COLUMBIA, Mo. – University of Missouri baseball looks to continue its offensive resurgence this weekend when it hosts Evansville for a four-game, non-conference series at Taylor Stadium.
The Tigers (4-4), who have scored a combined 29 runs on 31 hits in their last two contests, will be looking for their third-straight victory in Friday’s series opener. The first three games of the series will be streamed live on SEC Network+. Additionally, all Mizzou baseball contests in 2025 will be produced by the Tiger Radio Network for audio streaming via the Varsity Network app (by searching ‘Missouri’), with Tex Little and Matt Michaels handling broadcast duties.
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Mizzou baseball single-game and 2025 season tickets are on sale now. Fans can purchase season tickets by calling the ticket office at 1-800-CAT-PAWS or by visiting MUTigers.com.
PROMOTIONS
- Saturday, March 1 – Mizzou Water Bottle Giveaway (first 200 fans)
- Saturday, March 1 – National Employee Appreciation Day ($4 tickets)
PITCHING PROBABLES
- Game 1 – Friday, Feb. 28 (5 p.m.) – LHP Ian Lohse (Mizzou) vs. LHP Kenton Deverman (Evansville)
- Game 2 – Saturday, March 1 (1 p.m.) – LHP Wil Libbert (Mizzou) vs. RHP Owen Byberg (Evansville)
- Game 3 – Saturday, March 1 (TBD) – TBD (Mizzou) vs. RHP RJ James (Evansville)
- Game 4 – Sunday, March 2 (1 p.m.) – TBD (Mizzou) vs. LHP Kevin Reed (Evansville)
SERIES HISTORY
- Missouri brings a 2-1 series edge against Evansville into Friday’s game.
- The Tigers are 1-1 vs. the Purple Aces in Columbia, splitting a two-game set in March 1986.
- Mizzou also claimed an 8-5 decision over the Aces on a neutral field in Lakeland, Fla., in the two clubs’ first-ever meeting in 1981.
- MU also holds a 120-75-1 overall mark versus the current membership of the Missouri Valley Conference.
SCOUTING MISSOURI
- Missouri is coming off a 23-32 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 went 3-4 on their season-opening road trip to Puerto Rico and Florida; the Tigers went 1-2 at the Puerto Rico Challenge, taking a victory from 2024 NCAA Super Regional qualifier UConn; MU also dropped a midweek contest at UCF, then took two of their three games at the Andre Dawson Classic last weekend in Vero Beach, Fla.
- 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).
- Senior C Jedier Hernandez is back as well, following a solid debut season with the Tigers last spring, providing clutch hitting and lock-down defense.
- Junior INF/OF Brock Daniels turned in a breakthrough year in 2024, registering a .296 batting mark, four home runs and 11 stolen bases.
- Sophomore C/1B Mateo Serna has delivered a strong season-opening stretch, bringing a team-leading .333 average with a home run and six RBIs into Tuesday’s game.
- Sophomore OF Kaden Peer, who started 36 games in the Mizzou outfield as a freshman last spring, will be looking for a breakout season as well; he drove in 20 runs in 2024 and already has posted a pair of multi-hit and multi-RBI efforts in 2025.
- Additionally, newcomers OF Pierre Seals, OF Cameron Benson, OF Brady Picarelli and INF Blake Simpson have made an immediate impact on the Tigers’ offensive fortunes; Picarelli, in particular, has been red-hot at the plate, with hits in each of his last seven plate appearances (Feb. 23-25).
- On the mound, junior RHP Brock Lucas returns after going 4-0 with a 3.63 ERA in 18 relief appearances last spring; junior LHP Daniel Wissler (3-1, 4.38 ERA), graduate LHP Ian Lohse (31 K’s in 29.1 IP), LHP Kadden Drew (DNP in 2024 due to injury) and redshirt freshman LHP Wil Libbert have each drawn starting assignments over the first two weeks of the season.
- RHP Ben Smith has logged three scoreless outings in four appearances over MU’s first eight games, while graduate RHPs Xavier Lovett and James Vaughn have provided solid relief work for the Tigers as well.
- As a staff, the Tigers recorded 459 strikeouts as a staff last spring, good for 10th on the program’s all-time single-season chart.
- Mizzou pitching has fanned 74 batters in 68.0 innings this season, including a total of 42 K’s over its last four contests.
MIZZOU BY THE NUMBERS
- Missouri has totaled 31 hits over its last two games, marking the Tigers’ top two-game total since April 28-May 1, 2019.
- In 29 home dates at Taylor Stadium last season, the Tigers batted .285 as a club, which was 32 points higher than their overall season mark (.253).
- Led by INF Brock Daniels’ .348 home batting mark, Mizzou averaged 7.8 runs per game at Taylor in 2024.
- In Missouri’s first eight games of the 2025 season, 21 different players have made their debuts in Black and Gold.
- OF Kaden Peer started the new season on a tear at the plate, logging a pair of multi-hit and multi-RBI games.
- Mizzou’s catching combination of Jedier Hernandez and Mateo Serna combined to throw out 15 would-be base-stealers last spring and the duo has already teamed up to nail six baserunners (.400) in the Tigers’ first eight games this season.
- Serna, who reached base safely via a hit, walk or hit-by-pitch in 13 consecutive starts last spring, has reached safely in seven straight games, hitting .345 (10-for-29) over the same stretch.
- Rookie OF Brady Picarelli’s has turned in a hot streak matched by few Tigers, let alone fellow freshmen; he went 2-for-2 with his first collegiate homer in Sunday’s win over Southern, then posted a 5-for-5 performance with two more round trippers and six total RBIs in Tuesday’s victory to bring a string of seven straight hits into Friday’s contest.
- Led by 3B Jackson Lovich’s four triples in 2024, the Tigers tied for third in the SEC in three-base hits with 11, marking the third-straight season MU has finished with a double-digit total for triples.
- Lovich shares the team lead for career home runs (at the Division I level) with OF Cameron Benson with 12; Benson currently owns a five-game hit streak and has reached base safely in seven straight contests.
- LHP Ian Lohse recorded nine scoreless outings last season, including four-straight shutout appearances (April 9-26); he recorded his 100th career strikeout in his final start of 2024 vs. Auburn (May 11).
- In Sunday’s victory over Southern, a total of six MU freshman combined to record four hits, four runs scored and eight RBIs, led by Brady Picarelli’s 2-for-2 effort that included a pinch-hit, two-run homer.
- RHP Brock Lucas turned in a 4-0 ledger last spring to hike his career mound record to 7-1.
- The Tigers went 11-8 in one-run contests last spring, including an 8-4 mark in SEC play; MU also excelled in extra frames, going 4-2 in such affairs.
- Mizzou batted .294 (188-for-640) as a team with two outs in 2024, logging 127 of its 284 RBIs on the year after the second out in an inning had been recorded.
SCOUTING EVANSVILLE
- Evansville, a 2024 NCAA Regional champion, brings a 1-6 season mark into Friday’s series opener.
- Under the direction of 17th-year head coach Wes Carroll, the Purple Aces dropped four straight games to Little Rock (Feb. 14-16) to open the season, before splitting with USI (Feb. 23) and suffering a midweek setback to SEC foe Kentucky on Tuesday.
- As a team, Evansville is hitting .220, led by senior OF Ty Rumsey’s .393 batting average and five steals.
- Senior OF Harrison Taubert leads the Purple Aces in slugging (.474) and RBIs (7).
- On the mound, UE has registered an 8.54 ERA through its first seven games; sophomore RHP Kellen Roberts has posted four strong relief outings, allowing just one unearned run over 5.0 total innings.
- Sophomore LHP Kevin Reed has gone 1-1 with a 3.37 ERA and team-leading 13 K’s over 10.2 innings spanning his first two starts of the season.
OFF AND RUNNING
- Through its first eight games of the new season, Mizzou is 21-of-23 in stolen base attempts.
- Mizzou’s 21 steals rank second in the SEC, trailing only Florida’s 26.
- INF Brock Daniels leads the Tigers’ charge on the basepaths, swiping four bags in four attempts so far this season; Daniels was 11-of-14 in stolen base tries last spring.
- In Tuesday’s 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.
- For the season, Mizzou ranked seventh in the SEC with 60 steals (in 79 attempts) last spring.
HERE’S BRADY
- Freshman OF Brady Picarelli introduced himself to the home crowd at Taylor Stadium in grand fashion Tuesday (Feb. 25), with a 5-for-5 performance that included a pair of home runs and six RBIs in his first home game in Black and Gold.
- Picarelli became the first Tiger to record five hits in a game since Brett Bond in 2018; he also ran his streak of consecutive plate appearances with a hit to seven in a row (Feb. 23-25), with five of those going for extra bases.
- The Eureka, Mo., product’s hot streak at the plate has included several notable feats, rarely achieved by MU freshmen:
- First Tiger freshman with a five-hit game since Jacob Priday, 20 years to the day (Feb. 25, 2005 vs. Navy).
- First Tiger freshman to hit two home runs in a game since Trevor Coleman in 2007 (May 6 at Texas).
- First Tiger freshman with a six-RBI game since Eric Garcia in 2010 (March 30 vs. Purdue).
- In all, Picarelli has batted .875 (7-for-8) with three homers and 10 RBIs in just three games as a Tiger.
- He leads the team in doubles (2), home runs, RBIs, and total bases (18).
FRESH LOOK
- Mizzou’s talented freshman class has wasted little time in putting its collective talents on display in 2025.
- In addition to Brady Picarelli’s fast start, freshmen INF Trey Lawrence has started six games on the MU infield, logging five hits to date.
- INF Tyler Macon and C Trey Callaway turned in key performances off the Mizzou bench, combining to go 3-for-3 with a home run and four RBIs in the Tigers’ last two victories.
- On the mound, LHP Wil Libbert and RHP Victor Christal have made midweek starts for the Tigers, while RHP PJ Green and LHP Brady Kehlenbrink earned thee combined relief appearances on MU’s season-opening road trip.
- In Tuesday’s victory vs. Lindenwood, Mizzou freshmen (Picarelli, Macon and INF Chris Patterson combined to hit .700 (7-for-10) with three home runs, eight RBIs and six runs scored.
- For the season, Mizzou Picarelli, Macon and Callaway have combined to bat .625 (5-for-8) as pinch hitters.
NON-CON DOMINANCE
- Mizzou concluded the 2024 season with a 14-11 record against non-conference opponents.
- The Tigers clinched a winning non-conference season slate for the 10th time in the last 11 seasons; only MU’s 2021 squad (7-14) failed to reach the .500 mark vs. non-SEC foes over that span.
- MU logged a 20-3 mark against non-SEC foes in 2023, after going 18-3 in non-league games in 2022.
- MU has an overall mark of 56-21 in non-SEC competition since the start of the 2022 season.
- Over the last decade, the Tigers’ dominance has been equally impressive, with MU winning 102 more non-conference games than it has lost (183-81).
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