Friday, February 14
Caguas, Puerto Rico
3 p.m.
University of Missouri
vs
Penn State
Baseball Opens 2025 Campaign Friday at Puerto Rico Challenge
2/13/2025 7:36:00 AM | Baseball
SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO – University of Missouri baseball will open its 132nd season of varsity baseball Friday when the Tigers begin a three-game stretch at the Puerto Rico Challenge with a 3 p.m. (CST) contest against Penn State at Yldefonso Solá Morales Stadium in Caguas.
The Tigers will also take on UConn Saturday at 3 p.m., and Stetson Sunday at noon to round out their stay in Caguas. Mizzou will be making its first voyage to Puerto Rico, as well as its first trip outside of the continental United States since March 1980.
Each of this weekend's contests will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Ryan Bass and Matt Joyce calling the action. Additionally, each of this weekend's games will be produced by the Tiger Radio Network and streamed via the Varsity Network app (by searching 'Missouri'), with Tex Little and Matt Michaels once again handling broadcast duties.
PITCHING PROBABLES
- Game 1 vs. Penn State (Friday, Feb. 14 – 3 p.m.) – LHP Ian Lohse (Mizzou) vs. RHP Mason Horwat (Penn State)
- Game 2 vs. UConn (Saturday, Feb. 15 – 3 p.m.) – LHP Daniel Wissler (Mizzou) vs. RHP Ian Cooke (UConn)
- Game 3 vs. Stetson (Sunday, May 18 – 12 p.m.) – TBD (Mizzou) vs. TBD (Stetson)
SERIES HISTORIES
- Missouri boasts a combined 4-0 all-time ledger against its three scheduled opponents in the Puerto Rico Challange.
- The Tigers defeated Penn State, 3-2, in the two schools' only previous matchup at the 1952 College World Series (June 16, 1952).
- Likewise, Mizzou claimed its only previous meeting with UConn — a 7-1 neutral-site victory to open the 2008 season in DeLand, Fla.
- MU brings a 2-0 all-time mark against Stetson into this year's matchup; the Tigers claimed a 4-1 win over the Hatters in March 1977, then came away with a 9-5 victory on Stetson's home field as part of the same 2008 season-opening trip to Florida in which it defeated UConn.
SCOUTING MISSOURI
- Missouri is coming off a 23-32 campaign a year ago in head coach Kerrick Jackson's first season at the helm.
- Jackson 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.
- The Tigers return five position starters from last season, led by junior INF 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 behind the plate.
- Junior INF/OF Brock Daniels turned in a breakthrough year in 2024, registering a .296 batting mark — best among all returning players — four home runs and 11 stolen bases.
- Junior OF Jeric Curtis swiped a team-best 14 bases last spring to tie for 12th among all SEC base-stealers.
- Mizzou hit .253 as a team last season, averaging 5.8 runs per contest while swiping 60 bases, the latter of which ranked seventh in the SEC.
- On the mound, junior RHP Brock Lucas after going 4-0 with a 3.63 ERA in 18 relief appearances last spring; he should factor in the Tigers' starting rotation, as could junior LHP Daniel Wissler (3-1, 4.38 ERA) and graduate LHP Ian Lohse (31 K's in 29.1 IP).
- As a staff, the Tigers recorded 459 strikeouts, good for 10th on the program's all-time single-season chart.
MIZZOU BY THE NUMBERS
- Mizzou's catching combination of Jedier Hernandez and Mateo Serna combined to throw out 15 would-be base-stealers last spring.
- Serna turned in a stretch to remember during SEC play, reaching base safely via a hit, walk or hit-by-pitch in 13 consecutive starts (March 26-May 10).
- Led by INF Jackson Lovich's four triples, 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.
- INF/OF Brock Daniels was Mizzou's most consistent hitter in the month of April, batting .343 (24-of-70) with 22 RBIs and seven steals.
- The Tigers batted .285 and averaged 7.8 runs per game in 29 contests at Taylor Stadium last spring.
- Three Mizzou pitchers were selected as part of the 2024 MLB Draft: LHP Ryan Magdic was taken by Oakland in the 14th round, before RHP Carter Rustad went to Baltimore in the 15th and RHP Bryce Mayer was chosen by Houston in the 17th round; additionally, INF Trevor Austin signed a free agent deal with Houston.
- LHP Ian Lohse recorded nine scoreless outings for the season, including four straight shutout appearances from April 9-26; Lohse recorded his 100th career strikeout in his final start of 2024 vs. Auburn (May 11).
- RHP Brock Lucas turned in a 4-0 ledger last spring to hike his career mound record to 7-1; the junior has registered 55 strikeouts in 67.0 innings over 36 total appearances spanning two seasons.
- LHP Daniel Wissler was impressive in a breakthrough sophomore season, going 3-1 with a 4.38 ERA in 13 total appearances, including seven starts; he also struck out 37 hitters while issuing just seven walks.
- 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 extra-inning 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 THE FIELD
- Mizzou will face a stout field in Puerto Rico, including a pair of 2024 NCAA postseason qualifiers in UConn and Stetson.
- The Tigers will open the season against a Penn State squad coming off a 29-24 year in which it heated up to hit .306 as a team.
- Projected by D1Baseball.com to finish fourth in the Big Ten Conference, PSU is led by INF Bryce Molinaro, who batted .329 with 11 home runs and 45 RBIs in 2024, and C Matt Maloney, a .321 hitter last spring; on the mound, the Nittany Lions will look to RHP Mason Horwat (4-1, 5.34 ERA) to help anchor their weekend rotation.
- UConn, the preseason Big East Conference favorite, is coming off a 2024 campaign that saw the Huskies cap a 35-26 season with an NCAA Regional crown and trip to the Talahassee Super Regional — their second Super Regional appearance in three years.
- The Huskies return a solid corps of veterans to their everyday lineup, including OF Caleb Shpur, INF Bryan Padilla, INF Tyler Minick and 1B Maddix Dalena who anchored the UConn lineup last spring.
- On the mound, UConn will turn to RHP Ian Cooke (5-2, 4.54 ERA), who made 10 starts a year ago, fanning 85 batters in 67.1 innings, and RHP Brady Afthim (8 saves) in the back end of the bullpen.
- Stetson, which is coming off a 41-win campaign and NCAA Regional berth last spring, also welcomes back a number of returning regulars: INF Lorenzo Meola (.297 BA/10 HR/58 RBIs), INF Yohann Dessureault (.293 BA/11 HR), 1B Landon Moran (.284 BA) and INF Isaiah Barkett (.309 BA) all return for the Hatters, who are once again picked to win the Atlantic Sun Conference after tying for the league crown last year.
- The Hatters will rely on RHP Dylan Jacobs (44 K's) to anchor the rotation, and RHP Zane Coppersmith (1.82 ERA/3 saves) out of the bullpen.
OFF AND RUNNING
- Mizzou brings an all-time opening day record of 80-44-1 into Friday's contest against Penn State.
- This year's opener will mark the first time the Tigers have opened a season outside of the continental United States, as well as their first such trip overall since a March 1980 trip to Hawaii, where they went 4-2 at the Rainbow Tournament in Honolulu.
- The Tigers have won at least two of their first three contests in nine of the last 11 seasons dating back to 2014.
- Through their first seven games, the Tigers have won at least five games on six occasions over the last decade (since 2015).
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 52-17 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 (179-77).
HONORING COACH MAC
- Mizzou baseball will remember the legacy of one of the pillars of its championship tradition throughout the 2025 season, after University of Missouri Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame head coach Gene McArtor passed away this past July at the age of 83.
- One of just three Tigers to have his uniform number (33) retired, McArtor was a fixture on the University of Missouri campus as a player, coach and administrator.He remains Mizzou's winningest head baseball coach with 733 career victories to his credit, and the Tigers' indoor training and clubhouse complex at Taylor Stadium was christened the McArtor Baseball Facility in his honor in 2010.
- A product of Webster Groves High School, McArtor won all-conference and all-district honors as Mizzou's first baseman from 1961-63. He played on two Big Eight Conference championship teams and two squads which advanced to the College World Series (1962 and 1963), serving as team captain as a senior. He returned to MU as assistant baseball coach in 1969 after coaching and teaching at the high school level in his hometown of St. Louis. McArtor served in that role until 1974 when he succeeded MU's legendary head coach John "Hi" Simmons as the Tigers' bench boss.
- During his 21 years at the helm, McArtor compiled a 733-430-3 record and won Big Eight championships in 1976 and 1980. He guided six teams to the NCAA Tournament, coached 13 All-Americans and 41 all-conference players.
- McArtor served on the NCAA Baseball Committee from 1987-92, including two years as chairman, during a period of unprecedented growth for the CWS. A former president of the American Baseball Coaches Association, McArtor is a member of the ABCA Hall of Fame and was inducted into the MU Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame in 1999.
RANK AND FILE
- With their season-ending road victory over No. 16 Mississippi State last May, the Tigers notched their sixth SEC win over a ranked opponent in 2024.
- Mizzou notched its first win over a top 25 foe March 23 with a 2-1 victory over No. 21 Kentucky.
- The victory over UK also marked head coach Kerrick Jackson's first conference win — as well as the first SEC win for a Black head coach in the circuit's history.
- Mizzou pulled off a three-game sweep of No. 6 Florida (April 5-7) in Columbia, marking their second home sweep of a top 10 SEC foe in as many seasons, following their three-game sweep of No. 4 Tennessee the previous year (March 17-19, 2023).
- With its 8-7 win over defending national champion LSU, the Tigers have now recorded wins over the reigning national titlists in three consecutive years.
- Mizzou claimed two of three home meetings from 2022 CWS champion Ole Miss last May, after taking a pair of games from 2021 national champion Mississippi State at Taylor Stadium the previous spring.
- Additionally, the Tigers won a road SEC regular-season series against Mississippi State in May 2021, prior to the Bulldogs embarking on their national title run.
THROWING SMOKE
- Mizzou's pitching staff kept opposing hitters off-balance all spring in 2024, registering 459 strikeouts on the season.
- The Tigers' season strikeout total tied for the 10th best in Mizzou history, trailing the program's single-season record for strikeouts (559 in 2019) by 100 K's.
- The Tigers ranked 76th nationally as a staff in both strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.09) and WHIP (1.50).
- RHP Carter Rustad led the SEC and ranked sixth nationally in walks allowed per nine innings (1.38); he also ranked 13th among all Division I pitchers (and third in the SEC) in strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.80).
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