Columbia News

The Missouri Tigers baseball team is set to play its final Southeastern Conference road series of the season against Texas A&M in College Station. The three-game matchup will take place at Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park, with games scheduled for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Missouri enters the series with a 13-35 overall record and has yet to win an SEC game this season. Texas A&M holds a 27-20 record and is 10-14 in conference play. The Aggies lead the all-time series against Missouri, holding a 55-39-2 advantage since their first meeting in 1966.

Friday's opener will feature left-handed pitcher Brady Kehlenbrink for Missouri facing off against Texas A&M’s Ryan Prager. Saturday’s probable starters are right-hander Sam Horn for Missouri and left-hander Justin Lamkin for Texas A&M. Sunday's game will see left-hander Wil Libbert start for the Tigers opposite Myles Patton of the Aggies.

All three games will be available via live stream on SEC Network+, with Will Johnson and Boomer White providing commentary. Local radio coverage will be produced by Tiger Radio Network on KTGR AM/FM and streamed through the Varsity Network app, featuring Tex Little and Matt Michaels.

Missouri comes into this weekend after losing its last non-conference game to Kansas. Head coach Kerrick Jackson, now in his second year leading the program, was named head coach in June 2023 after previously serving as an assistant from 2011 to 2015 under current pitching coach Tim Jamieson.

The Tigers’ offense has seen contributions from returning players like junior infielder Jackson Lovich, who is hitting .375 with eight home runs and 36 RBIs over his last 36 games. Sophomore outfielder Kaden Peer leads Missouri with 12 stolen bases while contributing five home runs and reaching base safely in a streak of 21 consecutive games earlier this season. Several newcomers have also made an impact offensively, including Cayden Nicoletto (.283 average, six homers), Chris Patterson (team-best eight doubles), Pierre Seals (.338 average over his last 22 games), among others.

On the mound, senior right-hander Kaden Jacobi has recorded 45 strikeouts over 42 innings pitched this season. Graduate student Ian Lohse has posted his best numbers as a Tiger with 41 strikeouts in just over 32 innings of work. Ben Smith leads the team with appearances on the mound (21) and has delivered scoreless outings in more than half those appearances.

Missouri’s pitching staff has struck out more than one batter per inning on average this year—393 strikeouts over 390.1 innings—continuing a long-standing trend for the program that has topped at least 300 strikeouts in all but one of the past thirty seasons.

The Tigers have been active on base paths as well, stealing bases at a rate that ranks sixth among SEC teams; they are projected to finish near their top ten single-season totals if they maintain their pace through remaining games.

Attendance figures at Taylor Stadium continue to show strong support for Mizzou baseball fans: This spring’s average attendance stands at nearly fourteen hundred per game—ranking third-best all-time—with several crowds exceeding one thousand spectators per contest during home dates so far this year.

Texas A&M is led by first-year head coach Michael Earley and enters Friday’s contest batting .273 as a team while averaging about seven-and-a-half runs per game. Sophomore outfielder Caden Sorrell leads their offense with a .346 batting mark and ten home runs despite playing only twenty-two games due to injury or other factors; Jace LaViolette adds power with fifteen homers and fifty-three RBIs alongside forty-seven walks drawn this season.

On the pitching side, Aggie starter Ryan Prager brings a sub-four ERA into Friday night’s opener while Justin Lamkin leads their staff in strikeouts (75). Myles Patton rounds out their starting rotation; Weston Moss (six wins) anchors relief efforts along with Brad Rudis out of the bullpen.

When these two teams last met in April of last year at College Station, Missouri took one victory from Texas A&M behind Luke Mann's career-high seven RBIs—including two home runs—in what became Mizzou's first SEC road win of that campaign.

Looking ahead to individual milestones: Outfielder Pierre Seals recently notched his hundredth career hit; both Cameron Benson and Jackson Lovich have reached similar marks earlier this spring. On defense behind the plate, catchers Jedier Hernandez and Mateo Serna have combined to throw out sixteen baserunners already—surpassing last year's total—and Serna currently sits second on the team both in home runs (seven) and RBIs (thirty-one).

Missouri ranks among conference leaders not only in steals but also sacrifice bunts (second-best total) as well as hit-by-pitches—a statistic where Kaden Peer stands out individually having been hit seventeen times so far this spring.