Columbia News

The University of Missouri baseball team will participate in the 2025 SEC Baseball Tournament as the No. 16 seed, beginning play on Tuesday, May 20, against No. 9 Alabama at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Hoover, Alabama.

Missouri previously lost all three games to Alabama during their regular-season matchup in April and has not beaten the Crimson Tide since 2018, with Alabama currently holding a 10-game winning streak over the Tigers. This appearance marks Missouri’s eighth time competing in the SEC Tournament since joining the conference in 2013.

Broadcast coverage for each tournament game will be available on SEC Network. Additionally, fans can listen locally on KTGR AM/FM or stream via the Varsity Network app, with Tex Little and Matt Michaels providing commentary.

The scheduled pitching matchup for Tuesday's opener features Missouri’s right-hander Sam Horn facing off against Alabama’s right-hander Tyler Fay.

Missouri enters this tournament after completing a season with a 16-38 overall record and a 3-27 mark within the SEC under head coach Kerrick Jackson, who is now in his second year. Jackson achieved his 100th career coaching win earlier this season against UConn.

Junior infielder Jackson Lovich leads Missouri offensively, posting a .354 batting average along with career highs of 12 home runs and 51 RBIs entering postseason play. Outfielder Kaden Peer has contributed both offensively and on basepaths, leading the team with 12 stolen bases and reaching base safely in 21 consecutive games earlier this year.

Several newcomers have impacted Missouri's lineup this season, including Pierre Seals, Gehrig Goldbeck, Cameron Benson, Peyton Basler, Keegan Knutson, Tyler Macon, Chris Patterson, Brady Picarelli and Cayden Nicoletto. Nicoletto has maintained a .269 batting average with six home runs and 24 RBIs.

On the mound for Missouri, senior right-hander Kaden Jacobi recorded 51 strikeouts over 46.2 innings. Graduate left-hander Ian Lohse posted his best season as a Tiger with 42 strikeouts across just over 33 innings pitched. Redshirt freshman lefty Wil Libberth has made notable contributions with a .259 opponent batting average across his appearances.

As a team this spring, Missouri pitchers have struck out more than one batter per inning on average (450 strikeouts in 440.1 innings), marking their twenty-first season exceeding the 400-strikeout threshold. The Tigers have also collected six games with at least fifteen hits and reached double-digit hit totals in nearly half their contests.

Missouri’s running game produced success as well: The Tigers’ total of sixty-six stolen bases ranks sixth among SEC teams this year.

Alabama concluded its regular season at 40-15 overall (16-14 SEC) under head coach Rob Vaughn. The Crimson Tide offense averaged seven-and-a-half runs per game while hitting .280 as a group. Outfielder Kade Snell led Alabama batters into Tuesday’s contest with a .374 average; infielder Justin Lebron led both his team and all SEC players with sixty-nine RBIs and topped his squad in home runs (15) and steals (16).

On the pitching side for Alabama, Carson Ozmer heads up relief efforts as he leads the league with sixteen saves alongside a sub-three ERA across twenty-seven appearances.

In their last meeting on April 26 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama completed its series sweep over Missouri behind an eight-run second inning and complete-game pitching from Zane Adams during a twelve-to-one victory.

Jackson Lovich remains central to Missouri’s offensive production; he leads several categories including triples (three), multi-hit performances (eighteen), multi-RBI games (fourteen), and batting average (.354). He batted .386 over his last forty-two games of the regular season.

Defensively over their past twenty-two games since April tenth, Missouri improved its fielding percentage from .958 to .965 by committing fewer errors—only one or none in almost every recent contest—and turning more double plays during that span.

“Each SEC Tournament contest will be broadcast live on SEC Network, with Dave Neal and Todd Walker describing the action in Tuesday's opening-round game,” according to information released by Mizzou Athletics staff. “All tournament games will be produced by the Tiger Radio Network for local broadcast on KTGR AM/FM and for streaming via the Varsity Network app (by searching 'Missouri'), with Tex Little and Matt Michaels on the call.”

Missouri faces an uphill battle as it seeks to break its five-game postseason losing streak dating back to its last conference tournament win in May of 2017.