Baseball Continues Road Swing with SEC Series Against No. 16 Alabama

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – University of Missouri baseball makes its first voyage to Tuscaloosa in four years this weekend, as the Tigers square off against No. 16 Alabama Thursday evening at Sewell-Thomas Stadium to open a three-game Southeastern Conference series.

Alabama has won seven-straight games against Mizzou dating back to 2018 and holds a 12-7 overall series edge.

Thursday’s contest will be televised live by SEC Network with Derek Jones and Todd Walker handling broadcast duties. Games 2 and 3 of the series will be streamed live on SEC Network+. The series will also be produced by the Tiger Radio Network for local broadcast on KTGR AM/FM and streamed via the Varsity Network app (by searching ‘Missouri’), with Tex Little and Matt Michaels on the call.

PITCHING PROBABLES

• Game 1 – Thursday, April 24 (7 p.m.) – LHP Brady Kehlenbrink (Mizzou) vs. RHP Tyler Fay (Alabama)
• Game 2 – Friday, April 25 (6 p.m.) – TBD (Mizzou) vs. RHP Riley Quick (Alabama)
• Game 3 – Saturday, April 26 (1 p.m.) – TBD (Mizzou) vs. LHP Zane Adams (Alabama)

SERIES HISTORY

• Missouri and Alabama will meet for the 20th time in Thursday’s series opener.
• UA holds a 12-7 edge in the series and has won seven straight and eight of the last nine meetings with the Tigers since 2018.
• Alabama swept a three-game series from Mizzou in the two clubs’ last matchup in Tuscaloosa, April 30-May 2, 2021.
• The Crimson Tide also claimed all three meetings in the most-recent series between the two teams in Columbia, April 21-23, 2023.
• Alabama limited the Tigers to an average of 3.3 runs per game over the course of its seven-game series win streak.

SCOUTING MISSOURI

• Missouri is coming off a 23-32 campaign last spring in head coach Kerrick Jackson‘s first season at the helm.
• Jackson, who earned his 100th career coaching victory February 15 vs. UConn, was named the 15th head coach in Mizzou history in June 2023, 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.
• Mizzou is off to a 13-27 start to the season after dropping a Tuesday evening non-conference meeting with Missouri State in Springfield.
• The Tigers return four position starters from last season, led by junior 3B Jackson Lovich, who batted .287 with 10 homers and 35 RBIs, while ranking second in the SEC in triples (4); the Overland Park, Kan., native has been red-hot at the plate, hitting .408 (40-for-98) with seven home runs and 34 RBIs, as well as hits in 21 of his last 28 games, since Feb. 28.
• Sophomore OF Kaden Peer reached base safely in 21 consecutive games from Feb. 23-April 2; he leads the Tigers with 11 steals, while logging four home runs, 25 RBIs and 26 runs scored.
• Additionally, newcomers OF Pierre Seals, DH Gehrig Goldbeck, OF Cameron Benson, INF Peyton Basler, INF Keegan Knutson, OF Tyler Macon, 3B Chris Patterson, OF Brady Picarelli and 1B/OF Cayden Nicoletto have made an immediate impact on the Tigers’ offensive fortunes.
• Nicoletto, in particular, has been pivotal for MU, hitting .303 with five homers and 19 RBIs through the first 40 games of the season.
• Patterson has burst onto the scene in the last three weeks, driving in 14 runs in his last 16 contests since March 29.
• Seals has been red-hot over the same stretch, batting a team-leading .370 while slugging .587 with three home runs in his last 15 contests.
• On the mound, senior RHP Kaden Jacobi has recorded a team-leading 40 punchouts in 38.1 innings as one of the Tigers’ weekend starters.
• Graduate LHP Ian Lohse is enjoying his best season as a Tiger after registering 39 strikeouts in just 29.2 innings of work, including a career-best eight strikeouts March 21 vs. Ole Miss.
• LHP Kadden Drew and redshirt freshman LHP Wil Libbert have combined for five mound victories and 62 strikeouts over their 68.2 total innings thus far.
• RHP Ben Smith has logged 11 scoreless outings in a team-high 18 appearances, while RHPs Xavier Lovett and P.J. Green have combined for all three of the Tigers’ saves this spring.

QUICK HITS

• Missouri pitching has fanned 322 batters in 324.1 innings this season, marking the 29th time in the last 30 years the Tigers have topped the 300-K plateau in a season.
• Mizzou has recorded five 15-hit performances to surpass its 2024 season total of three, as well as 20 double-digit hit totals, in just 40 contests this spring.
• 1B/OF Cayden Nicoletto has logged a pair of four-hit performances at Taylor Stadium, first doing so March 2 vs. Evansville, before repeating the feat March 8 vs. Binghamton; the senior transfer also has a trio of three-hit games to his credit.
• Led by OF Kaden Peer with 11 steals, the Tigers’ running game has netted 59 steals in 78 attempts.
• MU ranks fourth in the SEC with a 1.48 steals-per-game average, which projects the Tigers to steal 82 bases over their 55-game regular-season slate; that total would represent the No. 5 season total in program history, trailing only the 2019 Tigers’ 101 steals, the 2011 club’s 94 and matching 83-steal campaigns in 2001 and 1979.
• Mizzou has recorded 21 sacrifice bunts this season, which rates as the second-best total in the SEC and ranks 76th nationally.
• Led by Jackson Lovich and Brock Daniels’ two triples, the Tigers rank second in the SEC with their 12 triples.
• The Tigers also rank third in the SEC and 30th nationally in HBPs with 77 on the season; Peer has been hit a team-leading 16 times this spring and 24 times for his career.
• Lovich has logged team-best totals of 13 multi-hit and 11 multi-RBI performances; the junior is hitting a team-best .452 (19-for-42) with runners in scoring position, including 4-of-7 with the bases loaded.
• RHP Ben Smith’s 18 mound appearances are tied for fourth in the SEC.
• Mizzou’s catching combination of Jedier Hernandez and Mateo Serna has already teamed up to nail 15 baserunners this season, matching their 2024 season total.

SCOUTING ALABAMA

• Under second-year head coach Rob Vaughn, the Crimson Tide is off to a 32-10 start, with a No. 16 ranking in this week’s NCBWA poll.
• Alabama features one of the top offenses in the SEC, hitting .288 as a team and averaging 7.9 runs per contest.
• Leading the charge has been OF Kade Snell, who brings a .370 batting mark into Thursday’s game.
• INF Justin Lebron ranks 17th nationally with his 15 home runs, while his 60 RBis lead the SEC and rate third among all Division I hitters.
• OF Richie Bonomolo Jr. leads the Tide in steals with 14, good for fourth overall in the SEC; he has six home runs and 37 RBIs to his credit as well.
• On the mound, Alabama utilizes a deep staff that has posted a 4.75 ERA with 385 strikeouts in 364.0 innings to date.
• RHP Carson Ozmer anchors the Alabama relief corps with a league-leading 15 saves, a 3-0 record and 1.33 ERA in 21 appearances – also tops in the SEC.
• RHP Braylon Myers has been solid out of the Tide bullpen as well with a 2.54 ERA and .175 batting average against in his 15 relief appearances.
• The Alabama rotation is led by RHP Riley Quick with his 5-2 record and 3.86 ERA, while LHP Zane Adams has registered a team-best 41 K’s to date.

LAST TIME WE MET

• Despite 5 1/3 hitless innings from Logan Lunceford, Missouri baseball dropped its third straight SEC decision to Alabama by a 3-2 score at Taylor Stadium on April 24, 2023.
• The Crimson Tide scored a pair of seventh-inning runs to snap a 1-1 tie, then rode 3.0 shutout innings of relief by Alton Davis II to a 3-2 victory over the Tigers.
• In just his second career SEC start, Lunceford was dominant throughout the first five innings, striking out seven Tide hitters to take a no-hitter into the sixth.
• But Alabama struck for three runs in the sixth and seventh frames, thanks largely to two of the Tide’s nine home runs in the three-game series. With one-out in the sixth, UA’s Tommy Seidl belted a 1-0 pitch deep to left for a solo shot and the game’s first run.
• After Mizzou tied it up in the bottom of the sixth, Andrew Pinckney delivered the go-ahead blast with his eighth homer of the year to spark what would prove to be the game’s decisive two-run rally.

HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT

• Mizzou enters the weekend with 77 hit-by-pitches as a team, a total that ranks third in the SEC and 30th nationally.
• OF Kaden Peer has been plunked a team-high 16 times this spring, good for the top average (0.46) of HBPs in the SEC and the 30th-best figure in the nation.
• Peer has been hit 24 times in 74 career contests, which leads all active Mizzou players.
• A total of 13 Mizzou players have been hit by a pitch this season, including four who have drawn at least eight free passes by being struck by a pitch — Peer, Peyton Basler (9), Gehrig Goldbeck (9) and Mateo Serna (8).

HORN O’ PLENTY

• Tuesday’s setback at Missouri State included an impressive 2025 debut for RHP Sam Horn, who turned in a scoreless opening inning in his first mound appearance for the Tigers since February 25, 2023
• The right-handed dual-sport standout allowed a leadoff single to start the game, before recording a strikeout and inducing an inning-ending, double-play lineout to third to cap an eight-pitch outing.
• Horn’s appearance was his first for the Tigers in a span of 788 days since February 25, 2023.

OFF AND RUNNING

• Missouri has bolted from the starting gate offensively, thanks at least in part to a consistent running game that has resulted in the Tigers swiping 59 bases in its first 40 games.
• Mizzou is 59-of-78 in stolen base attempts to date, including a streak of at least one steal in 11 consecutive games (Feb. 15-March 2).
• Mizzou’s 59 steals rank fifth in the SEC.
• OF Kaden Peer (11-for-12) and INF/OF Brock Daniels (7-for-9) have led the Tigers’ charge on the basepaths, combining to go 18-of-21 in steal attempts this season.
• In their Feb. 25 victory over Lindenwood, the Tigers went 6-for-6 in steal attempts, logging their first six-steal performance since Feb. 19, 2022 vs. Nicholls.
• In the Tigers’ 23 wins last season, MU baserunners were successful on 33-of-41 steal attempts.
• With their average of 1.48 steals-per-game, the Tigers are projected to steal 82 bases this spring, which would rank as the No. 5 total in program history.
• In all, 15 different Tigers have successfully swiped at least one base this season.

IN THE CLUTCH

• The Tigers have produced an average of 6.4 runs per contest over their first 40 games thanks in large part to a lineup that has received balanced production in the clutch.
• As a team, Missouri is batting .292 (123-for-421) with runners in scoring position, including .333 (19-for-57) with the bases loaded.
• INF Jackson Lovich has been the Tigers top performer in such situations, hitting .452 (19-for-42) this spring with runners in scoring position and 4-for-7 with the bases full.
• Lovich has also been Mizzou’s top two-out hitter, recording a team-best 14 two-out RBIs.
• INF Peyton Basler has logged four hits with the bases loaded, and INF Cayden Nicoletto has hit .351 with runners in scoring position.
• OF Brady Picarelli has been the Tigers’ top hitter with runners aboard, batting .455 (10-for-22) in such situations.

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