saw them trimmed over the weekend. Furman’s JP Pegues has yet to release a list of finalists, but the point guard is taking visits. MU is not on the itinerary. Meanwhile, his backcourt partner, Marcus Foster, committed to Xavier. MU is also out of the mix for Chattanooga big man Sam Alexis. &lt;/p&gt;
  116. &lt;p id="WcYKgA"&gt;The coaching staff also reportedly contacted the following players: Milwaukee wing BJ Freeman, Oklahoma wing Otega Oweh, George Mason wing Keyshawn Hall, Butler combo guard DJ Davis, and Northern Kentucky combo guard Marques Warrick. And while there haven’t been reported interactions, MU is interested in Green Bay’s Noah Reynolds and Washington State’s Myles Rice. It seems increasingly likely that the Tigers will target two ball-handlers this spring. &lt;/p&gt;
  117. &lt;p id="cu14YF"&gt;At this point, it’s evident that Tarris Reed and Jevon Porter are atop the Tigers’ wish list. However, Reed visited Kansas State, where his former grassroots and high school coach is on the Wildcats staff. Porter may visit town early next week, but we’ll see. Perkins also left Columbia without committing. &lt;/p&gt;
  118. &lt;p id="0vAk1r"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Update — March 18-24: &lt;/strong&gt;Missouri struck quickly during the first week of the portal season by &lt;a href="https://www.rockmnation.com/mizzou-basketball-recruiting/2024/3/19/24106137/missouri-tigers-basketball-recruiting-jacob-crews-commits"&gt;adding Jacob Crews&lt;/a&gt;, a jumbo wing from UT-Martin, to space out the floor. Taking Crews probably renders moot any contact with UAPB’s Kylen Milton and Iona’s Greg Gordon. The Tigers also nosed around a couple of big men and combo guards. It’s worth putting a pin in that Michigan’s Tarris Reed and Pepperdine’s Jevon Porter are seeking new homes. Both are Show-Me State natives with some upside, and we expect them to have first dibs on spots. As for point guard, that stall at the market hasn’t put out its best wares, but Furman’s JP Pegues is a genuine PNR operator that can shoot off the bounce. &lt;/p&gt;
  119. &lt;hr class="p-entry-hr" id="hQG3Md"&gt;
  120. &lt;p id="PWWPmO"&gt;The transfer portal is all the rage these days. It’s the hottest place to be in all of college basketball. &lt;/p&gt;
  121. &lt;p id="f0iOKz"&gt;This post is strictly about which prospects Missouri has made contact with. We will have a Roster primer coming as well. I will link it here once it’s published. We’ll be frequently updating this post with the most recent contacts. &lt;/p&gt;
  122. &lt;p id="54WrK0"&gt;So this will only contain who has reported interest from Mizzou, and then updates with where those prospects have committed when they do. For additional intel on which prospects we expect Missouri to be targeting and pursuing, we will host that in our new &lt;a href="https://rockm.plus"&gt;RockM+&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="https://rockm.plus/forums"&gt;Forums&lt;/a&gt; There you’ll also find a full list of players Matt Watkins and Matt Harris have scouted.&lt;/p&gt;
  123. &lt;p id="pilgnC"&gt;The portal officially opens for everyone on Monday, March 18th. We expect Mizzou to be primarily seeking point guards, combo guards, and some interior size. Each prospect will be listed with the most recent publicly reported level of interest which could include initial contact, hosted on a visit, final schools, or committed. &lt;/p&gt;
  124. &lt;h2 id="Ie3koj"&gt;POINT GUARDS&lt;/h2&gt;
  125. &lt;ul&gt;
  126. &lt;li id="sJtmkb"&gt;
  127. &lt;strong&gt;Tony Perkins, Iowa: &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/theportalreport/status/1772750071563784549?s=46&amp;amp;t=kOawWaKexlPmtLCuZv-7ZQ"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;contact&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;, &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/247HSHoops/status/1774212003554382066"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;visited&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;, &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/C5TXjB_sfai/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&amp;amp;igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA=="&gt;&lt;strong&gt;finalist&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;, &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.rockmnation.com/mizzou-basketball-recruiting/2024/4/15/24127943/missouri-tigers-basketball-recruiting-transfer-commitment-tony-perkins-iowa"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;COMMITTED to Missouri&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
  128. &lt;/li&gt;
  129. &lt;li id="YhuOI5"&gt;Sebastian Thomas, Albany: &lt;a href="https://x.com/bassyyyyy4/status/1781736742359277859"&gt;&lt;em&gt;committed to Rhode Island&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
  130. &lt;/li&gt;
  131. &lt;li id="0Aoaw6"&gt;
  132. &lt;em&gt;Myles Rice, Washington State: &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href="https://x.com/TiptonEdits/status/1779254970493075649"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Committed to Indiana&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
  133. &lt;/li&gt;
  134. &lt;li id="DiIIvf"&gt;
  135. &lt;em&gt;JP Pegues, Furman: &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/TiptonEdits/status/1778815358310268946"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Committed to Auburn&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
  136. &lt;/li&gt;
  137. &lt;li id="xIUJIV"&gt;
  138. &lt;em&gt;Zeke Mayo, South Dakota State: &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href="https://x.com/zekexmayo/status/1775296779279298714?s=20"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Committed to Kansas&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
  139. &lt;/li&gt;
  140. &lt;/ul&gt;
  141. &lt;h2 id="Ll94ir"&gt;COMBO GUARDS&lt;/h2&gt;
  142. &lt;ul&gt;
  143. &lt;li id="Etuax8"&gt;
  144. &lt;strong&gt;Marques Warrick, Northern Kentucky: &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/ThePortalReport/status/1772689917392392408?s=20"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;contact&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;, &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/TiptonEdits/status/1777050779704304007"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;finalist&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;, &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/ThePortalReport/status/1778160376032473413"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;visit&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;, &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.rockmnation.com/mizzou-basketball-recruiting/2024/4/17/24129096/missouri-tigers-basketball-recruiting-transfer-marques-warrick-commitment"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;COMMITTED to Missouri &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
  145. &lt;/li&gt;
  146. &lt;li id="JbVFz2"&gt;Camren Hunter, Central Arkansas: &lt;a href="https://x.com/BadgerMBB/status/1784662016507994397"&gt;&lt;em&gt;committed to Wisconsin&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
  147. &lt;/li&gt;
  148. &lt;li id="zlRDv1"&gt;
  149. &lt;em&gt;D.J. Davis, Butler: &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/TiptonEdits/status/1783201769775833403"&gt;&lt;em&gt;committed to Washington&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
  150. &lt;/li&gt;
  151. &lt;li id="x0SRdi"&gt;
  152. &lt;em&gt;Nick Boyd, Florida Atlantic: &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.zagsblog.com/2024/04/20/san-diego-state-adds-fau-transfer-nick-boyd/"&gt;&lt;em&gt;committed to San Diego State&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
  153. &lt;/li&gt;
  154. &lt;li id="ARKItP"&gt;
  155. &lt;em&gt;Marcus Foster, Furman: &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/TiptonEdits/status/1773058481811014020"&gt;&lt;em&gt;committed to Xavier&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
  156. &lt;/li&gt;
  157. &lt;/ul&gt;
  158. &lt;h2 id="ZmgUd4"&gt;WINGS&lt;/h2&gt;
  159. &lt;ul&gt;
  160. &lt;li id="xz3HXS"&gt;
  161. &lt;strong&gt;Jacob Crews, UT-Martin: &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/RockMNation/status/1770169058446467444"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;COMMITTED to Missouri&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
  162. &lt;/li&gt;
  163. &lt;li id="aFaFyf"&gt;Adou Thiero, Kentucky: &lt;a href="https://x.com/jeffborzello/status/1775219503116255293?s=46&amp;amp;t=H9MNvQdA9whzzdYwIVOIKg"&gt;contact&lt;/a&gt;
  164. &lt;/li&gt;
  165. &lt;li id="MJtFZh"&gt;
  166. &lt;em&gt;Kylen Milton, Arkansas Pine Bluff: &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href="https://x.com/portal_updates/status/1779536561123598716"&gt;&lt;em&gt;committed to Murray State&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
  167. &lt;/li&gt;
  168. &lt;li id="8XtxD6"&gt;
  169. &lt;em&gt;Greg Gordon, Iona: &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href="https://x.com/portal_updates/status/1779568054344531986"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Committed to UAB&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
  170. &lt;/li&gt;
  171. &lt;li id="WY9K6X"&gt;
  172. &lt;em&gt;Keyshawn Hall, George Mason: &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href="https://x.com/TiptonEdits/status/1781442872408944999"&gt;&lt;em&gt;committed to UCF&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
  173. &lt;/li&gt;
  174. &lt;li id="3uvkfp"&gt;
  175. &lt;em&gt;B.J. Freeman, Milwaukee:&lt;/em&gt; &lt;a href="https://x.com/TiptonEdits/status/1784256007411056794"&gt;committed to Arizona State&lt;/a&gt;
  176. &lt;/li&gt;
  177. &lt;li id="kt0f0R"&gt;Otega Oweh, Oklahoma: &lt;a href="https://x.com/JackPilgrimKSR/status/1784282131092435271"&gt;committed to Kentucky&lt;/a&gt;
  178. &lt;/li&gt;
  179. &lt;/ul&gt;
  180. &lt;h2 id="jZcBtm"&gt;COMBO FORWARDS&lt;/h2&gt;
  181. &lt;ul&gt;
  182. &lt;li id="noA3Om"&gt;
  183. &lt;strong&gt;Mark Mitchell, Duke: &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.rockmnation.com/mizzou-basketball-recruiting/2024/4/19/24128841/missouri-tigers-basketball-recruiting-transfer-mark-mitchell-duke-commitment"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;COMMITTED to Missouri&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
  184. &lt;/li&gt;
  185. &lt;li id="UdU2oc"&gt;Ansley Almonor, Fairleigh Dickinson: &lt;a href="https://x.com/JamieShaw5/status/1770442488085418437?s=20"&gt;contact&lt;/a&gt;
  186. &lt;/li&gt;
  187. &lt;li id="we78BB"&gt;
  188. &lt;em&gt;Jevon Porter, Pepperdine: &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href="https://x.com/JonRothstein/status/1782473099176206697"&gt;&lt;em&gt;committed to Loyola Marymount&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
  189. &lt;/li&gt;
  190. &lt;li id="OVswFm"&gt;
  191. &lt;em&gt;Bashir Jihad, Ball State: &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href="https://x.com/TiptonEdits/status/1778513363644928108"&gt;&lt;em&gt;committed to Arizona State&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
  192. &lt;/li&gt;
  193. &lt;/ul&gt;
  194. &lt;h2 id="qJ7bsC"&gt;POSTS&lt;/h2&gt;
  195. &lt;ul&gt;
  196. &lt;li id="I8uwtl"&gt;Kasean Pryor, South Florida: &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/RockMNation/status/1781683591962824904"&gt;contac&lt;/a&gt;t&lt;/li&gt;
  197. &lt;li id="owUIng"&gt;A.J. Braun, Wright State: &lt;a href="https://rockm.plus/"&gt;contact&lt;/a&gt;
  198. &lt;/li&gt;
  199. &lt;li id="wwlsnO"&gt;Josh Gray, South Carolina: &lt;a href="https://x.com/ThePortalReport/status/1783664399787385018"&gt;contact&lt;/a&gt;
  200. &lt;/li&gt;
  201. &lt;li id="IjQ3Ml"&gt;Bent Leutchen, UC-Irvine: &lt;a href="https://x.com/JonRothstein/status/1786920151469752472"&gt;withdrew from portal&lt;/a&gt;
  202. &lt;/li&gt;
  203. &lt;li id="4x7Aud"&gt;
  204. &lt;em&gt;Carlton Linguard, UTSA: &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/jeffborzello/status/1786440596019626433"&gt;&lt;em&gt;committed to San Francisco&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
  205. &lt;/li&gt;
  206. &lt;li id="kNRF4l"&gt;
  207. &lt;em&gt;Amari Williams, Drexel: &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href="https://x.com/TiptonEdits/status/1782153630218355063"&gt;&lt;em&gt;committed to Kentucky&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
  208. &lt;/li&gt;
  209. &lt;li id="xiIihN"&gt;
  210. &lt;em&gt;Tarris Reed, Michigan: &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/TiptonEdits/status/1780627293016109187"&gt;&lt;em&gt;committed to Connecticut&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
  211. &lt;/li&gt;
  212. &lt;li id="qYFy7j"&gt;
  213. &lt;em&gt;Sam Alexis, Chattanooga: &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href="https://x.com/JonRothstein/status/1779140088670134375"&gt;&lt;em&gt;committed to Florida&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
  214. &lt;/li&gt;
  215. &lt;li id="82T82m"&gt;
  216. &lt;em&gt;Christ Essandoko, St. Joseph’s: &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/TiptonEdits/status/1778168581399671167"&gt;&lt;em&gt;committed to Providence&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
  217. &lt;/li&gt;
  218. &lt;/ul&gt;
  219. &lt;p id="ynb7d9"&gt;This list attempted to note any reported interaction MU had with a transfer target. However, the nature of the portal means there are likely contacts that never become known publicly. We will attempt to keep our accounting updated more information became available.&lt;/p&gt;
  220. &lt;p id="xITRGB"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  221. &lt;p id="d0TuN1"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  222.  
  223. </content>
  224.    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.rockmnation.com/mizzou-basketball-recruiting/2024/3/17/24103298/mizzou-basketball-2024-transfer-tracker"/>
  225.    <id>https://www.rockmnation.com/mizzou-basketball-recruiting/2024/3/17/24103298/mizzou-basketball-2024-transfer-tracker</id>
  226.    <author>
  227.      <name>Sam Snelling</name>
  228.    </author>
  229.  </entry>
  230.  <entry>
  231.    <published>2024-05-04T21:00:00-05:00</published>
  232.    <updated>2024-05-04T21:00:00-05:00</updated>
  233.    <title>South Carolina Shocker: Mizzou pulls off a long-awaited road series win in 4-2 victory</title>
  234.    <content type="html">  
  235.  
  236.    &lt;figure&gt;
  237.      &lt;img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/3NmMDawW1lHBibClOb1klrqO-8o=/0x0:5568x3712/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73327891/1815_04282024_sb_MSST.0.jpeg" /&gt;
  238.        &lt;figcaption&gt;Cal Tobias/Rock M Nation&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  239.    &lt;/figure&gt;
  240.  
  241.  &lt;p&gt;This one had a little bit of everything, and the Tigers will head to the SEC Tourney in no worse than sixth place.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p id="NjDUpQ"&gt;Last one, best one? &lt;/p&gt;
  242. &lt;p id="MvodJS"&gt;That’s what we’re hoping for, anyway. &lt;/p&gt;
  243. &lt;p id="C8DAC7"&gt;Fresh off a 2-0 shutout in Game 1 and with inclement weather on the way, Game 2 was moved up to an 11am start time and wow, what a game. This one had everything— drama, hit batters, a weather delay, errors, obstructions, collisions with coaches, 20 stranded runners and culminated in guaranteeing Mizzou’s first conference series win of the season and no worse than sixth place in the SEC final standings.&lt;/p&gt;
  244. &lt;p id="u1nFlL"&gt;How’d we get here? Did the Tigers forget they were playing in the OTHER Columbia? I kid... Let’s get started.&lt;/p&gt;
  245. &lt;div id="dLwPve"&gt;
  246. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  247. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;That's an SEC ROAD Series DUB for YOUR TIGERS!!! &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OwnIt?src=hash&amp;amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#OwnIt&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MIZ?src=hash&amp;amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#MIZ&lt;/a&gt;    &lt;a href="https://t.co/D6mX0lYFyb"&gt;pic.twitter.com/D6mX0lYFyb&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Mizzou Softball (@MizzouSoftball) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/MizzouSoftball/status/1786830227349316057?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 4, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  248. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  249. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  250.  
  251. &lt;/div&gt;
  252. &lt;h2 id="clCsOz"&gt;Balanced Offense&lt;/h2&gt;
  253. &lt;p id="omD0yc"&gt;Five different Tigers recorded hits in Saturday’s game, and another three reached base either by walk, fielder’s choice or hit by pitch. Jenna Laird (2-for-4 with a run scored and 2 stolen bases), Stefania Abruscato (3-for-3 with an RBI) and Julia Crenshaw (0-for-2, 2 FC, 2 runs scored) were the day’s biggest producers.&lt;/p&gt;
  254. &lt;p id="NeVtIs"&gt;The Tigers came out aggressive against Kansas City native and Stanford grad transfer Alana Vawter and it was awesome to see and kinda reminded me of their approach against Auburn’s Maddie Penta. Back-to-back singles by Laird and Alex Honnold to the right side put two on for Maddie Gallagher, whose sacrifice fly made it 1-0. Honnold then swiped second and Abby Hay walked before a Crenshaw fielder’s choice moved runners to the corners with one out. Abruscato, who delivered her first of three hits on the day, walloped a single to the right side — the same spot as Jenna &amp;amp; Alex!  — to make it 2-0.&lt;/p&gt;
  255. &lt;div id="MOTgit"&gt;
  256. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  257. &lt;p lang="ro" dir="ltr"&gt;It's a two-hit día for Stefania Abruscato!!!   &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Mizzou?src=hash&amp;amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#Mizzou&lt;/a&gt; 2, SC 0 | T3&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OwnIt?src=hash&amp;amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#OwnIt&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MIZ?src=hash&amp;amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#MIZ&lt;/a&gt;    | &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/StefaniaAbrusc1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;@StefaniaAbrusc1&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="https://t.co/TcW71pSXYb"&gt;pic.twitter.com/TcW71pSXYb&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Mizzou Softball (@MizzouSoftball) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/MizzouSoftball/status/1786807091673416185?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 4, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  258. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  259. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  260.  
  261. &lt;/div&gt;
  262. &lt;p id="ValOS6"&gt;In the third, Crenshaw was awarded first due to catcher’s interference before an Abruscato single (to the same spot as before!) put two on for Kara Daly, who smacked an RBI single to make it 3-0. &lt;/p&gt;
  263. &lt;p id="SN0CRe"&gt;In the fifth, Abby Hay worked a leadoff walk before Danielle Blackstun took over for her on first. After another Crenshaw fielder’s choice — her second of the day — Abruscato singled to third and Daly followed with a fielder’s choice of her own to put runners at the corners. A single by Katie Chester, who originally had been in the game as a PH and stayed in at DP, scored Crenshaw to make it 4-0. In a weird twist of events within the same AB, the inning abruptly ended after Daly, taking a wide angle when rounding third due to the South Carolina 3B blocking the inner corner of the bag, took out Larissa Anderson on her way home, which slowed her progress and she was called out. A review ensued for the aforementioned obstruction call, but it went no further. Don’t worry, Coach is fine.&lt;/p&gt;
  264. &lt;p id="wdODOA"&gt;Let’s take a look.&lt;/p&gt;
  265. &lt;div id="ylnB6K"&gt;
  266. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center" data-conversation="none"&gt;
  267. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;Truly wild hahhaa &lt;a href="https://t.co/ZLSyUtLqYZ"&gt;pic.twitter.com/ZLSyUtLqYZ&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Karen S (@karensteger) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/karensteger/status/1786819259294687390?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 4, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  268. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  269. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  270.  
  271. &lt;/div&gt;
  272. &lt;p id="pC6Suh"&gt;The managers shared an even better view. L O L.&lt;/p&gt;
  273. &lt;div id="2CNoFv"&gt;
  274. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  275. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;Screw it Kara Daly highlights &lt;a href="https://t.co/uAntYFQs3E"&gt;pic.twitter.com/uAntYFQs3E&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— The GOAT Managers at Mizzou (@MIZSBmanagers) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/MIZSBmanagers/status/1786936017007632615?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 5, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  276. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  277. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  278.  
  279. &lt;/div&gt;
  280. &lt;h3 id="R7Bdjw"&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
  281. &lt;h2 id="6e0C9p"&gt;Big Day for Relievers&lt;/h2&gt;
  282. &lt;p id="pN6SoT"&gt;I don’t know if the wet conditions had any impact early on, but Missouri starter Cierra Harrison didn’t have her best stuff in Game 2 and lasted just 1.2 innings. Though she didn’t allow a run, CC constantly worked around base runners, escaping a bases loaded jam in the first inning with an infield fly and a flyout, and in the second, after a 14-minute rain delay, again loaded the bases before ultimately being removed from the game. &lt;/p&gt;
  283. &lt;p id="ZIgERa"&gt;In 1.2 innings of work, Harrison allowed two hits, two walks and two hit by pitches while striking out one. Coach has mentioned to us several times that due to CC’s small stature, she has to put her entire body into her pitches in order to generate the power she needs for her rise, and I suspect she just didn’t have it today, as she threw a whopping 50 pitches in not even two innings of work.&lt;/p&gt;
  284. &lt;p id="hPMgKv"&gt;In CC’s place entered Marissa McCann, who worked a long relief role and stepped in with the bases loaded and two outs and promptly got out of it with a strikeout to end the second. Ice in her veins! &lt;/p&gt;
  285. &lt;div id="XlAr7T"&gt;
  286. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  287. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;Marissa McCann with a STRIKEOUT to leave the bases juiced!! &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Mizzou?src=hash&amp;amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#Mizzou&lt;/a&gt; 2, SC 0 | E2&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OwnIt?src=hash&amp;amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#OwnIt&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MIZ?src=hash&amp;amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#MIZ&lt;/a&gt;   | &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/marissamccann04?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;@marissamccann04&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="https://t.co/X4zKWOcERb"&gt;pic.twitter.com/X4zKWOcERb&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Mizzou Softball (@MizzouSoftball) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/MizzouSoftball/status/1786805672245330071?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 4, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  288. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  289. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  290.  
  291. &lt;/div&gt;
  292. &lt;p id="24UGfq"&gt;From there, in her 4.1 innings of work, McCann allowed some contact— a double and single in the both the third and the fifth put a run on the board each time — but she also showcased a truly devastating change up that fell off almost into the dirt to strike out four while allowing just one walk. &lt;/p&gt;
  293. &lt;div id="nnxOrm"&gt;
  294. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  295. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;4⃣ Ks on the day for Marissa McCann!!! &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Mizzou?src=hash&amp;amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#Mizzou&lt;/a&gt; 4, SC 2 | E5  &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OwnIt?src=hash&amp;amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#OwnIt&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MIZ?src=hash&amp;amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#MIZ&lt;/a&gt;    | &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/marissamccann04?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;@marissamccann04&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="https://t.co/UXhKekzZjG"&gt;pic.twitter.com/UXhKekzZjG&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Mizzou Softball (@MizzouSoftball) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/MizzouSoftball/status/1786822685869105495?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 4, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  296. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  297. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  298.  
  299. &lt;/div&gt;
  300. &lt;p id="NLyvGR"&gt;The seventh saw the return of the closer, Taylor Pannell, who notched her nation-leading 12th save with a superb performance, She indirectly contributed to the first out after a ball was tipped off her glove that went right to Laird at short, who fired it to first for an out, before inducing a flyout to right to put two away. A single up the middle just delayed the game’s conclusion for a minute or two longer, and Pannell struck out the final batter, who was - perhaps poetically - the South Carolina pitcher Alana Vawter, on three straight strikes, none of which she swung at. Wow.&lt;/p&gt;
  301. &lt;div id="TG9ptb"&gt;
  302. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  303. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;SEC Road Series Secured ✅&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Mizzou?src=hash&amp;amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#Mizzou&lt;/a&gt; 4, SC 2 | F | &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OwnIt?src=hash&amp;amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#OwnIt&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MIZ?src=hash&amp;amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#MIZ&lt;/a&gt;    &lt;a href="https://t.co/F9WHHuSPaT"&gt;pic.twitter.com/F9WHHuSPaT&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Mizzou Softball (@MizzouSoftball) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/MizzouSoftball/status/1786828822895009936?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 4, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  304. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  305. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  306.  
  307. &lt;/div&gt;
  308. &lt;h3 id="ecBsky"&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
  309. &lt;h3 id="rbQsK5"&gt;Left on Base Gone Wild&lt;/h3&gt;
  310. &lt;p id="WSS8A8"&gt;This could have been a much different ball game, friends, as TWENTY runners were left on base by the game’s end, 12 of which came from South Carolina. The Gamecocks actually outhit the Tigers in this one, hitting .310 (9-29) to Mizzou’s .296 (8-27), but while Mizzou hit .375 with runners on and .300 when in scoring position, SCar hit .267 with runners on (4-15) and only .143 (1-7) when in scoring position. Again, it could have been a much different ballgame had the Gamecocks gotten a few things to break their way.  &lt;/p&gt;
  311. &lt;p id="U6GmuV"&gt;Here’s the per inning tally (hide your eyes):&lt;/p&gt;
  312. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  313. &lt;p id="prHyeN"&gt;&lt;small&gt;1st: Mizzou strands 2 | S. Carolina strands 3&lt;/small&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  314. &lt;p id="X4d0mw"&gt;&lt;small&gt;2nd: Mizzou strands 2 (4 total) | S. Carolina strands 3 (6 total)&lt;/small&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  315. &lt;p id="lWb8pa"&gt;&lt;small&gt;3rd: Mizzou strands 2 (6 total) | S. Carolina strands 2 (8 total)&lt;/small&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  316. &lt;p id="VZjDqv"&gt;&lt;small&gt;4th: S. Carolina strands 1 (9 total)&lt;/small&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  317. &lt;p id="vTaQrN"&gt;&lt;small&gt;5th: Mizzou strands 1 (7 total) } S. Carolina strands 1 (10 total)&lt;/small&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  318. &lt;p id="8Bjl7M"&gt;&lt;small&gt;6th: Mizzou strands 1 (8 total) | S. Carolina strands 1 (11 total)&lt;/small&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  319. &lt;p id="apsxOe"&gt;&lt;small&gt;7th: S. Carolina strands 1 (12 total) &lt;/small&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  320. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  321. &lt;h3 id="aT4WGU"&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
  322. &lt;h2 id="Af2SpT"&gt;Game One: Mizzou 2 — South Carolina 0&lt;/h2&gt;
  323. &lt;p id="QVPoWR"&gt;Since I didn’t provide a Game 1 recap... here’s a mini version. &lt;small&gt;(Note: with the early start, I was only listening to the game until the fourth inning or so.)&lt;/small&gt; Pitching reigned supreme as Laurin Krings and Marissa McCann combined for a three hit shutout to start the series. Krings started the game and was incredible in her five innings of work, allowing just three hits and a walk to go with three strikeouts before McCann came in to close it out, earning her second save of the season. Krings’ scoreless streak is now at 12 innings, and she’ll take the ball again in Game 3 to go for win no. 13.&lt;/p&gt;
  324. &lt;p id="cezKh4"&gt;After failing to capitalize on their baserunners early on against freshman phenom Sage Mardjetko, the Tigers finally got a run in the fourth after an RBI single from Kara Daly up the middle that brought home Julia Crenshaw, who had gotten on with a two-out double. On the play, which featured a rare SC error, Daly was able to take second on the throw.&lt;/p&gt;
  325. &lt;p id="ezw6s1"&gt;In the fifth, the Tigers had a chance to add to their lead after Kayley Lenger laid down a successful bunt and reached on a subsequent stolen base and Alex Honnold worked a two-out walk, but a fly out ended the threat. &lt;/p&gt;
  326. &lt;p id="ahphMX"&gt;In the sixth, Abby Hay worked a four-pitch walk before Blackstun, the PR, advanced on a Crenshaw sac bunt. Katie Chester, the Pinch-Hit Queen (or so it seems these days) smacked an RBI single to left, and she advanced on a throwing error. It seemed like the Tigers would add another run that inning after Abruscato was hit by a pitch, but ultimately, a double play — SC’s 30th (!) of the season — ended it there.&lt;/p&gt;
  327. &lt;p id="QjEL6x"&gt;With McCann back out in the circle to close out the seventh, the defense came firing on all cylinders. Mya Dodge, who took over in left field, made a nice grab for out one, before Kara Daly saved what would surely have been an extra base hit with a diving stop (video below). A groundout to Gallagher ended it, and Mizzou moved to .500 in SEC play. &lt;/p&gt;
  328. &lt;div id="YWul6W"&gt;
  329. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  330. &lt;p lang="de" dir="ltr"&gt;KARA DALY, Ladies and Gentleman   &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Mizzou?src=hash&amp;amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#Mizzou&lt;/a&gt; 2, SC 0 | B7    &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OwnIt?src=hash&amp;amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#OwnIt&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MIZ?src=hash&amp;amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#MIZ&lt;/a&gt;   l &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/karadaly09?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;@karadaly09&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="https://t.co/cAWCUhQPLQ"&gt;pic.twitter.com/cAWCUhQPLQ&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Mizzou Softball (@MizzouSoftball) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/MizzouSoftball/status/1786543088204181828?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 3, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  331. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  332. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  333.  
  334. &lt;/div&gt;
  335. &lt;p id="fFpw3S"&gt;Five different Tigers recorded each of the team’s five hits, an additional two more reached with walks, and yet two more with hit by pitches. Mardjetko, who we expect to get the ball in Game 3 on Sunday, while largely limiting runs and stranding seven Missouri runners, was not especially sharp on Friday. &lt;/p&gt;
  336. &lt;p id="b4mfsf"&gt;No Tiger player recorded a multi-hit game on Friday, but Laird (1-3, double, BB, FC), Daly (1-2, RBI) and Crenshaw (1-2, double, sac, R) especially impressed.&lt;/p&gt;
  337. &lt;div id="A21upN"&gt;
  338. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  339. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;Series-Opening Shutout DUB ✅&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OwnIt?src=hash&amp;amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#OwnIt&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MIZ?src=hash&amp;amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#MIZ&lt;/a&gt;    &lt;a href="https://t.co/m8iWHDX3VA"&gt;pic.twitter.com/m8iWHDX3VA&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Mizzou Softball (@MizzouSoftball) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/MizzouSoftball/status/1786585539442778506?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 4, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  340. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  341. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  342.  
  343. &lt;/div&gt;
  344. &lt;hr class="p-entry-hr" id="Q750ui"&gt;
  345. &lt;p id="j3y2vM"&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;UP NEXT: &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;Sunday, weather permitting, Missouri will close out their regular season with (hopefully) a sweep of the team in Columbia (L)East. Game time is set for 2pm on SEC+.&lt;/p&gt;
  346.  
  347. </content>
  348.    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.rockmnation.com/mizzou-softball/2024/5/4/24148839/south-carolina-shocker-mizzou-softball-pulls-off-a-series-win-in-4-2-victory"/>
  349.    <id>https://www.rockmnation.com/mizzou-softball/2024/5/4/24148839/south-carolina-shocker-mizzou-softball-pulls-off-a-series-win-in-4-2-victory</id>
  350.    <author>
  351.      <name>Karen Steger</name>
  352.    </author>
  353.  </entry>
  354.  <entry>
  355.    <published>2024-05-04T06:00:00-05:00</published>
  356.    <updated>2024-05-04T06:00:00-05:00</updated>
  357.    <title>Revenue sharing is coming to the NCAA: How does that effect Mizzou athletics? </title>
  358.    <content type="html">  
  359.  
  360.    &lt;figure&gt;
  361.      &lt;img alt="a photo of an ncaa logo covered in confetti" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/wIxQd5gxS4zyqeZEARtMPcXmMBQ=/0x0:8256x5504/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73326768/2121054321.0.jpg" /&gt;
  362.        &lt;figcaption&gt;The proposed plan would use March Madness revenue to help pay NCAA settlement.  | Photo by Greg Fiume/NCAA Photos via Getty Images&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  363.    &lt;/figure&gt;
  364.  
  365.  &lt;p&gt;Proposed compensation model could get very expensive for Mizzou&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p id="iCB9fF"&gt;News has been trickling out over the past week about a proposed new model for revenue sharing in college athletics. &lt;a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/sources-new-college-athlete-compensation-model-may-cost-power-schools-300m-each-over-10-years-003140102.html?guccounter=1"&gt;Ross Dellenger of Yahoo! Sports&lt;/a&gt; recently came out with the most detailed account yet of what that proposal, which includes a massive lawsuit settlement, would look like. And friends, the numbers are huge. &lt;/p&gt;
  366. &lt;h2 id="ZUIifp"&gt;NCAA Settlement&lt;/h2&gt;
  367. &lt;p id="P6qXnI"&gt;In the last decade, the NCAA has found itself embroiled in dozens of lawsuits ranging from Title IX issues to antitrust issues. The lawsuit that may ultimately flip the NCAA’s amateurism model on it’s head is &lt;a href="https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/what-will-happen-in-house-v-ncaa-answering-key-questions-as-college-athletics-faces-monumental-change/"&gt;House v. NCAA.&lt;/a&gt; This suit is seeking back pay for former NCAA athletes as well as a revenue-sharing agreement moving forward and could ultimately cost the NCAA as much as $4 billion in court. In an effort to reduce that amount, the NCAA may soon settle, which would result in Dellenger’s reported number of about $2.9 billion over 10 years. So how does that massive number trickle down to individual schools like Mizzou? Let’s take a look:&lt;/p&gt;
  368. &lt;h2 id="KIQ4an"&gt;By the numbers&lt;/h2&gt;
  369. &lt;p id="9JdqZG"&gt;According to Dellenger’s report, the 10-year lawsuit settlement could cost each power school, Mizzou included, as much as $300 million, or $30 million per year. This assumes each school meets estimated figures including:&lt;/p&gt;
  370. &lt;ul&gt;
  371. &lt;li id="gai8wp"&gt;An allowable revenue distribution capped at somewhere between $17-22 million per school; &lt;/li&gt;
  372. &lt;li id="AWxarX"&gt;At least $2 million per school in NCAA revenue distribution withholdings;&lt;/li&gt;
  373. &lt;li id="lMMAk1"&gt;As much as $10 million in additional scholarship costs related to expansion of rosters sizes of specific sports. &lt;/li&gt;
  374. &lt;/ul&gt;
  375. &lt;p id="h1UhWe"&gt;This addition of $30 million to power school athletic budgets is before factoring in coaching and staff salaries, facilities costs and millions of dollars worth of preexisting scholarship slots. To put that number in perspective, last year Mizzou athletics reportedly brought in $141,558,287 in revenue and spent all but $1 of that money. This proposal would increase Mizzou’s expenses by as much as 21% in either 2025 or 2026, depending on how quickly (if ever) a settlement occurs. &lt;/p&gt;
  376. &lt;p id="nAHzB3"&gt;So what, besides a massive red line added to the budget, could this new model mean for Mizzou? Let’s break it down one item at a time. &lt;/p&gt;
  377. &lt;h2 id="DPWK2Y"&gt;Revenue Distribution&lt;/h2&gt;
  378. &lt;p id="Kb4xZm"&gt;The most notable part of the proposed settlement is the creation of allowable revenue distribution to athletes, tossing the NCAA’s amateurism model out lock, stock and barrel. The proposal would allow schools to directly pay athletes a total amount not to exceed some set number ranging from between $17-22 million annually. &lt;/p&gt;
  379. &lt;p id="IGyDNm"&gt;It can be safely assumed that the top tier of NCAA schools, such as Ohio State, Texas and Alabama, are going to meet whatever the top cap is for athlete payouts. For Mizzou, who finds itself in the lower third of SEC revenue generators every year, it would require a much greater budget sacrifice to reach that high of a level. One important point is that these revenue distribution caps are voluntary, meaning a school could choose to distribute less than the max amount to its athletes (or no amount at all) each year. &lt;/p&gt;
  380. &lt;p id="HmeZbn"&gt;As we have seen in recent years with NIL recruitment and transfers, money talks. In both football and basketball, Mizzou has enjoyed a recent boon in recruiting in large part to a healthy NIL budget. That money, however, is privately donated and separate from the Mizzou athletic department budget. If Mizzou were to choose (or be forced due to budgetary constraints) to not meet the full distribution cap, it could have potentially devastating effects on the Tigers’ ability to attract and retain top-tier talent. While they could potentially hope to make up for a lack of revenue distribution funding with increased NIL payouts, it’s safe to say that Mizzou would not be on the same playing field as the big dogs with whom they compete on a weekly basis. &lt;/p&gt;
  381. &lt;p id="YrV4qB"&gt;A glaring question about revenue distribution which has not yet been answered is how does Title IX factor into how administrators choose to distribute money? Title IX was created, in part, to ensure “equal participation” among men and women in college athletics. Schools have met this requirement in the past by providing an equal number of scholarships for men’s and women’s sports. With this new model, would “participation” include the need to provide equal revenue distribution to male and female athletes, or could schools choose to prioritize specific sports for the majority of that distribution, namely football and men’s basketball? That’s something that lawyers and judges will ultimately have to decide, but it would be hard to picture Mizzou (or any other SEC school) willingly giving out paychecks to gymnasts or cross country runners in lieu of payments to athletes in the revenue-generating sports. &lt;/p&gt;
  382. &lt;h2 id="AmqQ7Z"&gt;NCAA Withholdings&lt;/h2&gt;
  383. &lt;p id="lNDU3g"&gt;The NCAA annually pays out money to all member schools, mainly from revenue generated by the men’s and women’s basketball tournament. As a way to pay off the multi-billion (with a “b”) settlement proposed, the NCAA would withhold $2 million per year per school from those payouts over the course of 10 years. While $2 million is very small percentage of Mizzou’s annual athletics budget, that adds up to $20 million over a decade, which is quite a chunk of change. &lt;/p&gt;
  384. &lt;p id="yUdL9I"&gt;This would ultimately be the least fiscally painful stipulation of the settlement for Mizzou, as it’s money that all competing schools would be losing. However, for a program who barely balanced the budget last year, losing $2 million a year while increasing costs by close to $30 million per year will not make Laird Veatch’s job any easier.&lt;/p&gt;
  385. &lt;h2 id="hx4q4N"&gt;Additional Scholarships&lt;/h2&gt;
  386. &lt;p id="GgaXMC"&gt;Unlike football and basketball, many NCAA sports do not allow full scholarships for the entire roster of athletes. For example, NCAA baseball programs are only allowed 11.7 scholarships to cover a roster of 32 players. Softball is allowed 12 scholarships for a similarly sized roster. Teams can split up the scholarships among most of the players and it is rare that more than one or two players per team enjoy a full scholarship. &lt;/p&gt;
  387. &lt;p id="FDLwJB"&gt;With the proposed settlement, the NCAA would increase the scholarship limits for many of these sports to allow schools to offer full rides to more, if not all, of their rosters. The estimated increase in total scholarships could cost schools as much as $10 million additionally each year. Like revenue distribution, these scholarship increases would be voluntary. If a baseball powerhouse like LSU wants to provide 25 full-ride athletic scholarships to their athletes, they could, while a program like SEMO with an exponentially smaller baseball budget may choose to keep their scholarships at 11.7 (or fewer.) &lt;/p&gt;
  388. &lt;p id="ALWwRM"&gt;Like all of the proposed changes, this will allow the Haves of the NCAA world to further distance themselves from the Have-nots. For Mizzou, who is squarely in the middle of the power four athletics programs (and toward the bottom of the SEC) from a budget perspective, this could hurt. &lt;/p&gt;
  389. &lt;p id="nP0P0X"&gt;Increasing scholarship numbers for sports that are already underfunded relative to SEC peers could devastate the existing Mizzou budget. However, not matching scholarship counts with fellow SEC members would further delegate Tiger teams to the bottom of the barrel competitively. It simply would not be tenable to field a volleyball team with 12 scholarships against a team with 20 scholarship players or a baseball team with 15 scholarships against a team with 25. While Mizzou could still attract some good athletes, the depth of the rosters would not allow success. &lt;/p&gt;
  390. &lt;h2 id="jCzA0D"&gt;What can Mizzou do?&lt;/h2&gt;
  391. &lt;p id="lopC5E"&gt;One thing for sure is that the budget deficit Mizzou currently is in relative to its peers is almost certainly going to increase. There are a few ways Mizzou might combat this, but most of them are not appealing. They could:&lt;/p&gt;
  392. &lt;ul&gt;
  393. &lt;li id="3DTAyQ"&gt;Choose to not maximize the revenue distribution cap, whatever that final number might be. This might be an OK short-term fix if they can find NIL dollars to fill the gap, but long-term would hurt coaches’ abilities to recruit and retain players. &lt;/li&gt;
  394. &lt;li id="4GKlqq"&gt;Choose not to increase the number of scholarships offered for the sports that will see limits increased. This might not hurt top-line recruiting as much as it will hurt overall competitiveness, as roster depth would be greatly depleted compared to SEC peers.&lt;/li&gt;
  395. &lt;li id="Y5ScDZ"&gt;Cut some non-revenue generating sports. This is the least desirable outcome in my opinion, but may be the only option if Mizzou wants to remain competitive in the revenue-generating sports. Cutting 24 scholarships from a men and women’s team would allow redistribution of those scholarships to other sports that AD leadership may prioritize.&lt;/li&gt;
  396. &lt;li id="YBlnuJ"&gt;Cut coach, staff and administrative salaries. This might be the most obvious move, but probably not the only one necessary. According to Dellenger’s article, salaries and buyouts make up almost 40% of FBS athletic budgets, so there is quite a bit of fat to cut there. The UM Board of Curators already saw the writing on the wall in this way. According to the Columbia Daily Tribune, new Mizzou athletic director Laird Veatch’s $1.3 million contract has a provision that would reduce his salary in the the event of changes to the college sports financial model. This is a provision I could see becoming a regular part of college coach and administrative contracts moving forward. &lt;/li&gt;
  397. &lt;/ul&gt;
  398. &lt;h2 id="YL2V8H"&gt;Next steps&lt;/h2&gt;
  399. &lt;p id="zm2MBL"&gt;For now, Mizzou can’t do anything but wait and see what the ultimate decision is. It is still very much undecided if this proposed settlement, or another like it, will be accepted by all parties. As Laird Veatch works this week to decorate his new office in Mizzou Arena, it’s clear that he has his work cut out for him in this brave new world of college athletics. Time will tell for the Tigers if he and the other leaders in Columbia can make it work. &lt;/p&gt;
  400. &lt;p id="FnfyqD"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  401.  
  402. </content>
  403.    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.rockmnation.com/2024/5/4/24148002/revenue-sharing-is-coming-to-the-ncaa-how-does-that-effect-mizzou-athletics"/>
  404.    <id>https://www.rockmnation.com/2024/5/4/24148002/revenue-sharing-is-coming-to-the-ncaa-how-does-that-effect-mizzou-athletics</id>
  405.    <author>
  406.      <name>Nathan Hurst</name>
  407.    </author>
  408.  </entry>
  409.  <entry>
  410.    <published>2024-05-03T16:00:00-05:00</published>
  411.    <updated>2024-05-03T16:00:00-05:00</updated>
  412.    <title>Frustrated by repeated Game 3 letdowns, Missouri looks to come out firing in the Other Columbia</title>
  413.    <content type="html">  
  414.  
  415.    &lt;figure&gt;
  416.      &lt;img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/4mLuthXW9tdOlmdKuRUxh8tROJk=/0x161:4482x3149/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73326015/CAL_0551.0.jpeg" /&gt;
  417.        &lt;figcaption&gt;Missouri outfielder Alex Honnold (25) celebrates her home run with other players in the sixth inning. | Cal Tobias/Rock M Nation&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  418.    &lt;/figure&gt;
  419.  
  420.  &lt;p&gt;To Columbia (L)East they go, where the Tigers need some road dubs to cement their postseason hosting status&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p id="EQGW80"&gt;Stop me if you’ve heard this before. Mizzou, up two games to one at home against a ranked opponent — in this case, no. 18 Mississippi State, couldn’t get it done in Game 3. The Tigers were SO CLOSE to sweeping and riding high on another fabulous weekend performance from Laurin Krings, and then just... puttered out in the seventh. The offense, with just three hits against the very same pitcher who they got seven off of in Game 1. It’s honestly exhausting at this point, trying to come up with reasons for why this keeps happening. But what we all know is this— in order for the Tigers to truly have a chance in the postseason, they MUST get this under control.&lt;/p&gt;
  421. &lt;p id="yH9ow0"&gt;And while I wasn’t on reporter duty Monday night — I actually sat in the stands as a FAN with one of my bestest friends and some booze (a Bud Light mango seltzer, for inquiring minds— hey, my options were very limited) — watching another finale slip away was devastating.&lt;/p&gt;
  422. &lt;p id="Eb92io"&gt;Of the Game 3 struggles, Anderson said post-game, “Oh, it sucks. I mean, can’t say it any differently. I mean, we had it. But again, like we only had three hits, and we gotta grind and every loss really looks the same and it’s been happening in Game Three... But we just have to have better at-bats. We have to be more competitive we have to make different adjustments and not keep getting the same result.”&lt;/p&gt;
  423. &lt;p id="PbTf9I"&gt;She continued, when asked about some possible complacency.&lt;/p&gt;
  424. &lt;p id="f17NkE"&gt;“I don’t want to say complacency because we’re a very motivated, driven competitive team. But I don’t know if we take couple things for granted. You know, we have won (games) one and two and we just go out there and we have that grit and that fire you wanted to and I just don’t see that same determination in game three, that we think we can keep doing the same thing and we’re gonna get the same result. And that’s the definition of repetitive idiocy. So, you know, we’ve got to do something different. We’ve got to play harder. We’ve got to make better adjustments. We’ve got to play like our backs up against the wall because when we play that way, we’re really exceptional team. And we just got to have to that that determination.” &lt;/p&gt;
  425. &lt;p id="GdOJL1"&gt;The regular season home finale result ultimately overshadowed what was a truly wonderful celebratory weekend for Mizzou’s seniors, and allowed the Tigers to grab yet another series win. This senior class — Alex Honnold, Jenna Laird, Laurin Krings, Maddie Gallagher and Chantice Phillips — have just been great ambassadors of the program, and even though Gallagher hasn’t been here the whole time, she’s so ingrained in the culture that it seems like she’s been with them forever. &lt;/p&gt;
  426. &lt;p id="gKiQGc"&gt;“I’m so unbelievably proud of our senior class,” Anderson said post-game. “They are tremendous ambassadors of the program, and they’ve left a legacy. They’ve done tremendous things for us and the freshmen and really left their mark, it’s going to last forever. I mean the impact that they’ve had on the freshmen, the freshmen are gonna remember that their entire career and that’s really what their legacy is going to be.”&lt;/p&gt;
  427. &lt;div id="HkoOUj"&gt;
  428. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  429. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;Sent our Seniors off In Style   &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OwnIt?src=hash&amp;amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#OwnIt&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MIZ?src=hash&amp;amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#MIZ&lt;/a&gt;   &lt;a href="https://t.co/2sm9SvrjIC"&gt;pic.twitter.com/2sm9SvrjIC&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Mizzou Softball (@MizzouSoftball) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/MizzouSoftball/status/1786070138732839374?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 2, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  430. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  431. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  432.  
  433. &lt;/div&gt;
  434. &lt;p id="sU1mCM"&gt;What awaits it a battle in The Other Columbia. When you really take a look at the two teams side-by-side, they’re very similar, so this should be a great matchup. On the line, a better seed in the upcoming SEC Tourney, which begins next week. Oh, and a road series win, something that has alluded the Tigers this season.&lt;/p&gt;
  435. &lt;p id="LNpQiG"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  436. &lt;h3 id="S5iN4F"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;BATTER UP. &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
  437. &lt;hr class="p-entry-hr" id="Ej6jNM"&gt;
  438. &lt;h2 id="0R95WL"&gt;How to Watch:&lt;/h2&gt;
  439. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  440. &lt;p id="SVuE4o"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;WHEN:&lt;/strong&gt; Friday, May 3 @ 5pm | Saturday, May 4 @ 5pm | Sunday, May 5 @ 2pm&lt;/p&gt;
  441. &lt;p id="MvJrxo"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;WHERE:&lt;/strong&gt; Carolina Softball Stadium at Beckham Field | Columbia, SC&lt;/p&gt;
  442. &lt;p id="rijVD9"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TV/STREAMING:&lt;/strong&gt; SEC Network + (Friday/Sunday) | SEC Network (Saturday)&lt;/p&gt;
  443. &lt;p id="mKeVcI"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;STATS:&lt;/strong&gt; Live on StatBroadcast— &lt;a href="https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=500663&amp;amp;vislive=miss"&gt;Friday |&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=500664&amp;amp;vislive=miss"&gt;Saturday&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href="https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=500665&amp;amp;vislive=miss"&gt;Sunday&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;
  444. &lt;p id="yF5bTp"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;HISTORY: &lt;/strong&gt;Missouri leads the all-time series, 14-9, though they haven’t faced off since 2022 when the Tigers swept the Gamecocks at home. The last time they visited the Other Columbia was in 2021, and Mizzou swept that one, too! What I’m gathering from this is... Mizzou in Columbia East = Good Vibes.&lt;/p&gt;
  445. &lt;p id="ZS8HH4"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;WEATHER: &lt;/strong&gt;Friday looks to be precipitation-free, with it being around 86 degrees at game time. Saturday and Sunday look a little more wet. Saturday’s game time is predicted to be around 74 degrees with a 52% chance of rain that looks to extend throughout the night. Sunday’s day game isn’t looking much better, at 80 degrees and 40% chance of rain extending through the evening hours. &lt;/p&gt;
  446. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  447. &lt;div id="YwpUVj"&gt;
  448. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  449. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;Final regular-season series threads   &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OwnIt?src=hash&amp;amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#OwnIt&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MIZ?src=hash&amp;amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#MIZ&lt;/a&gt;    &lt;a href="https://t.co/Rg42lJsqI7"&gt;pic.twitter.com/Rg42lJsqI7&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Mizzou Softball (@MizzouSoftball) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/MizzouSoftball/status/1786471243136254353?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 3, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  450. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  451. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  452.  
  453. &lt;/div&gt;
  454. &lt;hr class="p-entry-hr" id="UpmF9A"&gt;
  455.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  456.        &lt;img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/nl1JPhs6_75JPEGCKULPXj1OqMw=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25321750/mISSOURI.png"&gt;
  457.      &lt;cite&gt;Karen Steger Designs&lt;/cite&gt;
  458.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  459. &lt;h4 id="wcvvi3"&gt;
  460. &lt;strong&gt;2023 RECORD:&lt;/strong&gt; 35-26 (7-17 SEC)&lt;/h4&gt;
  461. &lt;h4 id="BbqB85"&gt;
  462. &lt;strong&gt;2024 RECORD:&lt;/strong&gt; 37-14 (10-11 SEC)&lt;/h4&gt;
  463. &lt;h4 id="EBv11b"&gt;
  464. &lt;strong&gt;RANKING:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;#15&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;small&gt;(ESPN.com/USA Softball),&lt;/small&gt; &lt;strong&gt;#13&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;small&gt;(USA Today/NFCA), &lt;/small&gt;&lt;strong&gt;#15&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;small&gt;(D1 Softball)&lt;/small&gt;, &lt;strong&gt;#10 &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;small&gt;(Softball America)&lt;/small&gt;, &lt;strong&gt;#9 &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;small&gt;(current RPI)&lt;/small&gt;
  465. &lt;/h4&gt;
  466. &lt;h4 id="kHZCWL"&gt;
  467. &lt;strong&gt;VS RANKED FOES:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;small&gt;#13/16 Utah (W 4-3) | #5/7 Clemson (W 4-1) | #22 Baylor (L 5-4) | #25 Auburn (W 5-2, W 5-0, L 4-0) | @ E8/9 Tennessee (L 9-0 in 5in, L 8-2, L 4-0) | #2/3 LSU (W 10-9, W 3-2, L 4-3) | @ #19 Arkansas (L 5-2, W 12-3 in 5in, L 4-1) | #9 Florida (W 6-3, W 5-2, L 3-1) | @ #9 Georgia (W 4-2, L 4-2, L 4-2) | #18 MS State (W 4-0, W 4-1, L 2-3)&lt;/small&gt;
  468. &lt;/h4&gt;
  469. &lt;h4 id="orvyEL"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;PLAYERS TO WATCH: &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h4&gt;
  470. &lt;h4 id="aRaxHc"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;SEC-Only Offensive Stats (data gathered from D1 Softball)&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h4&gt;
  471.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  472.        &lt;img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/nUvZQXmjnTv08OwX5qMjfus7td0=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25429758/SEC_batting.png"&gt;
  473.      &lt;cite&gt;Karen Steger Designs | data via D1 Softball&lt;/cite&gt;
  474.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  475. &lt;h4 id="FuLHVS"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;SEC-Only Pitching Stats (data gathered from D1 Softball)&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h4&gt;
  476.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  477.        &lt;img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/592eaFKmBjLmvhkz6BFGXso5Qp0=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25429760/sec_pitching.png"&gt;
  478.      &lt;cite&gt;Karen Steger Designs | data via D1 Softball&lt;/cite&gt;
  479.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  480. &lt;h4 id="7EDvDc"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;PITCHING NOTES: &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h4&gt;
  481. &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li id="TA1vJI"&gt;Krings had another really good weekend— she’s SO BACK, ladies and gents! In her last four games — two v. MS State and two at UGA (one in relief of M&amp;amp;M) — and 23 innings pitched, she’s allowed just 13 hits, 5 runs, 4 earned runs, 4 walks and struck out 19. &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;
  482. &lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p id="hlL46C"&gt;“She (Krings) has done a tremendous job in controlling the batter. She deserved the win today,” Anderson said on Monday. “She threw her butt off and competed, threw an unbelievable game and deserved the win ... She’s really attacking hitters and going after them early. (She’s) getting easy outs and having key strikeouts. That’s what we need out of a senior pitcher.”&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  483. &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li id="O1YCUD"&gt;Monday night was closer Taylor Pannell’s first blown save of the season, her first L on an unblemished record thus far. TP, in case you need reminding, leads the country in saves with 11 and sits just four shy of the NCAA record, as well as leading the SEC. What happened? &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;
  484. &lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p id="YF9C6a"&gt;“When you focus on the result and if you focus on winning, or you focus on ‘I have to get a hit’ or ‘I want to lead the country in saves,’ you’re only looking at the results. You’re not looking at the process. And when you become process driven, you’re looking to hit every single pitch, you’re looking to get on time, you’re looking to attack. And I think in that Game Three, we get a little more results on ‘Let’s sweep!’ rather than ‘let’s win every single pitch.’ &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  485. &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li id="LDu0Nt"&gt;Most importantly, Mizzou’s pitching staff is rested and healthy and not feeling the negative effects of being overworked. “What I’m really happy with our pitchers is how healthy they are,” Anderson said. “They’re so fresh. They’re not overthrown. I don’t even know if Harrison has 100 innings yet. They can is probably hovering around 60 or so. So in cranes is just over 100 so extremely fresh and healthy, which is why they’re peaking right now. Like they feel really good. Their bodies feel really good and we just have to maintain that because they haven’t been overthrown all year long and that’s what helps have been a really deep bullpen.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;
  486.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  487.        &lt;img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/eXwPiK1QBIg29FbYjKOvXnVMH1Y=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25426587/CAL_9574.JPG"&gt;
  488.      &lt;cite&gt;Cal Tobias/Rock M Nation&lt;/cite&gt;
  489.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  490. &lt;h4 id="EHu269"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;BATTING NOTES&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h4&gt;
  491. &lt;ul&gt;
  492. &lt;li id="IxtEgi"&gt;
  493. &lt;em&gt;On the hitting woes:&lt;/em&gt; “I think we evaluate too much, like when we hit well, we move to hit every single pitch, and we have a lot of intent and we’re extremely aggressive. (Conversely), when I see that we have outings like this (Game 3), we take a lot of hittable pitches, we get behind in the count. We’re defensive and we’re reacting to the pitch rather than being the hunter and attacking every single pitch. So that’s a mentality thing. So that’s where we just have to maybe put them into some more live situations or practice with a game on the line. So they feel that their back is up against the wall to have more intent in trying to swing more free.”&lt;/li&gt;
  494. &lt;li id="LpnbtP"&gt;
  495. &lt;a href="https://www.rockmnation.com/mizzou-softball/2024/4/29/24144864/series-finale-stunner-mizzou-softball-falls-one-strike-short-in-defeat-to-mississippi-state-april-29"&gt;From Brandon’s Monday Night recapper&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;/li&gt;
  496. &lt;/ul&gt;
  497. &lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p id="xyxIej"&gt;If one were to take out Southeastern Conference series finales, the Tigers would be 10-4 in conference play. Instead, they are now 10-11, including a worrying 0-7 in series finales during league play. A main reason behind that tally is the fact that the offense has scored just nine total runs across those seven contests, four of which have come at home.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  498. &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li id="FscVQW"&gt; Kara Daly continues to have a tough season, both in the field and at the plate. Per my better softball half, Brandon Haynes, the Jeff City junior is just 7-for-55 since March 22, including an 0-for-24 mark at home. She hit .271 with 10 home runs and 46 RBI last season, but has just 6 HR and 27 RBI this season, while also striking out a whopping 38 times this season, (2nd most in the SEC). &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;
  499. &lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p id="kblOrp"&gt;“She’s one of those (hitters) that’s just evaluating,” Anderson said. “She looks completely different in practice than she does in games. She’s proven it in practice and she’s worked extremely hard and she puts in a lot of extra time and, you know, no one’s more frustrated than she is. And we feel for her which is why we keep throwing her out there and move her down a lineup to take that pressure off of and, you know, I know she’s going to come through. I hope it’s at just the right time, but we have complete confidence and trust in her... When she starts to draw walks I’ll know she’s seeing the ball a little bit better.”&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  500.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  501.        &lt;img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/7ZwNEJuMV8cax6pSu3WRAXBCSNI=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25391864/CAL_3420_1.jpg"&gt;
  502.      &lt;cite&gt;Cal Tobias/Rock M Nation&lt;/cite&gt;
  503.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  504. &lt;h4 id="Z67xLL"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;GENERAL NOTES&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h4&gt;
  505. &lt;ul&gt;
  506. &lt;li id="LsPGo7"&gt;The Tigers’ 37-14 record is the best record since the 2013 season that started 23-3 and ultimately ended with a 38-14 finish. The Tigers have now surpassed both their win total from last season and their seven conference wins from 2023.&lt;/li&gt;
  507. &lt;li id="MhX2de"&gt;This weekend is reunion time for senior Maddie Gallagher, who began her career at South Carolina before leaving for (Better) Columbia in December 2022. Per MUTigers.com, Gallagher hit .292 as their starting 2B in 2022. &lt;/li&gt;
  508. &lt;li id="Ej4SiX"&gt;Defensively, the Tigers have a&lt;strong&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;.970 fielding percentage overall, but .963 in SEC play&lt;strong&gt;. &lt;/strong&gt;Jenna Laird, a former Gold Glover, and Kara Daly each have 8 errors in SEC play (and 13 overall), which is second most in the conference. Laird’s tally shot up when she had two errors on Monday night.&lt;/li&gt;
  509. &lt;li id="To0h1c"&gt;
  510. &lt;em&gt;More on the Game Three misses:&lt;/em&gt; “I think just knowing that we can beat every single team on Sunday (or Game 3), no matter who we’re playing, we can be who we want to be. So I think just knowing that we have this series, which is amazing, we can’t take it lightly that we’re going to beat them again. We got to make because we know no one wants to lose. So we just got to go from there. It’d be like they’re not going to want to lose so we got to keep our keep it strong act like it’s Game One.” &lt;/li&gt;
  511. &lt;li id="9kNbq2"&gt;Mizzou is tied with Mississippi State in the SEC standings at seventh (MU holds the tiebreaker) and sits just a 1⁄2 game behind sixth-place &lt;a href="https://www.andthevalleyshook.com/"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;LSU&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; and one full game behind fifth-place Georgia. The Tigers are mathematically unable to rise to fourth due to their series loss against Arkansas, and they have a chance at falling all the way down to the No. 11 seed in a worst-case scenario should they lose out against South Carolina.&lt;/li&gt;
  512. &lt;/ul&gt;
  513. &lt;hr class="p-entry-hr" id="Ghgk2S"&gt;
  514. &lt;p id="aT5KSu"&gt;Let’s take a look at Mizzou’s opponent, shall we?&lt;/p&gt;
  515.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  516.        &lt;img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/nTCxnkBACnKnCehzZJ05OkRwrPQ=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25431281/sc_v_miz.png"&gt;
  517.      &lt;cite&gt;via GamecocksOnline.com&lt;/cite&gt;
  518.      &lt;figcaption&gt;(No fancy graphic, my apple pencil is out of juice)&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  519.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  520. &lt;h4 id="2cG6sU"&gt;
  521. &lt;strong&gt;2023 RECORD: &lt;/strong&gt;40-22 (9-15 SEC) | Lost to #3 Florida State in Regional elimination game&lt;/h4&gt;
  522. &lt;h4 id="2KlfgG"&gt;
  523. &lt;strong&gt;2024 RECORD:&lt;/strong&gt; 33-18 (8-13, SEC) | 19-11 at home&lt;/h4&gt;
  524. &lt;h4 id="6jBzD2"&gt;
  525. &lt;strong&gt;COMMON OPPONENTS: &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;small&gt;v. #13 Utah (W 9-1 in 6) | Wichita State (L 5-6) | South Alabama (L 2-5) | @ UCF (W 4-2) | NC State (L 0-4) | @ #11 Clemson (W 6-4 in 12) | #7 Tennessee (L 1-2, L 0-7, L 0-8 in 6) | #16 MS State (L 0-6, L -04, W 3-1) | #19 Clemson (L 0-7) | #17 Arkansas (L 3-4, W 2-1, L 0-3) | @ #10 Florida (L 6-11, W 6-2, L 6-7) &lt;/small&gt;
  526. &lt;/h4&gt;
  527. &lt;h4 id="zwr60q"&gt;
  528. &lt;strong&gt;VS. RANKED FOES: &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;small&gt;v. #13 Utah (W 9-1 in 6) | @ #17 Texas A&amp;amp;M (L 0-3, L 1-2 in 10, L 1-2) | #21 Kentucky (W 5-2, L 1-3, W 3-0) | @ #11 Clemson (W 6-4 in 12) | #7 Tennessee (L 1-2, L 0-7, L 0-8 in 6) | #16 MS State (L 0-6, L -04, W 3-1) | #19 Clemson (L 0-7) | #17 Arkansas (L 3-4, W 2-1, L 0-3) | @ #10 Florida (L 6-11, W 6-2, L 6-7) &lt;/small&gt;
  529. &lt;/h4&gt;
  530. &lt;h4 id="o8FOqh"&gt;
  531. &lt;strong&gt;RANKINGS: &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;small&gt;#24 (D1 Softball) |&lt;/small&gt;&lt;strong&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;small&gt;RV (USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll) | RV (ESPN/USA Softball)&lt;/small&gt;
  532. &lt;/h4&gt;
  533. &lt;h4 id="fUEoNF"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;PLAYERS TO WATCH: &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h4&gt;
  534. &lt;p id="sMxYZk"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;SEC-Only Offense &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  535.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  536.        &lt;img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/UpeKRarKvf2rXl1ASlqMVGtIAJ8=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25430462/SC_batting.png"&gt;
  537.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  538. &lt;p id="iGb1gK"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;SEC-Only Pitching&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  539.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  540.        &lt;img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/hxnHu6SV8wEEK5p00-onHSsFRwo=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25430463/sc_pitching.png"&gt;
  541.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  542. &lt;h4 id="z6L7qd"&gt;
  543. &lt;strong&gt;NOTES:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/h4&gt;
  544. &lt;ul&gt;
  545. &lt;li id="3DqHw9"&gt;The Gamecocks were last ranked #23 in mid-April but haven’t re-entered the polls since the series loss at home to Arkansas. They got as high as #17 in late-February. Currently, they are receiving votes in the two major polls, but haven’t re-cracked the T25. &lt;/li&gt;
  546. &lt;li id="X7zzbS"&gt;Cocky is coming off a 5-0 shutout of USC Upstate for their final mid-weeker, and over the weekend took a series at #21 Kentucky, taking two of three. In the case of UK, that was their first in the series since 2015. &lt;/li&gt;
  547. &lt;li id="bIUOhJ"&gt;Watch out for Riley Blampied, who leads the Gamecocks in many offensive categories, including runs (36), hits (50), doubles (10-tied), home runs (6) and RBI (33), slugging% (.488).&lt;/li&gt;
  548. &lt;li id="beNFJ0"&gt;The Gamecock pitching staff, made up of 4 sub-2.00 ERA hurlers, is pretty impressive. The innings-eater, Alana Vawter, &lt;/li&gt;
  549. &lt;li id="QkGS8C"&gt;This is senior weekend for the Gamecocks, and they are set to honor eight members of their team, including Kansas City native Alana Vawter, who grad transferred from Stanford this season. She’s second in D-1 in complete games (82), second in wins (92), third in appearances (162), fourth in shutouts (29), 18th in ERA (1.79) and 20th in strikeouts (615). &lt;/li&gt;
  550. &lt;li id="jITpsM"&gt;South Carolina isn’t a team known for hitting the long ball, but that doesn’t mean they can’t do it. In an April 20 6-2 upset win over then-no. 10 Florida, four different Gamecocks smacked a homer, including Denver Bryant (first of season), Zoe Laneaux, Aniyah Black and Jen Commings. They also hit three homers (solo) in the series win over Kentucky. This time is was Riley Blampied to go with Laneaux and Bryant (second of the season). &lt;/li&gt;
  551. &lt;li id="CzViPl"&gt;The Gamecocks are a great defensive team, and in Wednesday’s victory turned their 29th double play of the season, which is tied for second-most all-time. Funn-er fact: They turned a TRIPLE play against Charleston Southern. It’s just the fourth TP this season in Division-1. They also lead the conference by a wide margin in assists&lt;/li&gt;
  552. &lt;li id="f4yQ4g"&gt;South Carolina is 170-394-1 (.302) against top 25 NFCA ranked opponents since 1995, including 82-138 (.373) at home. In 2023, USC went 12-16 vs. ranked opponents. &lt;/li&gt;
  553. &lt;li id="1YfCHx"&gt;So, they’ve got a triple play this season... what else weird stuff has happened to the Gamecocks? How about a perfect game?! Jori Heard threw a 4-0 perfect game against Bethune-Cookman on March 2nd. It was the first 7-inning perfect game in D-1 this season.&lt;/li&gt;
  554. &lt;li id="5tiZnD"&gt;
  555. &lt;a href="https://www.secsports.com/news/2024/04/sec-softball-weekly-awards-week-12"&gt;Sage Mardjetko is the reigning SEC Freshman of the Week&lt;/a&gt;. The Illinois native threw the first complete game shutout of her collegiate career in Sunday’s victory at UK. She struck out seven while allowing five hits and two walks. She also pitched the final inning of Saturday’s game, allowing a walk before registering the final out. Here she is below talking about the shutout.&lt;/li&gt;
  556. &lt;/ul&gt;
  557. &lt;div id="uLQMVn"&gt;&lt;div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"&gt;&lt;iframe src="https://www.espn.com/core/video/iframe?id=40045407&amp;amp;endcard=false" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" allow="encrypted-media;"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  558. &lt;hr class="p-entry-hr" id="uJhBJe"&gt;
  559. &lt;h2 id="rdrQjv"&gt;Overall Team Comparisons:&lt;/h2&gt;
  560.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  561.        &lt;img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/dePnduPSlDYSFmFnKaQy1gekjWo=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25430497/sec_may2.png"&gt;
  562.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  563. &lt;h3 id="Qy9QiX"&gt;&lt;em&gt;IN SEC PLAY&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
  564. &lt;h4 id="rYB3Gn"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;When Mizzou &amp;amp; South Carolina are Hitting&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h4&gt;
  565. &lt;ul&gt;
  566. &lt;li id="SlPYn1"&gt;vs. Lefties: MIZ— .274 | USC —.233&lt;/li&gt;
  567. &lt;li id="Mmtank"&gt;vs. Righties: MIZ— .217 | USC— .224&lt;/li&gt;
  568. &lt;li id="K3rwnG"&gt;Bases empty: MIZ— .223 | USC— .222&lt;/li&gt;
  569. &lt;li id="UDxzET"&gt;Runners on: MIZ— .235 | USC— .233&lt;/li&gt;
  570. &lt;li id="70abuE"&gt;Bases loaded: MIZ— .167 (3-18) | USC— .000 (0-14)&lt;/li&gt;
  571. &lt;li id="fgu7Lv"&gt;Leadoff: MIZ— .341 | USC— .310&lt;/li&gt;
  572. &lt;li id="Nlk1bK"&gt;Fly : Ground ratio:  MIZ— 153 : 124 (1.2) | USC— 177 : 124 (1.4)&lt;/li&gt;
  573. &lt;/ul&gt;
  574. &lt;h4 id="50X2gE"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;When Mizzou &amp;amp; South Carolina are Pitching&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h4&gt;
  575. &lt;ul&gt;
  576. &lt;li id="Zuzb2F"&gt;vs. Lefties: MIZ— .238 | USC— .202&lt;/li&gt;
  577. &lt;li id="IY0i5U"&gt;vs. Righties: MIZ— .241 | USC— .267&lt;/li&gt;
  578. &lt;li id="ZOuyWb"&gt;Runners on: MIZ— .249 | USC— .213&lt;/li&gt;
  579. &lt;li id="ShE2QI"&gt;Bases empty: MIZ— .234 | USC .285&lt;/li&gt;
  580. &lt;li id="45vH8q"&gt;vs. Leadoff: MIZ— .324 | USC— .463&lt;/li&gt;
  581. &lt;li id="HybWPd"&gt;w/ 2 outs: MIZ— .219 | USC— .198&lt;/li&gt;
  582. &lt;li id="R36elC"&gt;Flyout to Groundout: MIZ— 187 : 118 | USC— 148 : 169&lt;/li&gt;
  583. &lt;/ul&gt;
  584. &lt;hr class="p-entry-hr" id="rznPnZ"&gt;
  585. &lt;p id="ZX73cn"&gt;As Brandon laid out in Monday night’s recap, Mizzou is now tied with Mississippi State in the SEC rankings at 7th, though the Tigers do hold the tiebreaker. They are also just a &lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt;⁄&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; game behind &lt;a href="https://www.andthevalleyshook.com"&gt;LSU&lt;/a&gt; (whose conference slate is complete), and a full game behind Georgia. Should things break the right way, the Tigers could end up as high as 5th. If things go wrong [knock on wood], they could slide all the way down to 11th. The important thing this weekend is to take the series, and better yet, MAKE IT A SWEEP! &lt;/p&gt;
  586. &lt;p id="mdM5me"&gt;In my quick survey of Rock M colleagues, Dylan, Cal, Quentin &amp;amp; Matthew, they were unanimous... Mizzou takes two from South Carolina, which puts them at 39-15 to end the season. I’m still going with a sweep, good for 40-14. Forty wins just sounds so... GOOD. &lt;strong&gt;UPDATE: &lt;/strong&gt;Brandon also goes with a sweep. &lt;/p&gt;
  587.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  588.        &lt;img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/hoUvaD2QDbHcVMKx7TqpeFxMlqw=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25424820/1026_04282024_sb_MSST.JPG"&gt;
  589.      &lt;cite&gt;Cal Tobias/Rock M Nation&lt;/cite&gt;
  590.      &lt;figcaption&gt;Missouri outfielder Mya Dodge (center), hugs Missouri infielder Katie Chester (12) after Chester’s RBI single in the fourth inning on Sunday.&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  591.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  592. &lt;p id="dYwm0O"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  593.  
  594. </content>
  595.    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.rockmnation.com/mizzou-softball/2024/5/3/24146752/in-its-regular-season-finale-missouri-softball-hopes-to-take-a-road-series-in-the-other-columbia"/>
  596.    <id>https://www.rockmnation.com/mizzou-softball/2024/5/3/24146752/in-its-regular-season-finale-missouri-softball-hopes-to-take-a-road-series-in-the-other-columbia</id>
  597.    <author>
  598.      <name>Karen Steger</name>
  599.    </author>
  600.  </entry>
  601.  <entry>
  602.    <published>2024-05-03T07:00:00-05:00</published>
  603.    <updated>2024-05-03T07:00:00-05:00</updated>
  604.    <title>Recruiting Reset: Jason King is an aggressive piece that blows stuff up</title>
  605.    <content type="html">  
  606.  
  607.    &lt;figure&gt;
  608.      &lt;img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/RPWFscVQad3Tn6716fqvpQnteW8=/0x0:1638x1092/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73324452/GMMmHHHWgAAohjg.0.jpg" /&gt;
  609.    &lt;/figure&gt;
  610.  
  611.  &lt;p&gt;You want a player tailor-made for Mizzou’s aggressive, havoc-forward defense? This is your guy.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p id="4FOnYg"&gt;The good Mizzou recruiting vibes keep going as Jason King became the sixth commitment in the Tigers’ recruiting class of 2025 to verbally pledge his services to the black and gold. &lt;/p&gt;
  612. &lt;p id="q4oqvQ"&gt;That number - six - of commitments before the month of May is the most the Drinkwitz regime has ever obtained in their five recruiting cycles on campus. &lt;/p&gt;
  613. &lt;p id="R9aGCV"&gt;Remember last year? When Mizzou was heading into June with two guys committed before the 4th of July explosion of commitments? Yeah, that’s not happening this year. And it feels great!&lt;/p&gt;
  614. &lt;p id="VRmfOz"&gt;Let’s take a look at what Jason King bring to the table:&lt;/p&gt;
  615. &lt;hr class="p-entry-hr" id="7VK52W"&gt;
  616. &lt;p id="D4U1hS"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Where He Fits&lt;/strong&gt;: King is listed at 6’1” 215 pounds and claims his position is Middle Linebacker. &lt;a href="https://www.hudl.com/profile/16173507/Jason-King"&gt;And yet his film&lt;/a&gt; shows him lining up as a slot defender, as an edge rusher, and - yes - sometimes as a linebacker. When you do the standard size correction for high school prospects - probably more 5’11” or 6’0” and 195-200ish pounds - that height and weight is more safety-sized when you get to the college level and, frankly, his play reminds me of some of Mizzou’s more aggressive safeties of the past few years. Specifically, King runs through blocks with the ferocity of a Jaylon Carlies. He also has the hitting power and enthusiasm of a Daylan Carnell. I’m not sure if the coaches see him as a guy who can grow into an SEC linebacker-sized player or if they see his skillset as more of a strong safety or STAR safety but the dude is an aggressive pass rusher and a good tackler in space. &lt;/p&gt;
  617. &lt;p id="1x3mSt"&gt;He also plays some wildcat quarterback which...ya know, isn’t really Mizzou’s thing but is fun to watch.&lt;/p&gt;
  618. &lt;p id="jfcAmp"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;When He’ll Play: &lt;/strong&gt;The linebacking depth is a little thin after this year but there’s no reason to think he’ll come in and start as a freshman. If he is truly going to be a linebacker, he needs time to bulk up. And even if he winds up being a bigger safety, he needs some time to season and acclimate to the SEC. The St. Louis high school football circuit is good but it ain’t so good that you can quickly transition to starting at that position when you’re that size.&lt;/p&gt;
  619. &lt;p id="C2hYQk"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What It All Means&lt;/strong&gt;: Linebacker is a position of long-term need (ignoring whatever portal activity happens in the next year) and the staff is definitely stocking up at havoc-styled linebackers to backfill their depth. King could be a fun player and a guy who thrives in a havoc-forward defense; being yet another STL product that chooses Missouri is just another recruiting victory for Mizzou.&lt;/p&gt;
  620. &lt;p id="zs7Xh1"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  621.  
  622. </content>
  623.    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.rockmnation.com/missouri-tigers-football/2024/5/3/24146685/recruiting-reset-jason-king-is-an-aggressive-piece-that-blows-stuff-up"/>
  624.    <id>https://www.rockmnation.com/missouri-tigers-football/2024/5/3/24146685/recruiting-reset-jason-king-is-an-aggressive-piece-that-blows-stuff-up</id>
  625.    <author>
  626.      <name>Nate Edwards</name>
  627.    </author>
  628.  </entry>
  629.  <entry>
  630.    <published>2024-05-03T05:00:00-05:00</published>
  631.    <updated>2024-05-03T05:00:00-05:00</updated>
  632.    <title>Diamond Sports Prepare for Gamecocks</title>
  633.    <content type="html">  
  634.  
  635.    &lt;figure&gt;
  636.      &lt;img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/AvJN4TDa0gpCMxXyXJb-qjW4Mwg=/282x0:1800x1012/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73324300/Narrower_Daily_Links_Draft_3.0.png" /&gt;
  637.    &lt;/figure&gt;
  638.  
  639.  &lt;p&gt;Mizzou Links for Friday, May 3&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p id="3W60La"&gt;Greetings, diamond sports enthusiasts! Both of our teams will facing the team from Columbia (L)East this weekend. Baseball will be at home — we are focusing on them here — and softball will be there (more on that later on today from me &amp;amp; Brandon). &lt;/p&gt;
  640. &lt;p id="GLAAYn"&gt;Per &lt;a href="http://MUTIgers.com"&gt;MUTIgers.com&lt;/a&gt;, Mizzou will recognize the 70th anniversary of its 1954 NCAA College World Series championship prior to Saturday’s game as part of Alumni Weekend at Taylor Stadium.&lt;/p&gt;
  641. &lt;p id="wqp9nL"&gt;But first, congrats, diamond sports grads! We’re proud of you!!!! For reference, their ceremony was held in the Columns Club, I think, so that’s why they’re at Faurot.&lt;/p&gt;
  642. &lt;div id="3F1KUS"&gt;
  643. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  644. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;Our Graduates   ‍ &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OwnIt?src=hash&amp;amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#OwnIt&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MIZ?src=hash&amp;amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#MIZ&lt;/a&gt;   &lt;a href="https://t.co/T0GWAjX5AJ"&gt;pic.twitter.com/T0GWAjX5AJ&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Mizzou Softball (@MizzouSoftball) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/MizzouSoftball/status/1786053811800605085?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 2, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  645. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  646. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  647.  
  648. &lt;/div&gt;
  649. &lt;div id="w87evQ"&gt;
  650. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  651. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;Congrats to our graduates &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/%F0%9D%99%88%F0%9D%99%9E%F0%9D%99%AF%F0%9D%99%AF%F0%9D%99%A4%F0%9D%99%AA%F0%9D%99%89%F0%9D%99%8A%F0%9D%99%92?src=hash&amp;amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#         &lt;/a&gt; |  ⚾️ &lt;a href="https://t.co/n0vNZTd0yz"&gt;pic.twitter.com/n0vNZTd0yz&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Mizzou Baseball (@MizzouBaseball) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/MizzouBaseball/status/1786177320941748324?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 2, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  652. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  653. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  654.  
  655. &lt;/div&gt;
  656. &lt;p id="wKSXB5"&gt;Kortay’s got a lot of school stuff to finish up on as he gets ready for graduation, so rather than have him spend a bunch of time on a preview piece, I thought I’d have him provide some ‘Five Things to Watch For” as the Missouri Tigers (20-26, 6-15 SEC) continues its home stand this weekend against the #15 South Carolina Gamecocks (30-14, 11-10 SEC). It’s also Alumni Weekend at Simmons Field!&lt;/p&gt;
  657. &lt;ol&gt;
  658. &lt;li id="V8cyji"&gt;
  659. &lt;strong&gt;Mizzou needs at least one win this weekend to keep up in the chase to Hoover.&lt;/strong&gt; The Tigers are a game back LSU and Ole Miss, but a winless weekend could put them too far behind the 8 ball with only six games left after this weekend including three in Starkville against Mississippi State. The good news for Mizzou is it has won at least one game in each of its home SEC series this season. Ole Miss visits last-place Auburn, and LSU hosts No. 1 Texas A&amp;amp;M this weekend.&lt;/li&gt;
  660. &lt;li id="o05F9Y"&gt;
  661. &lt;strong&gt;Could South Carolina be in for a hangover?&lt;/strong&gt; The Gamecocks picked off a series win against then-No. 4 Kentucky last weekend, and last time they won a series against a top-five opponent (Vandy) they dropped their following series. &lt;/li&gt;
  662. &lt;li id="8iMkCY"&gt;
  663. &lt;strong&gt;If you tune in, please appreciate Ethan Petry’s greatness.&lt;/strong&gt; The South Carolina true sophomore will be taken early in the 2025 draft, and what he’s done in his almost two years of college baseball has been incredible. He might not be on the Cags/Condon level, but just know that the Tigers are facing a future big-leaguer this weekend.&lt;/li&gt;
  664. &lt;li id="Se01Uc"&gt;
  665. &lt;strong&gt;Will Missouri’s bats finally wake up?&lt;/strong&gt; The Tigers are on a four-game SEC losing streak, and they haven’t scored more than two runs in any of those four games. Mizzou did score 13 in the midweek against Lindenwood, but that’s certainly not SEC-level pitching. If the Tigers can score six or seven in a game this weekend, they may just be able to steal one this weekend.&lt;/li&gt;
  666. &lt;li id="Vlh3M3"&gt;
  667. &lt;strong&gt;Can Lovich translate his four hits from the Tennessee series to this week?&lt;/strong&gt; The Mizzou star has struggled mightily in conference play, slashing just .167/.242/.233 in SEC play and going just 1-18 in the Georgia and LSU series. However, last weekend against Tennessee, Lovich went 4-for-12 with a double and RBI. If the Mizzou bats are going to wake up like I mentioned above, he’ll certainly need to be a part of the effort. &lt;/li&gt;
  668. &lt;/ol&gt;
  669. &lt;p id="is65oz"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  670. &lt;h2 id="tGfkLZ"&gt;Probable Pitchers:&lt;/h2&gt;
  671. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  672. &lt;p id="Ak2RbD"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;FRIDAY: &lt;/strong&gt;Roman Kimball (SCar) v. Logan Lunceford&lt;/p&gt;
  673. &lt;p id="xOL3VS"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;SATURDAY: &lt;/strong&gt;Elin Jones (SCar) v. Javyn Pimental&lt;/p&gt;
  674. &lt;p id="UhoEJ3"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;SUNDAY: &lt;/strong&gt;TBD (maybe Tyler Pitzer?) vs. TBD (maybe Carter Rustad or Ian Lohse?)&lt;/p&gt;
  675. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  676. &lt;hr class="p-entry-hr" id="7atwlA"&gt;
  677. &lt;h2 id="0R95WL"&gt;How to Watch:&lt;/h2&gt;
  678. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  679. &lt;p id="SVuE4o"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;WHEN:&lt;/strong&gt; Friday, May 3 @ 6pm | Saturday, May 4 @ 3pm | Sunday, May 5 @ 1pm&lt;/p&gt;
  680. &lt;p id="MvJrxo"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;WHERE:&lt;/strong&gt; Taylor Stadium | Columbia, Mo.&lt;/p&gt;
  681. &lt;p id="rijVD9"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TV/STREAMING:&lt;/strong&gt; SEC Network + &lt;/p&gt;
  682. &lt;p id="mKeVcI"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;STATS:&lt;/strong&gt; Live on StatBroadcast— &lt;a href="https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=504687"&gt;Friday |&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=504688"&gt;Saturday&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href="https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=504689"&gt;Sunday&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;
  683. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  684. &lt;hr class="p-entry-hr" id="cDfNFX"&gt;
  685. &lt;h2 id="YrB0Jc"&gt;Fun Facts:&lt;/h2&gt;
  686. &lt;ul&gt;
  687. &lt;li id="yF5bTp"&gt;
  688. &lt;strong&gt;HISTORY: &lt;/strong&gt;Friday will mark the 34th meeting between the two Columbia teams, with SCar holding a 20-13 lead. Mizzou has been lights out at home vs. the Gamecocks, though, and have a 10-5 record, including 8 of the last 10. Last year, in the Other Columbia, the Tigers were swept. &lt;/li&gt;
  689. &lt;li id="LYaaHt"&gt;
  690. &lt;strong&gt;LAST TIME OUT: &lt;/strong&gt;The Tigers mauled the Lions of Lindenwood in their final mid-weeker of the season on Wednesday in a run-rule 13-1 victory— I was there! 10 different Tigers logged a hit. &lt;/li&gt;
  691. &lt;li id="vMZg3G"&gt;Catcher Mateo Serna is hitting .381 (8-for-21) with two homers and seven RBIs over the Tigers’ last 10 games.&lt;/li&gt;
  692. &lt;li id="YExl55"&gt;First baseman Danny Corona is on a five-game hitting streak. In the streak, he has three multi-hit games. &lt;/li&gt;
  693. &lt;li id="lxl05i"&gt;Per MUTigers.com, LHP Javyn Pimental has allowed just four earned runs on 16 hits while fanning 28 hitters over 26.0 innings (six appearances) at Taylor Stadium this season.&lt;/li&gt;
  694. &lt;li id="fa5U7M"&gt;The Tigers are batting .288 and average 8.3 runs per game at Taylor Stadium. &lt;/li&gt;
  695. &lt;/ul&gt;
  696. &lt;div id="Vwt8bH"&gt;
  697. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  698. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;Busy home stand ahead, with Alumni Weekend coming to Taylor Stadium for &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Mizzou?src=hash&amp;amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#Mizzou&lt;/a&gt;'s series with South Carolina⤵️&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt; ️ | &lt;a href="https://t.co/5f3krlNzFn"&gt;https://t.co/5f3krlNzFn&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/%F0%9D%99%88%F0%9D%99%9E%F0%9D%99%AF%F0%9D%99%AF%F0%9D%99%A4%F0%9D%99%AA%F0%9D%99%89%F0%9D%99%8A%F0%9D%99%92?src=hash&amp;amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#         &lt;/a&gt; |  ⚾️ &lt;a href="https://t.co/xUBeh6E8En"&gt;pic.twitter.com/xUBeh6E8En&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Mizzou Baseball (@MizzouBaseball) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/MizzouBaseball/status/1785691848033624149?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 1, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  699. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  700. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  701.  
  702. &lt;/div&gt;
  703. &lt;p id="tR981I"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  704. &lt;p id="IGdCvZ"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  705. &lt;p id="FJlY6W"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;ON TO THE LINKS!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  706. &lt;div id="KyUnAf"&gt;
  707. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  708. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt; ️ Lindenwood victory recap&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/%F0%9D%99%88%F0%9D%99%9E%F0%9D%99%AF%F0%9D%99%AF%F0%9D%99%A4%F0%9D%99%AA%F0%9D%99%89%F0%9D%99%8A%F0%9D%99%92?src=hash&amp;amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#         &lt;/a&gt; |  ⚾️ &lt;a href="https://t.co/NGojCvxqVH"&gt;pic.twitter.com/NGojCvxqVH&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Mizzou Baseball (@MizzouBaseball) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/MizzouBaseball/status/1785854909130092625?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 2, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  709. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  710. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  711.  
  712. &lt;/div&gt;
  713. &lt;div id="4Xk5A6"&gt;&lt;div style="float:right; margin:10px;"&gt;&lt;iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/page.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Frockmnation&amp;amp;tabs&amp;amp;width=340&amp;amp;height=214&amp;amp;small_header=false&amp;amp;adapt_container_width=true&amp;amp;hide_cover=false&amp;amp;show_facepile=true&amp;amp;appId" width="340" height="214" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  714. &lt;hr class="p-entry-hr" id="8wNBjj"&gt;
  715. &lt;h1 id="QvdtMQ"&gt;Yesterday at Rock M&lt;/h1&gt;
  716. &lt;ul&gt;
  717. &lt;li id="5Y9Q01"&gt;Dan writes, &lt;a href="https://www.rockmnation.com/2024/5/2/24144871/brandon-jones-eli-drinkwitz-recruiting-transfers-offensive-line"&gt;How Mizzou rebuilt their offensive line with Brandon Jones’ coaching and Eli Drinkwitz’s recruiting&lt;/a&gt;
  718. &lt;/li&gt;
  719. &lt;li id="lvVE7J"&gt;
  720. &lt;strong&gt;IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.rockmnation.com/2024/5/1/24145722/tobias-ten-softball-senior-weekend"&gt;Tobias Ten: Softball Senior Weekend&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href="https://www.rockmnation.com/2024/5/1/24116741/my-farewell-reflection-and-gratitude-from-my-years-at-rock-m"&gt;My farewell, reflection and gratitude from my years at Rock M&lt;/a&gt; from Parker | &lt;a href="https://www.rockmnation.com/mizzou-basketball-recruiting/2024/5/1/24142607/where-can-mizzou-hoops-find-a-center"&gt;Where can Mizzou Hoops find a center?&lt;/a&gt; from Sam&lt;/li&gt;
  721. &lt;/ul&gt;
  722. &lt;hr class="p-entry-hr" id="j1ViIs"&gt;
  723. &lt;h1 id="S4Li8n"&gt;More Links:&lt;/h1&gt;
  724. &lt;ul&gt;
  725. &lt;li id="3ZOu2H"&gt;
  726. &lt;em&gt;St. Louis Post-Dispatch:&lt;/em&gt; &lt;a href="https://www.stltoday.com/sports/college/mizzou/join-mizzou-beat-writer-eli-hoff-for-his-live-chat/article_671ccf62-eca4-11ee-b5e6-8348c57164e8.html"&gt;Read Eli’s live subscriber chat&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href="https://www.stltoday.com/sports/college/mizzou/mizzou-admin-expects-athletics-department-to-operate-close-to-black-require-financial-support/article_1f8f04b8-07ba-11ef-9477-e3bdf6c0ddc4.html"&gt;Mizzou admin expects athletics department to operate close to black, require financial support&lt;/a&gt; (Eli Hoff) | &lt;a href="https://www.stltoday.com/sports/college/mizzou/mizzou-adds-young-defensive-lineman-linebacker-out-of-transfer-portal/article_e08c6694-08a3-11ef-adf5-8b91f68c094f.html"&gt;Mizzou adds young defensive lineman, linebacker out of transfer portal&lt;/a&gt; (Hoff) | &lt;strong&gt;IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href="https://www.stltoday.com/sports/college/mizzou/with-transfer-portal-winding-down-how-will-mizzou-mens-hoops-handle-its-center-situation/article_31354134-06fa-11ef-80b4-2b2f5bd88bb2.html"&gt;With transfer portal winding down, how will Mizzou men’s hoops handle its center situation?&lt;/a&gt; (Hoff, 4/30) | &lt;a href="https://www.stltoday.com/sports/column/benjamin-hochman/hochman-five-star-mcdonalds-duke-i-can-be-better-said-mark-mitchell-now-at-mizzou/article_a2816284-065d-11ef-ba6e-1b02d9fc18c3.html"&gt;Hochman: Five-star. McDonald’s. Duke. ‘I can be better,’ said Mark Mitchell, now at Mizzou&lt;/a&gt; (4/30)&lt;/li&gt;
  727. &lt;li id="Hopqs8"&gt;
  728. &lt;em&gt;D1 Softball / The Maneater:  &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href="https://themaneater.com/oh-captain-my-captain-laurin-krings-ascension-to-the-ace-of-missouri-softball/"&gt;“Oh Captain! My Captain!” Laurin Krings’ ascension to the ace of Missouri softball&lt;/a&gt; (Dylan Heinrich)&lt;/li&gt;
  729. &lt;li id="PQcxWe"&gt;Ten Essentials with Mizzou VB’s Kimani Johnson&lt;/li&gt;
  730. &lt;/ul&gt;
  731. &lt;div id="XfTc0l"&gt;
  732. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  733. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;Ten Essentials with Kimani Johnson     &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MIZ?src=hash&amp;amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#MIZ&lt;/a&gt;    &lt;a href="https://t.co/dvLItlfp1o"&gt;pic.twitter.com/dvLItlfp1o&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Mizzou Volleyball (@MizzouVB) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/MizzouVB/status/1786141380357538288?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 2, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  734. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  735. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  736.  
  737. &lt;/div&gt;
  738. &lt;ul&gt;
  739. &lt;li id="Npx0IB"&gt;
  740. &lt;em&gt;KC Star: &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.kansascity.com/sports/college/sec/university-of-missouri/article288205870.html#storylink=mainstage_lead"&gt;Former Missouri Tigers are finding homes as undrafted free agents after NFL Draft&lt;/a&gt; (Maddie Hartley)&lt;/li&gt;
  741. &lt;li id="VJEX0N"&gt;
  742. &lt;em&gt;Columbia Missourian: &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.columbiamissourian.com/sports/mizzou_sports/mizzou-softball-looks-to-build-momentum-in-final-regular-season-series/article_dceb8dda-08c1-11ef-baa2-77860f6735aa.html"&gt;Mizzou softball looks to build momentum in final regular-season series&lt;/a&gt; (Peter Metanchuk) | &lt;a href="https://www.columbiamissourian.com/sports/mizzou_sports/mizzou-baseballs-road-to-hoover-begins-in-columbia/article_2eef097e-08c0-11ef-9eba-134eebfa8364.html"&gt;Mizzou baseball’s road to Hoover begins in Columbia&lt;/a&gt; (Seth Schwartzberg)&lt;/li&gt;
  743. &lt;li id="FTYwfI"&gt;
  744. &lt;em&gt;The Athletic: &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516590&amp;amp;xs=1&amp;amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Ftheathletic.com%2F5465377%2F2024%2F05%2F02%2Fthiccer-kicker-carolina-panthers-harrison-mevis%2F&amp;amp;referrer=sbnation.com&amp;amp;sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rockmnation.com%2F2024%2F5%2F3%2F24147114%2Fdiamond-sports-prepare-for-gamecocks" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank"&gt;A new Carolina Panthers’ fan favorite, Harrison Mevis — the ‘Thiccer Kicker’ has leg to compete&lt;/a&gt; (Joseph Person) | &lt;a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516590&amp;amp;xs=1&amp;amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Ftheathletic.com%2F5459011%2F2024%2F04%2F30%2F49ers-2024-undrafted-free-agent-rankings%2F&amp;amp;referrer=sbnation.com&amp;amp;sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rockmnation.com%2F2024%2F5%2F3%2F24147114%2Fdiamond-sports-prepare-for-gamecocks" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank"&gt;Ranking the 49ers’ undrafted rookies, who are led by hard-charging Cody Schrader&lt;/a&gt; (Matt Barrows)&lt;/li&gt;
  745. &lt;li id="AQcucM"&gt;
  746. &lt;em&gt;KOMU 8:&lt;/em&gt; &lt;a href="https://www.komu.com/sports/video-from-gridiron-to-green-fields-former-mizzou-football-player-tackles-farming-and-politics/video_debfcff4-f21c-5601-8e0b-cf934d04273b.html"&gt;VIDEO: From gridiron to green fields: former Mizzou football player tackles farming and politics&lt;/a&gt; (Chelsi Peters)&lt;/li&gt;
  747. &lt;li id="LYcH2X"&gt;Yahoo! Sports: &lt;a href="https://t.co/Hmv6SwayFQ"&gt;SOURCES: New college athlete compensation model may cost power schools $300M each over 10 years&lt;/a&gt; (Ross Dellenger)&lt;/li&gt;
  748. &lt;/ul&gt;
  749. &lt;div id="YfMADL"&gt;
  750. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  751. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;Per &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/YahooSports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;@YahooSports&lt;/a&gt; sources, new details on a college model that may cost power schools $300M each over 10 yrs:&lt;br&gt;-Scholarship expansion &amp;amp; new roster limits&lt;br&gt;-$17-22M rev-share cap&lt;br&gt;-$2.9B~ damages tab&lt;br&gt;-Deadline: ~40 days&lt;br&gt;-Implementation no sooner than fall 2025&lt;a href="https://t.co/Hmv6SwayFQ"&gt;https://t.co/Hmv6SwayFQ&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/RossDellenger/status/1786192250277683583?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 3, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  752. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  753. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  754.  
  755. &lt;/div&gt;
  756. &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li id="sLOWar"&gt;
  757. &lt;em&gt;PowerMizzou:&lt;/em&gt; &lt;a href="https://missouri.rivals.com/news/four-down-territory-44"&gt;Four Down Territory&lt;/a&gt; (Jarod Hamilton) | &lt;a href="https://missouri.rivals.com/news/an-early-look-at-potential-missouri-2025-nfl-draft-prospects"&gt;An early look at potential Missouri 2025 NFL Draft prospects&lt;/a&gt; (Hamilton) | &lt;a href="https://missouri.rivals.com/news/recapping-aaron-rowe-s-weekend-at-nike-eybl-session-1"&gt;Recapping Aaron Rowe’s weekend at Nike EYBL Session 1&lt;/a&gt; (Drew King)&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;
  758. &lt;div id="pkNdIw"&gt;
  759. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  760. &lt;p lang="qme" dir="ltr"&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/a_rowe_3?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;@a_rowe_3&lt;/a&gt;   ➡️ &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/amarebynumm?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;@amarebynumm&lt;/a&gt;   &lt;a href="https://t.co/qfFyp4hbV0"&gt;pic.twitter.com/qfFyp4hbV0&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— MOKAN Basketball (@MokanBasketball) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/MokanBasketball/status/1784990448395669558?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;April 29, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  761. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  762. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  763.  
  764. &lt;/div&gt;
  765. &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li id="MBw6Vj"&gt;This is fun!&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;
  766. &lt;div id="6UGUuU"&gt;&lt;div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"&gt;&lt;iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Y3Qfx6Woc4Q?rel=0" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" allow="accelerometer; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share;"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  767. &lt;p id="d9xGTI"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  768. &lt;hr class="p-entry-hr" id="8AjA5N"&gt;
  769. &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li id="Ps3snJ"&gt;If you’re looking to sign up for ESPN+, Rock M Nation now has an affiliate link: &lt;a href="http://go.web.plus.espn.com/c/482924/555830/9070?sharedid=RockMNation"&gt;click Here for ESPN+ Now!&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br&gt;(** &lt;em&gt;RockMNation has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence editorial content, though RockMNation may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links.**)&lt;/em&gt;
  770. &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;
  771.  
  772. </content>
  773.    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.rockmnation.com/2024/5/3/24147114/diamond-sports-prepare-for-gamecocks"/>
  774.    <id>https://www.rockmnation.com/2024/5/3/24147114/diamond-sports-prepare-for-gamecocks</id>
  775.    <author>
  776.      <name>Karen Steger</name>
  777.    </author>
  778.  </entry>
  779.  <entry>
  780.    <published>2024-05-02T07:00:00-05:00</published>
  781.    <updated>2024-05-02T07:00:00-05:00</updated>
  782.    <title>Brandon Jones and the Rebuilt Offensive Line</title>
  783.    <content type="html">  
  784.  
  785.    &lt;figure&gt;
  786.      &lt;img alt="NCAA Football: Kentucky at Missouri" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/CdW2yFpGXBCR_E4dU8V4oK3yahM=/0x0:4858x3239/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73322124/usa_today_19366395.0.jpg" /&gt;
  787.        &lt;figcaption&gt;William Purnell-USA TODAY Sports&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  788.    &lt;/figure&gt;
  789.  
  790.  &lt;p&gt;Missouri went from one of the worst offensive lines in 2022 to one of the best in 2023. 2024 projects for another awesome year. What keyed this turnaround? &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p id="3iyWLW"&gt;On April 24th, the 2024 Missouri Tigers football team saw a bump in talent level when SMU all-conference left tackle Marcus Bryant committed to finishing his college career in Columbia. It was the latest domino to fall in an impressive rebuild of an offensive line that only two years ago was one of the worst in the Power Five. The rebuild, driven by transfers and new position coach Brandon Jones, keyed last year’s powerhouse offense on the way to the Cotton Bowl, and has Eli Drinkwitz’s Tigers well situated for success in the coming seasons.&lt;/p&gt;
  791. &lt;p id="LWCNq4"&gt;It is no secret that winning in the SEC is driven by high-level play in the trenches. In the early seasons of the Drinkwitz tenure, the team could play on the perimeter: guys like Akayleb Evans, Ennis Rakestraw, Dominic Lovett, and Martez Manuel. But the rosters were lacking some meat on the bone, and the program was held back by a catastrophic defensive line performance in 2021, and the same on offense in 2022. &lt;/p&gt;
  792. &lt;p id="g625zB"&gt;Things were bleak that season. Winnable games, like at Auburn and at Florida, were lost by razor-thin margins. The running game was stalled by TFLs and the passing attack was grounded by early, frequent, and overwhelming pressure on Brady Cook. Collectively the team ranked 125th in the country in TFLs allowed (101 total), 74th in PFF pass pro grading, and 83rd in run blocking grades. &lt;/p&gt;
  793. &lt;p id="RyKxgQ"&gt;What a difference a year made, as Missouri’s offensive line made arguably the biggest leap in the country. They stayed healthy all year. They finished 35th in pass pro and FOURTH (!) in PFF run blocking grades. They kept Cook upright, and paved the way for Cody Schrader’s marvelous season with teach-tape caliber play on the outside zone run blocking. They were Joe Moore award semifinalists.&lt;/p&gt;
  794. &lt;p id="mCijFf"&gt;And with the addition of Bryant, things might be even better next season. Program stalwarts Javon Foster and Xavier Delgado are off to the NFL, but the team landed Cayden Green and Bryant, two of the most coveted linemen in the portal, to replace them. An influx of blue-chip recruits are arriving on campus to bolster the ranks and battle for future playing time.&lt;/p&gt;
  795. &lt;p id="O96QD2"&gt;So how did we get here? You have to heap praise on the work Brandon Jones did as a teacher, and the work ethic of his pupils to improve. Delgado got markedly better in his sixth year on campus, leaping from a consistent mid-50s grade in PFF to a 70. He transformed from someone who seemed to play because of process of elimination, to a legitimate run-game road grader. Connor Tollison’s snap infractions still linger, but his blocking has improved by leaps and bounds. Armand Membou feasted in the run game, and Cam’Ron Johnson solidified his performance throughout the course of the SEC season. &lt;/p&gt;
  796. &lt;p id="vp9K9o"&gt;So why was a position coach with such a great track record on the open market? His tenure ended at Houston because of his poor track record in recruiting. &lt;a href="https://www.rockmnation.com/2023/4/5/23660922/missouri-hire-brandon-jones-offensive-line-coach-drinkwitz-mizzou-tigers-football"&gt;While those covering the program were happy with his teaching and coaching ability, recruiting was lacking for Dana Holgerson’s program.&lt;/a&gt; With Jones particularly treading water in that aspect and the team moving up to a Power conference, they wanted to bolster recruiting by revamping the offensive staff. Houston’s loss was Missouri’s gain.&lt;/p&gt;
  797. &lt;p id="hUixa1"&gt;Because in Columbia, Jones’ teaching has been married with a head coach who is a nuclear weapon in recruiting. Drinkwitz, backed by a wholly aligned powerhouse NIL program, has put together the best half-decade of talent acquisition in the school’s history. There is no pressure on Jones to identify under-the-radar Group of Five talent; he can work with high-end prospects like Green, Membou, Logan Reichert, and Talan Chandler. Veterans like Bryant and Cam’Ron Johnson on the way to the NFL will sign up to play for a coach with a great track record of developing pros, especially as pass protectors. &lt;/p&gt;
  798. &lt;p id="t4KSoq"&gt;The marriage of Brandon Jones’s teaching and Eli Drinkwitz’s recruiting worked wonders for Missouri’s lightning quick rebuild in 2023. This fall, the Tigers could take even another step forward, as Jones continues to develop his young charges and Drinkwitz continues to land impact players. Missouri fans believe 2024 could be a special season in the SEC, and this offensive line is a key reason why. &lt;/p&gt;
  799.  
  800. </content>
  801.    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.rockmnation.com/2024/5/2/24144871/brandon-jones-eli-drinkwitz-recruiting-transfers-offensive-line"/>
  802.    <id>https://www.rockmnation.com/2024/5/2/24144871/brandon-jones-eli-drinkwitz-recruiting-transfers-offensive-line</id>
  803.    <author>
  804.      <name>Dan Keegan</name>
  805.    </author>
  806.  </entry>
  807. </feed>
  808.  

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