University of Missouri
LSU
Baseball Opens SEC Slate Against No. 2 LSU in Baton Rouge
3/13/2025 5:43:00 PM | Baseball
| Missouri (8-8, 0-0 SEC) at No. 2 LSU (17-1, 0-0 SEC) | |
| Series Details | Baton Rouge, La. • Alex Box Stadium/Skip Bertman Field (10,718) |
| Game 1 | Friday, March 14 • 4:30 p.m. |
| Game 2 | Saturday, March 15 • 6 p.m. |
| Game 3 | Sunday, March 16 • 1 p.m. |
| Watch | SEC Network+ |
| Radio | Tiger Radio Network • KTGR AM/FM (Games 2 & 3) | Varsity App |
| Game Notes | Missouri | LSU | SEC |
| Game Coverage | Live Stats | X: @MizzouBaseball | Instagram: @Missouri_Baseball |
BATON ROUGE, La. – University of Missouri baseball opens its 13th season of Southeastern Conference play this weekend, as the Tigers travel to Baton Rouge for a three-game series with No. 2 LSU at Alex Box Stadium.
Friday's series opener has been moved to a 4:30 p.m. (CT) first pitch due to inclement weather, with single contests to follow on Saturday (6 p.m.) and Sunday (1 p.m.). This weekend will mark the second time Mizzou has opened its SEC slate against LSU, which took two of three games from the Tigers in Baton Rouge to kick off the 2018 league slate.
All three games of the series will be streamed live on SEC Network+. Additionally, all Mizzou baseball contests in 2025 will be produced by the Tiger Radio Network for radio broadcast locally in Columbia (Saturday and Sunday only) via KTGR AM/FM (105.1 FM/100.5 FM/1580 AM) and streamed via the Varsity Network app (by searching 'Missouri'), with Tex Little and Matt Michaels handling broadcast duties.
PITCHING PROBABLES
• Game 1 – Friday, March 14 (4:30 p.m.) - LHP Ian Lohse (Mizzou) vs. LHP Kade Anderson (LSU)
• Game 2 – Saturday, March 15 (6 p.m.) - LHP Wil Libbert (Mizzou) vs. RHP Anthony Eyanson (LSU)
• Game 3 – Sunday, March 16 (1 p.m.) – LHP Kadden Drew (Mizzou) vs. RHP Chase Shores (LSU)
SERIES HISTORY
• LSU brings a 20-4 series edge against Missouri into Friday's contest
• Mizzou is just 1-10 all-time vs. LSU in Baton Rouge, with its lone road victory in the series coming on March 17, 2018 (12-6).
• Most recently, LSU won all three meetings in Baton Rouge three years ago, despite all three contests being decided by two runs or less.
• Last season, MU won an 8-7 victory in game two of the two clubs' series in Columbia, but LSU claimed the series with a 6-2 win in the finale, after pulling away for a 12-1 decision in the opening contest.
• Individually, Brock Daniels went 5-for-10 with a home run and two RBIs in last year's series.
• Ian Lohse logged 3.0 scoreless innings vs. LSU in 2024 and has held the Tigers to one hit over 6.0 combined innings for his career.
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 is off to an 8-8 start to the season after completing a 5-4 home stand last weekend.
• 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 .323 average and team-leading totals for home runs (3) and RBIs (19) 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 has gone 7-for-7 in stolen base attempts to start 2025.
• Additionally, newcomers OF Pierre Seals, OF Cameron Benson, OF Brady Picarelli and 1B/OF Cayden Nicoletto have made an immediate impact on the Tigers' offensive fortunes; Picarelli has hit .379 with three home runs and 14 RBIs in just eight games, while Nicoletto and Benson have each logged four-hit games over the first four weeks of the season.
• On the mound, junior RHP Brock Lucas returns after going 4-0 with a 3.63 ERA in 18 relief appearances last spring; 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 four weeks of the season.
• RHP Ben Smith has logged seven scoreless outings in eight appearances to date, while RHPs Kaden Jacobi, Xavier Lovett and James Vaughn have provided solid relief work for the Tigers as well.
• Mizzou pitching has fanned 145 batters in 138.0 innings this season, including a total of 81 K's over its nine home contests.
MIZZOU BY THE NUMBERS
• Missouri batted .349 as a team over its last 10 games to go 6-4 (Feb. 23-March 9) to raise its team batting average from .219 to .301.
• The Tigers scored 92 runs over the same stretch, an average of 9.2 per contest.
• Mizzou has recorded four 15-hit performances to surpass its 2024 season total of three.
• 1B/OF Cayden Nicoletto logged his second four-hit performance in a span of three games Saturday vs. Binghamton; the senior transfer leads the Tigers with a .422 batting average and 16 runs scored.
• Led by OF Kaden Peer with seven steals in seven attempts, the Tigers' running game has netted 32 steals in 38 attempts this season.
• In MU's first 16 games of the 2025 season, 21 different players have made their debuts in Black and Gold.
• 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 eight baserunners in the Tigers' first 16 games this season.
• Serna reached base safely via a hit, walk or hit-by-pitch in 14 consecutive games, Feb. 15-March 8, including a career-best nine-game hit streak (Feb. 22-March 8), over which he batted .381 (16-for-42) with a six-game RBI streak (Feb. 22-March 1).
• OF Cameron Benson needs two hits to reach the 100-hit plateau for his Division I career.
• In just eight games as a Tiger, rookie OF Brady Picarelli has logged a team-best five multi-RBI performances, as well as three home runs to share the team lead.
• INF Jackson Lovich brings a season-best eight-game hit streak into this weekend's series (since Feb. 28).
• INF Peyton Basler brings a five-game hit streak into SEC play, hitting .444 (8-for-18) with seven RBIs.
• LHP Ian Lohse has averaged 12.1 strikeouts per nine innings while registering a 6.5 strikeout-walk ratio over his first four starts of the season; he enters the series just five strikeouts shy of his season career high (31).
• LHP Kadden Drew has registered a pair of wins while posting a 2.12 ERA over his last three starts.
SCOUTING LSU
• Under the direction of fourth-year head coach Jay Johnson, the Tigers enter SEC play ranked as high as No. 1 in the nation (D1Baseball) in this week's polls.
• LSU brings a 12-game win streak into the conference season following a three-game sweep of North Alabama last weekend and a Tuesday evening rout of Xavier in Baton Rouge.
• Led by 1B Jared Jones, the Tigers offense has been red-hot, with double-digit run totals in seven of their last eight contests; Jones leads the SEC in hits (30), while his 28 RBIs rank fifth and his seven homers are tied for sixth in the conference.
• Six additional LSU position regulars are hitting .350 or better, including INF Daniel Dickinson and INF Steven Milam, who have combined to hit 10 homers and drive in 46 runs for an offense hitting an SEC-best .346 to date.
• On the mound, LSU has compiled a 3.06 team ERA and 213 strikeouts, the latter of which leads the SEC.
• The trio of LHP Kade Anderson (3-0, 2.08 ERA), RHP Anthony Eyanson (3-0, 3.00 ERA) and RHP Chase Shores (4-0, 3.15) have combined to strike out 94 batters in 65.2 total innings.
• Closer RHP Casan Evans has saved three games while fanning 19 hitters in just 10.0 frames.
IT JUST MEANS MORE
• The Tigers will kick off their 13th season of SEC play this weekend, looking to improve on a 9-21 league mark last spring.
• Several Tigers bring significant SEC experience into this year's league slate, most notably Friday's projected starting pitcher, LHP Ian Lohse, who will be making his 24th mound appearance in conference play.
• Lohse has fashioned a 2-5 career mark with 49 strikeouts in 40.2 total innings and a 3.54 ERA in SEC action going back to the 2021 season.
• Additionally, RHP Brock Lucas has made 20 conference mound appearances over the last two seasons, and INF Jackson Lovich has seen action in 32 SEC contests, including 29 starts.
• INF/OF Brock Daniels is the Tigers' top returning performer in SEC play last season, hitting .273 with six stolen bases in 22 conference games in 2024.
OFF AND RUNNING
• Mizzou has bolted from the starting gate offensively, thanks at least in part to a consistent running game that has resulted in the Tigers swiping 32 bases in its first 16 games.
• The Tigers are 32-of-38 in stolen base attempts to date, including a streak of at least one steal in 11 consecutive games (Feb. 15-March 2).
• Mizzou's 32 steals rank 52nd nationally and third in the SEC, trailing only Kentucky (43) and Oklahoma (41), entering the weekend.
• OF Kaden Peer (7-for-7) and INF/OF Brock Daniels (6-for-8) have led the Tigers' charge on the basepaths, combining to go 13-for-15 in steal attempts so far this season.
• In their Feb. 25 victory over Lindenwood, the Tigers went 6-for-6 in steal attempts, logging their first six-steal performance since Feb. 19, 2022 vs. Nicholls.
• In the Tigers' 23 wins last season, MU baserunners were successful on 33-of-41 steal attempts.
HITTIN' PRETTY
• Mizzou's offense has found an early groove, posting 10 double-digit hit totals in its first 16 games.
• In their last 10 contests alone, the Tigers have racked up 121 hits - an average of 12.1 per game, while scoring at a 9.2 runs/game clip.
• During the same span, Missouri has totaled 31 hits over two separate two-game stretches, Feb. 23-25 and March 1-2, marking the Tigers' top two-game totals since April 28-May 1, 2019.
• Individually, the hits have been coming in bunches, as three Mizzou newcomers have logged four hits (or more) in a game on four occasions:
• Brady Picarelli - 5-for-5 vs. Lindenwood (Feb. 25)
• Cameron Benson - 4-for-4 vs. Lindenwood (Feb. 25)
• Cayden Nicoletto - 4-for-5 vs. Evansville (March 1) and 4-for-5 vs. Binghamton (March 8)
• As a team, the Tigers rank 63rd in all of Division I baseball in total hits (165) for the season.
• Mizzou has notched four separate 15-hit performances in their first 16 games, already surpassing its 2024 season total of 15-hit games (3).
GOING STREAKING
• Several Tigers bring notable streaks into SEC play, led by OF/1B Cayden Nicoletto's nine-game hit streak; Nicoletto has hit .457 (16-for-35) and slugged .743 over the course of his streak that is a part of an 11-game on-base streak for the Perth, Australia native.
• INF Jackson Lovich has hit in eighth straight games since Feb. 28, batting .467 (14-for-30), while both INF Peyton Basler and OF Cameron Benson bring five-game hit streaks into Friday's action.
• Finally, OF Kaden Peer has reached base safely in 10-straight games since Feb. 23, going 6-for-6 in stolen base attempts over the same stretch.
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