Missouri Tigers pitcher Aaron Crow, left, celebrates with catcher Trevor Coleman after the Tigers' game against Oklahoma State on Friday, April 4, 2008 at Taylor Stadium in Columbia, Mo. The Tigers won 3-0. (AP Photo/Columbia Daily Tribune, Nick King)

April 9, 2008

NEW YORK (AP) - Tim Jamieson has it pretty easy on Friday nights. The Missouri coach sends Aaron Crow out to the mound, then settles into the dugout and watches the zeros pile up on the scoreboard.

"It's about as relaxing as you can possibly imagine it being when you're playing the competition that we're playing," Jamieson said. "Even when he gets into trouble, Aaron just finds another gear."

Runners on base or not, Crow has been stunningly stingy this season for the Tigers. The junior right-hander will take a scoreless streak of 42 2-3 innings into his next start Friday against Texas. For the season, the native of Wakarusa, Kan., is 7-0 with a minuscule 0.69 ERA.

"I've been feeling real good," said Crow, a possible No. 1 overall draft pick in June. "I've had good command of all my pitches and they've been real sharp, too. Everything's been going really well and it seems almost like nothing can go wrong."

Lately, everything has gone right for Crow. He has allowed four runs in 52 innings, but none since allowing three against California on Feb. 29.

Yep, no runs in nearly six weeks.

"I don't know if it's taboo or not, but we're not talking about the streak," Jamieson said with a laugh. "There have been plenty of opportunities for teams to score on him, but he gets that much better when he gets runners in scoring position. He just finds another level. Whether it's increased intensity or increased focus, or both, you see the great ones do that."

The NCAA is uncertain what the Division I record is for consecutive scoreless innings. The record book only has team stats listed in that category, with Arizona State going 64 straight innings without allowing a run in 1972. That same season, Eddie Bane threw 43 scoreless innings in a row for the Sun Devils.

"If you take away the hits and runs from his first two starts, he may have a 0.00 ERA and a batting average against under .100," Jamieson said. "I mean, he's been that dominant."

There have been times throughout the streak Crow has had runners on base and his defense bailed him out - or he has made the perfect pitches to get out of an inning.

"You can't make mistakes, so I think I just focus a little more mentally than I do when there's nobody on," he said. "I think that's helped me. When I look back and see I've done it so well for five starts now, it's been a pretty good run for me."

Crow's development has been steady since coming to Missouri as an undrafted pitcher out of Washburn Rural High School in Topeka, Kan. He went 1-4 as a freshman, not earning his first win until the NCAA regionals against Pepperdine.

"It was pretty frustrating," Crow said. "Even the best games I'd pitch, I still wouldn't get a win. I think in order to be successful, you have to fail at some point. I think I did that and I learned quite a bit from it."

It showed. The 6-foot-3, 195-pound Crow, whose fastball is in the mid- to upper-90s after being in the mid-80s in high school, went 9-4 with 3.59 ERA last season. He then had an outstanding summer in the Cape Cod League, where he was named the top pro prospect after going 3-1 with a 0.67 ERA for Falmouth.

"I've gotten a lot stronger since I was a freshman and I've also cleaned up my mechanics," he said. "I was watching a video from my freshman year a couple weeks ago, and looking at my delivery, I didn't realize how much it has changed. It's a lot smoother now."

And it could all result in Crow becoming the highest-drafted baseball player in Missouri history, surpassing former teammate Max Scherzer who went 11th overall to Arizona in 2006.

"Aaron has been consistent and he's just gotten better and better," Jamieson said. "I can't imagine there being a better pitcher in college baseball than what Aaron has done to this point."

Crow realizes the streak will end one of these days, but hopes to keep the runs to a minimum.

"Yeah, and he won't be happy about it, I can tell you that," Jamieson said, laughing.

"It's going to happen eventually," Crow said, "so I just have to realize that when it does, I have to move on and focus on getting through the inning and putting it behind me."