Baseball Continues Home Stand With Tuesday Contest Against Lindenwood

COLUMBIA, Mo. – University of Missouri baseball continues its nine-game home stand Tuesday (March 5) with a 3 p.m. (CST) nonconference contest against Lindenwood at Taylor Stadium.

The Tigers (5-6) and Lions (5-6) will renew their series for the second consecutive season, with Mizzou sweeping the home-and-home series last spring. MU claimed a 17-2 win in Columbia (Feb. 28) and a 7-5 victory in St. Charles (March 29). Mizzou holds a 4-0 all-time edge in its series with the Lions, including a 3-0 mark at Taylor Stadium.

Tuesday’s contest will be streamed live on SEC Network+. All Mizzou baseball games in 2024 will be produced by the Tiger Radio Network and streamed live through the Varsity Network App (by searching ‘Missouri’) with Tex Little and Matt Michaels once again handling broadcast duties.

PITCHING PROBABLES

• LHP Daniel Wissler (Mizzou) vs. RHP Michael Walsh (Lindenwood)

SERIES HISTORY

• Tuesday’s meeting will be the fifth in the series between Missouri and Lindenwood.
• The Tigers have claimed each of the first four matchups with the Lions, including all three meetings in Columbia.
• Mizzou topped LU by a 17-2 score in the Tigers’ 2023 home opener (Feb. 28), before edging the Lions by a 7-5 margin in St. Charles (March 29).
• The Tigers have scored in double-figures in three of the four contests, averaging 12.8 runs per outing vs. LU.

SCOUTING MISSOURI

• Missouri posted a 30-24 regular-season finish last spring, including a 10-20 SEC mark.
• Kerrick Jackson was named the 15th head coach in Mizzou history in June, returning to Columbia to lead a program for which he served as an assistant coach from 2011-15 under Mizzou Hall of Fame head coach (and current pitching coach) Tim Jamieson.
• The Tigers return three regular starters from last season, led by senior INF/OF Trevor Austin, who batted .311 with eight homers and 10 steals to help bolster the MU offense.
• Senior INF Matt Garcia turned in a solid debut season with the Tigers, providing clutch hitting and lock-down defense on the MU infield.
• Additionally, junior INF Justin Colon returns for Mizzou and earning significant playing time at shortstop over each of his first two seasons in Columbia.
• MU should also receive a lift from sophomore INF Jackson Lovich and junior OF Juju Stevens, who each made key contributions in limited duty in 2023.
• Several newcomers could also make early contributions, including junior INF Danny Corona, who helped Wake Forest to a 2023 College World Series berth, C Jedier Hernandez, a standout behind the plate for Seton Hall the last two seasons, and sophomore OF Jeric Curtis, a Texas Tech transfer who brings significant speed to the Tiger outfield and batting order.
• On the mound, sophomore RHP Logan Lunceford is back to help anchor Mizzou’s weekend rotation after posting 68 strikeouts to lead all SEC freshman hurlers last spring.
• Junior LHP Javyn Pimental also contributed mightily to the Tigers’ mound efforts in 2023, making eight starts for the Tigers.
• Mizzou should also benefit from the potential return of a pair of veterans who missed significant time last spring; left-hander Ian Lohse and RHP Carter Rustad missed significant portions of 2023 due to injury following promising starts to the campaign.
• New arms like RHP Xavier Lovett and RHP Bryce Mayer could compete for starting rotation spots, while RHP Jacob Peaden may give the back end of the Tigers’ bullpen a strong presence.

MIZZOU BY THE NUMBERS

• Missouri is coming off a 30-win campaign last spring, which marked the 20th time the Tigers reached the 30-win plateau in the last 30 seasons, as well as the 35th time overall.
• 1B Jackson Lovich leads the Tigers with four homers and 15 RBIs, the latter of which is tied for eighth among all SEC hitters.
• Lovich has reached base safely via a hit or walk in all 11 contests this season and brings a career-best six-game hit streak into Tuesday’s game.
• OF Tucker Moore brings a five-game hit streak into Tuesday’s game and has reached base safely in nine of his 10 appearances this season.
• INF Justin Colon registered his first four-hit game as a Tiger in Saturday’s win. The junior also posted career bests for runs scored (4) and RBIs (5) in the win.
• 2B Trevor Austin has been hit by an SEC-leading seven pitches so far in 2024. The senior from Jefferson City has been plunked 36 times in his Mizzou career.
• C Jedier Hernandez batted .538 in four games last week, thanks to back-to-back three-hit performances vs. Northern Kentucky (March 2-3).
• RHP Ben Pedersen has logged three consecutive scoreless relief outings in his return from a two-year absence due to injuries. The 6-foot-6 Minnesota native has allowed just one hit over a combined 2 1/3 innings.
• OF Thomas Curry enjoyed a debut to remember at Cal Poly, as the freshman paced all Mizzou hitters with his .444 average, while homering and driving in four runs.
• RHP Carter Rustad notched career victory No. 13 Feb. 16 at Cal Poly, combining with LHP Ryan Magdic and RHP Jacob Peaden on a one-hitter.
• Mizzou has scored 43 runs in its last two contests, which marks its top run total over a two-game stretch since tallying 44 runs vs. Texas in April 2008.
• The Tigers are hitting .275 as a team, with 103 hits in 374 official at-bats.
• Mizzou opponents are batting .275 overall, with 103 hits in 374 official at-bats on the season.
• In their last 11 home games at Taylor Stadium dating back to May 2, 2023, the Tigers have hit .340 as a team, with 33 home runs, while averaging 11.5 runs per contest.
• In Saturday’s 28-10 rout of Northern Kentucky, Mizzou scored 14 times in the first inning, marking its biggest rally since 2005.
• The Tigers’ 28 runs in the victory also represented their top single-game total since a 28-2 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff on March 24, 2010.

SCOUTING LINDENWOOD

• Lindenwood is off to a 5-6 start under first-year head coach PJ Finigan.
• Coming off a 13-42 season in their inaugural Division I campaign last spring, the Lions enter Tuesday’s game riding a four-game win streak after sweeping a pair of two-game sets from Omaha and Bradley at home over the weekend.
• Colin Shea leads LU at the plate, bringing a .355 batting mark and three steals into the week.
• Chase Honeycutt has hit .333 through the first 11 games of the season.
• On the mound, RHP Easton Rakers was named to the NCBWA’s Stopper of the Year preseason watch list and has already logged a pair of victories in relief.

NOW THAT’S A RALLY

• Mizzou utilized a first-inning rally of historic proportions to log its first home victory of 2024 — a 28-10 rout of Northern Kentucky on Saturday.
• The Tigers sent 17 batters to the plate in scoring 14 runs in the opening frame, marking their biggest inning since a 17-run rally vs. Texas Tech on April 1, 2005.
• In that 25-0 win over Texas Tech, current Tiger assistant coach Bryson LeBlanc factored prominently in the Tigers’ key rally, walking twice and scoring twice before grounding out in a second inning that saw 23 MU hitters come to the plate.

HOME COOKIN’

• Mizzou has found the friendly confines of Taylor Stadium much to its liking over a recent offensive surge spanning the last seven home games of the 2023 campaign and its first four home contests of the new season.
• Since May 2 of last year, the Tigers have hit .340 as a team while homering 33 times and averaging 11.5 runs per outing.
• Over the same stretch, Mizzou has scored in double-digits seven times and registered at least 10 hits eight different times in going 7-4 at Taylor.

LOVIN’ LOVICH

• 1B Jackson Lovich will bring a career-best six-game hit streak into Tuesday’s game.
• The sophomore from Overland Park, Kan., is hitting .360 (9-for-25) with three of his four home runs on the season and 11 RBIs during the same stretch.
• Lovich has slugged a team-best .674 for the season and has reached base safely via a hit or walk in all 11 contests in 2024.
• He also leads the Tigers in multi-hit (5) and multi-RBI (5) games and ranks eighth in the SEC in RBIs (15).

FRESH LOOK

• Mizzou has received contributions from up and down its roster, but the Tigers’ talented crop of freshmen have been perhaps the most consistent performers.
• MU’s four primary freshman position players —SS Drew Culbertson, OF Thomas Curry, OF Tucker Moore and OF Kaden Peer — rank among the Tigers’ top nine overall batters to date.
• The quartet has combined to hit .281 (38-for-135) with four homers and six stolen bases (in six attempts) through 11 games.
• Culbertson has logged three multi-hit outings to date, hitting .262 overall while starting every game at shortstop.
• Moore has assumed the leadoff spot in the MU batting order, recording four multi-hit performances and reaching base safely in nine of his 10 games. He has also been hot at Taylor Stadium, hitting .333 on the Tigers’ current home stand.
• Curry has hit a pair of homers and notched three multi-RBI efforts, including Saturday’s win in which he drove in four runs.
• Peer has heated up as well, hitting .333 in his last five games dating back to Feb. 24. Over MU’s last two games, the Chesterfield, Mo., product has scored three runs and driven in four.
• The Tigers have gotten a lift from a pair of freshman hurlers as well, with RHP Josh McDevitt and RHP Charlie Miller combining for nine strikeouts while allowing just seven hits over their 6 1/3 total innings.

TIGERS ON THE TUBE

• Missouri is slated to appear in eight linear broadcasts on the ESPN family of networks over the course of the 2024 season.
• Mizzou’s SEC matchups and select non-conference games will stream on SEC Network+.
• Tuesday’s matchup will be streamed live on SEC Network+.

TICKETS
Mizzou baseball 2024 season and single-game tickets are on sale now. Fans can purchase tickets by calling the ticket office at 1-800-CAT-PAWS or by visiting MUTigers.com/Tickets.

FOLLOW THE TIGERS
For all the latest information on Mizzou baseball, please visit MUTigers.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow the Tigers on X, Instagram and Facebook.

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