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Weather: Scattered Clouds, 91° F



Missouri flamethrower Crow rockets to Big 12 dominance

10:49 PM CDT on Thursday, April 10, 2008


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Missouri right-hander Aaron Crow has torn through Baylor, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State en route to a 7-0 record. Which brings up a natural question:

Who compares to Crow among the most dominant pitchers in Big 12 history?

"Roger Clemens," Tech coach Larry Hays blurted out. "Well, that was before our league, wasn't it? I'm showing my age there."

That's a serious compliment for a pitcher who could be the No. 1 pick in the amateur draft this summer. Crow heads into today's start against Texas having thrown 42 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings.

Crow's ERA is a microscopic 0.69. It's the best in the nation among pitchers with at least 40 innings pitched.

Texas coach Augie Garrido said most coaches would treat an outing against Crow like it was just another game. "But we realize it's not going to be like another game," he said.

"You're going to take a two-strike approach right from the get-go and shorten up your swing, because he can put the ball over the plate," Garrido said.

NCAA statisticians can't say for sure if Crow's scoreless streak is a Division I record.

The NCAA doesn't keep individual scoreless streaks, only team marks. We know Arizona State's Eddie Bane threw 43 scoreless innings in 1972. It's hard to imagine anyone climbing into the 50-inning range in the aluminum bat era.

"When you're throwing 92-95 [mph] and 89 with a slider, he's a pretty tough guy to hit," Missouri coach Tim Jamieson said. "He's not going to let you beat him."

The Tigers (23-8, 5-4 Big 12) are ranked eighth in the latest Baseball America poll while the Longhorns (22-10, 7-5) are ranked 12th. Junior Austin Wood (2-2, 4.46 ERA) will start for Texas against Crow.

Texas alters rotation: Garrido said he will retool the Longhorns' weekend pitching rotation and go with four freshmen – Cole Green, Stayton Thomas, Chance Ruffin and Brandon Workman.

Veterans Kenn Kasparek (1-2, 5.57) and Riley Boening (2-0, 5.06) are both coming off injuries and haven't returned to their 2006 form, Garrido said. They are expected to pitch more mid-week games as a rehabilitation assignment.

Aggies' assistants key offense: Texas A&M assistants Matt Deggs and Jeremy Talbot split the Aggies' offensive coaching duties. Deggs handles base running and in-game strategy, while Talbot works with the players' swing techniques, head coach Rob Childress said.

That two-headed approach is working like gangbusters as the Aggies (27-6, 9-3) are in second place. A&M is hitting a Big 12-leading .325, which ranks 32nd nationally. Dane Carter (.455) and Jose Duran (.384) are both among the league's top three hitters.

Briefly: Sam Houston State's Todd Sebek, who transferred from Texas A&M, is tied for seventh among Division I hitters with 15 doubles. ... With Tyler Lockwood leading the way, TCU has a sparkling 3.32 ERA. ... Saturday's Texas Tech-Kansas game will be broadcast at noon on FSNSW.

EATING CROW
Missouri's Aaron Crow has not allowed a run since Feb. 29.
Date Opp. IP H R ER SO W-L
Feb. 22 Connecticut 5.0 6 1 1 7 W
Feb. 29 California 5.0 8 3 3 10 W
Mar. 8 Indiana State 7.0 2 0 0 9 W
Mar. 14 Toledo 9.0 7 0 0 15 W
Mar. 21 Baylor 9.0 3 0 0 10 W
Mar. 29 Texas Tech 8.0 2 0 0 9 W
Apr. 4 Oklahoma State 9.0 8 0 0 7 W
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