COLUMBIA, Mo. – University of Missouri baseball embarks on a four-game road swing this week, beginning with a 6 p.m. (CDT) non-conference contest against SIU Edwardsville Tuesday at Roy E. Lee Field in Edwardsville, Ill.
The Tigers (11-20), who will also play a three-game Southeastern Conference road set against Florida this weekend, are looking to stop a three-game slide after dropping each of their league matchups at No. 2 Arkansas over the weekend.
Tuesday’s contest will be produced for streaming by the Tiger Radio Network, available via the Varsity Network app, with Tex Little and Matt Michaels on the call.
PITCHING PROBABLES
• TBA (Mizzou) vs. TBA (SIUE)
SERIES HISTORY
• Missouri holds a 20-6 all-time edge over SIUE in a series that dates back to 1973.
• The Tigers have won 13 of the last 15 matchups in the series since 1986.
• Mizzou claimed the only two previous meetings in Edwardsville, winning a 10-3 decision on April 9, 2019, as well as an 8-3 win on April 26, 2023, at Roy E. Lee Field.
• MU is 92-29 all-time vs. the current membership of the Ohio Valley Conference, including a win over OVC foe Lindenwood earlier this spring.
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 an 11-20 start to the season after sweeping its two-game midweek series with UAPB (April 1-2) last week and dropping all three SEC contests at No. 2 Arkansas over the weekend.
• 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 .436 (34-for-78) with six home runs and 27 RBIs, as well as hits in 17 of his last 20 games, since Feb. 28.
• Sophomore C/1B Mateo Serna has delivered a strong season-opening stretch, logging six home runs and 30 through the first half of the campaign.
• Sophomore OF Kaden Peer reached base safely in 21 consecutive games from Feb. 23-April 2; he leads the Tigers with 10 steals, 25 runs scored and 15 walks.
• Junior DH Gehrig Goldbeck has posted a .447 on-base percentage and five steals while holding down the leadoff spot in the Tigers’ batting order.
• Additionally, newcomers OF Pierre Seals, 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, ranking second on the squad in hitting (.346) through the first half of the season.
• Patterson has burst onto the scene in the last two weeks, hitting .333 with 10 RBIs in Mizzou’s last 10 contests.
• On the mound, junior RHP Brock Lucas returns after going 4-0 with a 3.63 ERA in 18 relief appearances last spring.
• Graduate LHP Ian Lohse is enjoying his best season as a Tiger after registering a team-high 39 strikeouts in just 29.2 innings of work, including a career-best eight punchouts March 21 vs. Ole Miss.
• LHP Kadden Drew and redshirt freshman LHP Wil Libbert have combined for four mound victories and 53.2 innings thus far.
• RHP Ben Smith has logged 11 scoreless outings in 16 appearances to date, while RHPs Kaden Jacobi, Xavier Lovett and PJ Green have provided solid relief work for the Tigers as well.
QUICK HITS
• Mizzou pitching has fanned 265 batters in 257.0 innings this season.
• Mizzou has recorded five 15-hit performances to surpass its 2024 season total of three, as well as 17 double-digit hit totals, in just 28 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 10 steals, the Tigers’ running game has netted 51 steals in 64 attempts this season.
• MU ranks fourth in the SEC with a 1.65 steals-per-game average, which projects the Tigers to steal 91 bases over their 55-game regular-season slate; that total would represent the No. 3 season total in program history, trailing only the 2019 Tigers’ 101 steals and the 2011 club’s 94.
• Mizzou has recorded 19 sacrifice bunts this season, which rates as the second-best total in the SEC and ranks 52nd nationally.
• Led by Brock Daniels’ two triples, the Tigers rank third in the SEC with their eight triples in 2025.
• The Tigers also rank third in the SEC in HBPs with 66 on the season; Peer has been hit a team-leading 12 times this spring and 20 times for his career.
• INF Jackson Lovich has logged team-best totals of 12 multi-hit and nine multi-RBI performances; the junior is hitting a team-best .457 (16-for-35) with runners in scoring position, including 3-of-5 with the bases loaded.
• Over MU’s first 31 games of the season, 22 different players have made their debuts in Black and Gold.
• RHP Ben Smith’s 16 mound appearances lead the SEC and rank 18th among all Division I pitchers.
• 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 10 baserunners in the Tigers’ first 31 games this season.
• RHP James Vaughn’s 13.15 strikeout/9.0 IP rate leads the Tigers, who have averaged 9.28 K’s per game so far this spring.
SCOUTING SIUE
• Under ninth-year head coach Sean Lyons, the Cougars are off to a 12-17 start this season.
• The Cougars enter Tuesday’s game averaging 1.38 home runs per contest, which ranks second in the OVC and 56th nationally.
• INF Mack Mitchell leads the club with 10 home runs, while INF Chase Bloomer has hit nine round-trippers for the Cougars; the duo has combined to drive in 51 runs on the season.
• C Joshua Heyder paces the SIUE offense with a .327 batting mark, while OF Daniel Gierer has hit .322 with a team-best 15 steals.
• SIUE’s pitching staff has logged 9.6 strikeouts per nine innings this spring, a figure that leads the OVC.
• RHP Tyler Davis has been the Cougars most reliable arm out of the bullpen, registering 22 strikeouts and a team-leading three victories and two saves, while permitting just four earned runs over 14.1 innings spanning 11 relief outings.
• RHP Liam McKillop has also been solid for SIUE, striking out 32 hitters in 26.1 IP.
LAST TIME WE MET
• A two-out rally in the seventh inning and a clutch performance from its bullpen proved to be the difference for SIUE in a 5-4 win over the Tigers on April 9, 2024, in Columbia.
• Ethan Willoughby laced a run-scoring single to center to bring home Ryan Niedzwiedz with two out in the seventh.
• Cougars reliever Ian Benner held the Tigers in check over 2 2/2 innings, before Alex Rodriguez worked out of a two-on, nobody-out jam in the ninth to preserve the one-run victory for SIUE.
• Ryan Spence (2-for-5) and Chase Bloomer (3-for-5) combined for five hits and three RBIs in the contest, including back-to-back run-producing hits in SIUE’s three-run fifth inning that followed four shutout innings by Mizzou starter Daniel Wissler.
• Mizzou mounted some two-out momentum of its own in the home half of the sixth, rallying for three runs to even the score. Brock Daniels came through with a two-out single, bringing home Mateo Serna and Matt Garcia to cut the deficit to 4-3. • Moments later, Jackson Beaman lined a single to left to plate Daniels with the tying run.
• Daniels drove in three runs to lead the Mizzou offense, while Beaman added a 2-for-4 night for the Tigers.
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 51 bases in its first 31 games.
• Mizzou is 51-of-64 in stolen base attempts to date, including a streak of at least one steal in 11 consecutive games (Feb. 15-March 2).
• MU’s 51 steals rank fourth in the SEC.
• OF Kaden Peer (10-for-11) and INF/OF Brock Daniels (7-for-9) have led the Tigers’ charge on the basepaths, combining to go 17-of-20 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 1.65 steals-per-game, the Tigers are projected to steal 91 bases this spring, which would rank as the No. 3 season total in program history, trailing only the 2019 Tigers’ 101 steals and the 2011 club’s 94.
• In all, 15 different Tigers have successfully swiped at least one base.
IN THE CLUTCH
• The Tigers have produced an average of 7.1 runs per contest over their first 31 games thanks in large part to a lineup that has received balanced production in the clutch.
• As a team, Missouri is batting .312 (108-for-346) with runners in scoring position, including .347 (17-for-49) with the bases loaded.
• INF Jackson Lovich has been the Tigers top performer in such situations, hitting a blistering .457 (16-for-35) this spring with runners in scoring position and 3-for-5 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 .414 with runners in scoring position.
THROWING SMOKE
• Mizzou’s pitching staff has posted a strong first half in the strikeout department, logging 265 punchouts in 257.0 total innings.
• The Tigers’ 9.28 strikeouts per game average projects to 510 K’s for the regular season, which would be their top season total since 2019, when MU registered a program-record 559 strikeouts.
• Individually, RHP James Vaughn leads the Tigers with his 13.15 K/9.0 IP rate, while seven additional MU hurlers – RHP Victor Christal, RHP Kaden Jacobi, LHP Brady Kehlenbrink, LHP Ian Lohse, RHP Seth McCartney, LHP Tony Neubeck and • RHP Ben Smith – bring rates of 10.0 K’s per game or better into Tuesday’s game.
• LHP Ian Lohse leads the Tigers with a 3.3 K/BB ratio, to go along with his season average of 11.83 K/9.0 IP.
NON-CON DOMINANCE
• Several Mizzou brings an 11-8 non-conference mark into Tuesday’s game, continuing a recent string of success against non-SEC foes.
• The Tigers are also a perfect 4-0 this spring in midweek action.
• Missouri 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.
• Mizzou 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 63-25 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 105 more non-conference games than it has lost (190-85).
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