Baseball Makes 2025 Home Debut Tuesday Against Lindenwood

COLUMBIA, Mo. – University of Missouri baseball returns to Taylor Stadium at Simmons Field Tuesday (Feb. 25) to open its 2025 home slate with a 4 p.m., non-conference game against Lindenwood.

After completing a 3-4 season-opening road swing with a 15-3 win over Southern at the Andre Dawson Classic on Sunday, the Tigers will open a 10-game home stand that also includes a midweek matchup with SEMO (March 4), as well as weekend series with Evansville (Feb. 28-March 2) and Binghamton (March 7-9).

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.

Tuesday’s contest will be produced by the Tiger Radio Network for audio streaming via the Varsity Network app (by searching ‘Missouri’), with Matt Michaels handling broadcast duties.

PROMOTIONS

• 2025 Mizzou Baseball Magnet Schedule Giveaway (first 1,000 fans)

PITCHING PROBABLES

• RHP Victor Christal (Mizzou) vs. RHP Bennett Stice (Lindenwood)

SERIES HISTORY

• Missouri brings a perfect 6-0 all-time mark vs. Lindenwood into Tuesday’s matchup in a series that dates back to 1993.
• The Tigers have won five of those meetings in Columbia, including a pair of victories last spring; MU edged the Lions, 5-4, on March 5, before wrapping up a season sweep with a 13-1 rout on April 30 at Taylor Stadium.
• Mizzou also swept Lindenwood in 2023, claiming a 17-2 victory in Columbia on Feb. 28, before securing a 7-5 win in St. Charles on March 29.

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 1-2 with a victory over 2024 NCAA Super Regional qualifier UConn during its season-opening weekend at the Puerto Rico Challenge; the Tigers 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 and INF Blake Simpson have made an immediate impact on the Tigers’ offensive fortunes; all three went deep for their first home runs in Black and Gold in MU’s final game in Puerto Rico (Feb. 16).
• 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 seven 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 64 batters in 59.0 innings this season, including a total of 25 K’s over the last two games vs. Alabama State and Southern at the Andre Dawson Classic.

MIZZOU BY THE NUMBERS

• 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 in 2024.
• In Missouri’s first seven games of the 2025 season, 21 different players have made their debuts in Black and Gold.
• OF Kaden Peer has started the new season on a tear at the plate, already logging a pair of multi-hit games; in last Thursday’s contest at UCF, he went 3-for-4 for his third three-hit effort as a Tiger that included his first home run of the 2025 campaign.
• 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 four baserunners 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, leads all Mizzou hitters with his .333 batting mark, 14 total bases, nine hits and six RBIs so far this spring.
• 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 four-game hit streak and has reached base safely in six 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 LINDENWOOD

• Lindenwood brings a 4-4 season mark into Tuesday’s matchup after recording a four-game sweep of Mississippi Valley State over the weekend.
• Under the direction of second-year head coach PJ Finigan, the Lions are hitting .313 as a club, paced by INF/OF Tyler Thompson’s .476 average.
• OF Kam Edwards paces LU’s running game, logging five of the Lions’ 24 steals through eight contests.
• OF/1B Filip Sarota powers the LU attack with a .778 slugging percentage, as well as three homers and 10 RBIs on the new season.
• On the mound, the Lions have fashioned a 6.56 team ERA with 65 punchouts in 59.0 innings of work.
• Tuesday’s projected starter, RHP Bennett Stice, has one appearance under his belt, completing 3.0 scoreless innings of relief, while allowing two hits with five strikeouts.
• RHP Michael Walsh has also been effective for the Lions, totaling 4.1 innings of relief over which he has permitted just one run.

OFF AND RUNNING

• Through its first seven games of the new season, Mizzou is 15-of-17 in stolen base attempts.
• INF Brock Daniels led the Tigers’ charge on the basepaths, swiping two bags in their 11-7 win over UConn (Feb. 15), then taking another in last Sunday’s contest vs. Stetson; Daniels was 11-of-14 in stolen base tries last season.
• INF Trey Lawrence and OF Cameron Benson also logged steals in the victory over UConn, giving Mizzou its first five-steal game since April 3 of last season vs. UT Martin.
• Mizzou posted five stolen bases in each of its two wins over UT Martin (April 2-3), going 10-for-10 in steal attempts against the Skyhawks.
• 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.

WELCOME WAGON

• A total of 21 different players have made their Mizzou debuts over the first two weeks of the season.
• Thirteen new Tigers have seen action in the field for the Tigers, paced by OF Cameron Benson, DH Gehrig Goldbeck, INF Trey Lawrence, OF Cayden Nicoletto, 2B Blake Simpson, OF Pierre Seals, who have each worked their way into the regular MU starting lineup.
• Newcomers C Trey Callaway, INF Chris Patterson, OF Brady Picarelli, INF Tyler Macon, INF Peyton Basler, INF Keegan Knutson and OF Aden Malpass have made early contributions as well.
• On the mound, several new faces have contributed so far: LHP Kadden Drew has logged two impressive starts, including 6.0 shutout innings in Sunday’s win over Southern to earn his first Mizzou victory; RHP James Vaughn has been solid in his three relief outings, totaling seven K’s in 3.1 innings; RHP PJ Green also registered a strong debut, holding UCF scoreless over 1 2/3 innings last Thursday in Orlando.
• Additonally, RHP Seth McCartney, LHP Wil Libbert, LHP Brady Kehlenbrink, RHP Josh Kirchhoff and Tuesday’s anticipated starter, RHP Victor Christal, have also made their Mizzou mound debuts in the first two weeks of the season.

TIGERS AT THE TURNSTILES

• For the second season in a row, Mizzou baseball fans left their mark on the Tigers record book last spring.
• With their announced crowd of 1,395 spectators for the final home game of the 2024 season vs. Auburn (May 12), the Tigers established a program single-season record for total attendance, finishing with 39,167 in 28 home dates.
• Additionally, the Tigers’ 2024 average home crowd of 1,399 ranks second all-time in program history, trailing only their 2023 average of 1,614.

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