Friday, February 21
Vero Beach, Fla.
7 p.m.
University of Missouri
vs
Florida A&M
Baseball Poised for Prime-Time Matchup to Open Play at Andre Dawson Classic
2/21/2025 9:21:00 AM | Baseball
VERO BEACH, Fla. – University of Missouri baseball concludes its season-opening trip this weekend with three games at the Andre Dawson Classic at Holman Stadium in Vero Beach, Fla.
Mizzou will open play at the Jackie Robinson Training Center Friday at 7 p.m. (CST) with a nationally-televised game against Florida A&M, before wrapping up its stay in Florida with a Saturday (2 p.m.) contest against Alabama State and a Sunday (8 a.m.) matchup with Southern.
Friday's contest will be streamed live on MLB Network, with Sedric Granger and Xavier Scruggs calling the action. Additionally, each of this weekend's games will be produced by the Tiger Radio Network for streaming via the Varsity Network app (by searching 'Missouri'), with Matt Michaels handling broadcast duties.
PITCHING PROBABLES
- Game 1 – Friday, February 21 (7 p.m. CST) - TBD (Mizzou) vs. TBD (Florida A&M)
- Game 2 – Saturday, February 22 (2 p.m. CST) – LHP Ian Lohse (Mizzou) vs. RHP Jafet Martinez (Alabama State)
- Game 3 – Sunday, February 23 (8 a.m. CST) - TBD (Mizzou) vs. TBD (Southern)
SERIES HISTORY
- Missouri brings a combined 2-0 all-time mark against its three opponents into the Andre Dawson Classic.
- The Tigers hold a 1-0 edge over Florida A&M, with the lone meeting in the series coming on Feb. 19, 2019, a 5-3 MU win in Tallahassee, Fla.
- Likewise, Mizzou claimed its only game against Southern on Feb. 23, 2022, with a 19-8 decision in Baton Rouge, La.
- Saturday's meeting with Alabama State will be the first in the series.
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 last weekend, 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 over the weekend in its season-opening stay at the Puerto Rico Challenge, before dropping a Thursday evening road matchup at UCF in Orlando.
- The Tigers return five 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.
- Junior OF Jeric Curtis swiped a team-best 14 bases last spring to tie for 12th among all SEC base-stealers.
- Sophomore C/1B Mateo Serna delivered a strong weekend performance in Puerto Rico to kick off the season, bringing a .333 average with a home run and four RBIs into Friday'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 is coming off a career-best three-hit game Thursday night vs. UCF.
- Additionally, newcomers OF Pierre Seals, OF Cameron Benson and INF Blake Simpson have already made an impact on the Tigers' offensive fortunes in week one of the season; all three went deep for their first home runs in Black and Gold in Sunday's finale in Caguas.
- 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) and LHP Kadden Drew (DNP in 2024 due to injury) each drew starting assignments on the opening weekend of play.
- RHP Ben Smith has logged three scoreless relief appearances in MU's first four games, striking out six while allowing just one hit over 3.0 total innings.
- 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 BY THE NUMBERS
- In Missouri's first four games of the 2025 season, 17 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 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.
- Peer brings a three-game hit streak into Friday's game; he has gone 6-for-12 with at least one RBI in all three outings (4 RBIs total).
- 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 3B 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.
- Lovich shares the team lead for career home runs (at the Division I level) with OF Cameron Benson with 12.
- 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).
- Lohse is expected to start Saturday vs. Alabama State, which would mark his 50th career mound appearance for the Tigers.
- 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.
ABOUT THE ANDRE DAWSON CLASSIC
- The Andre Dawson Classic is the annual, round-robin collegiate baseball tournament designed by Major League Baseball to highlight Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and their baseball programs.
- Recognized by the Higher Education Act of 1965, HBCUs have offered quality educational and athletic programs for African American youth for more than a century. HBCUs have a proud baseball tradition and have produced Hall of Famers such as Lou Brock (Southern University) and Andre Dawson (Florida A&M University).
- This event (originally known as the Urban Invitational) was first launched in 2008 at the MLB Youth Academy in Compton, Calif., and was hosted there until 2012 when the tournament relocated to Houston. The Houston Astros hosted the event at Minute Maid Park in 2012 and 2013. In 2014 and 2015 the tournament relocated to New Orleans, and those two years included participation by NCAA Division I programs LSU and the University of New Orleans.
- The 2025 tournament will feature seven HBCUs: Alabama State University (Montgomery, Ala.), Alabama A&M University (Huntsville, Ala.), Florida A&M University (Tallahassee, Fla.), Grambling State University (Grambling, La.) Jackson State University (Jackson, Miss.), Prairie View A&M University (Prairie View, Texas) and Southern University (Baton Rouge, La.). They will be joined by the University of Missouri (Columbia, Mo.).
- Each year, the tournament features dozens of Nike RBI and MLB Youth Academy alumni on the HBCU rosters.
SCOUTING THE FIELD
- Florida A&M brings a 1-3 season mark into the Andre Dawson Classic.
- The Rattlers have been led by UTIL Josue Figueroa (.308 BA, .769 SLG, 2 HR, 4 RBIs) and OF Ben Kim (.300 BA, 1 HR, 1 SB); on the mound, RHP Caleb Granger tossed 7.0 solid innings in his season debut, striking out five in a win over UT Martin last Friday.
- Alabama State enters the weekend 1-4 overall, following a midweek loss to Alabama on Wednesday.
- ASU's lineup features 1B Juan Cruz (.400 BA, .950 SLG, 3 HR, 9 RBIs) and C Fabian Santana (.375 BA, .474 OBP), while the pitching staff is led by RHP Jafet Martinez (1-0, 0.00 ERA), who tossed 5.0 shutout innings in his first start of 2025 vs. Southern Indiana.
- Southern brings a 2-2 season mark into the weekend, after wins over Texas Southern and Prairie View A&M at last weekend's Cactus Jack HBCU Classic in Houston.
- Hitting .314 as a team so far in 2025, the Jaguars are led by INF Beny Bikar (.538 BA, .846 SLG), UTIL Taj Bates (.400 BA, 8 RBIs) and OF Jacoby Radcliffe (.400 BA, 5 SB); on the mound, Southern rode a strong start from RHP Nick Luckett (1-0, 0.00 ERA) last weekend.
OFF AND RUNNING
- Through its first four games of the new season, Mizzou is a perfect 8-for-8 in stolen base attempts.
- INF Brock Daniels led the Tigers' charge on the basepaths, swiping two bags in last Saturday's 11-7 win over UConn, then taking another in Sunday's contest vs. Stetson; Daniels was 11-of-14 in stolen base tries last season.
- OF Jeric Curtis, 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.
- Curtis led the Tigers with 14 steals on the season, which was good for 12th overall in the SEC.
KJ JOINS CENTURY CLUB
- Mizzou head coach Kerrick Jackson reached a career milestone Saturday (Feb. 15) with the Tigers' win over UConn, picking up his 100th coaching victory.
- In just his sixth season as a Division I head coach, Jackson became the fifth Mizzou head coach to reach the career 100-win milestone.
- Jackson joined Gene McArtor (733), Tim Jamieson (698), John "Hi" Simmons (481) and Steve Bieser (347) on the distinguished list of Mizzou baseball coaches to record 100 career victories.
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 53-19 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 100 more non-conference games than it has lost (180-80).
FOLLOW THE TIGERS
For all the latest information on Mizzou baseball, please visit MUTigers.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow the Tigers on X, Instagram and Facebook.
Players Mentioned
INF/OF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
INF/OF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
C
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
OF/INF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
C
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ BaseballIn the NOW - Embrace the Opportunity
Monday, February 10
Inside Mizzou Athletics - Talkin' Baseball with Brock Lucas
Monday, February 03
Mizzou vs. LSU Series Highlights
Monday, April 22
Mizzou at Missouri State Highlights
Friday, April 19
