Baseball Heads to Knoxville for Weekend Series vs. No. 22 Tennessee

Friday, March 20

Knoxville, Tenn.

5:30 P.M.

Missouri

Tennessee

Mizzou baseball defeated Mount St. Mary's, 5-4, at Terry Park in Fort Myers, Fla., Feb. 14, 2026, to earn its first win of the season.

Baseball Heads to Knoxville for Weekend Series vs. No. 22 Tennessee

3/19/2026 7:28:00 PM | Baseball

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Mizzou Baseball is set for a three-game Southeastern Conference series at No. 22 Tennessee, Friday through Sunday (March 20-22) at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. Game one of the series is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. CT on Friday, followed by games at 5 p.m. CT Saturday and noon CT on Sunday.

The Tigers (15-6, 0-3 SEC) saw their 13-game winning streak get snapped last weekend in a competitive series with No. 6 Auburn in which they dropped games 2-0, 4-3 (10 inn.) and 9-2, respectively, during SEC Opening Weekend. Mizzou dropped its mid-week contest Wednesday night at Kansas, 10-0.

This weekend's series versus the Volunteers (15-6, 1-2 SEC) will mark the 34^th, 35^th and 36^th all-time meetings between the two programs, with Mizzou leading the series, 17-16 overall. The Tigers swept the Volunteers in Columbia in 2023, and were swept in Knoxville the last time the two teams met in 2024, dropping a pair of one-run games.

All three games of the series will be streamed live on SEC Network+. All Mizzou Baseball games are available via audio stream on The Varsity Network app by Learfield with longtime Mizzou play-by-play voice Tex Little alongside Matt Michaels providing color.

Expected Pitching Matchups vs. No. 22 Tennessee

Friday, March 20 (5:30 P.M. CT)
- Mizzou – LHP Javyn Pimental (2-0, 3.52 ERA)
- Tennessee – RHP Tegan Kuhns (1-1, 3.86 ERA)
Saturday, March 21 (5 P.M. CT)
- Mizzou – RHP Josh McDevitt (3-0, 2.49 ERA)
- Tennessee – RHP Landon Mack (3-2, 3.21 ERA)
Sunday, March 22 (12 P.M. CT)
- Mizzou – LHP Brady Kehlenbrink (3-1, 4.67 ERA)
- Tennessee – LHP Evan Blanco (1-2, 3.20 ERA)

Schedule

Mizzou vs. Tennessee, Friday, March 20 @ 5:30 P.M. CT | Lindsey Nelson Stadium | LIVE STATS | TV
Mizzou vs. Tennessee, Saturday, March 21 @ 5 P.M. CT | Lindsey Nelson Stadium | LIVE STATS | TV
Mizzou vs. Tennessee, Sunday, March 22 @ 12 P.M. CT | Lindsey Nelson Stadium | LIVE STATS | TV

SCOUTING THE VOLUNTEERS

After the departure of Tony Vitello, Josh Elander was named the 26^th head coach in Tennessee baseball history on Oct. 25, 2025, after spending the previous three seasons as the associate head coach and the five years before that as an assistant on the Volunteers' staff.
Under the first-year head coach, the Vols are off to a 15-6 start overall and a 1-2 start in SEC play after dropping a series to No. 7 Georgia last weekend, two games to one.
Tennessee has been the nation's most prolific home run hitting team since the start of the 2021 season, leading all NCAA Division I programs with 729 long balls during that span, 126 more than the next closest team (Georgia - 603).
The Vols hit a season-high five homers in last Tuesday's win over Tennessee Tech, including two grand slams.
Tennessee's reworked bullpen has proven to be a strength of the team up to this point in the season, having posted a 10-1 record and 3.59 ERA with 106 strikeouts while holding opposing hitters to a .215 batting average over 90.1 innings of work.
Key weekend relievers Brady Frederick, Brandon Arvidson, Cam Appenzeller and Bo Rhudy all boast ERAs of 3.07 or lower and have combined to post a 7-0 record with 63 strikeouts and just 10 walks.
Highly touted transfer portal addition Henry Ford has lived up to the billing so far this season, leading the team in OPS (1.084), runs (19), hits (30), homers (8), RBIs (25), total bases (58) and slugging percentage (.682). His 30 hits are tied for eighth in the SEC.
Junior C/OF Garrett Wright provided a major boost to Tennessee's lineup after missing the first three weeks of the season due to injury. The Bowling Green transfer has been a fixture in the starting lineup since his return (nine straight starts), slashing .333/.474/.567 with eight runs, four doubles and three RBIs.

SERIES HISTORY

This weekend's series will feature the 34^th, 35^th and 36^th all-time meetings between the two programs, with Mizzou leading the series, 17-16. In Knoxville, the Vols hold a slight 8-10 advantage.
Each of the last two series between the two teams have resulted in a sweep. The Tigers swept the fourth-ranked Vols in Columbia back in 2023, and third-ranked Tennessee swept MU in the last meeting (2024) at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

ON THE BUMP

Gr. LHP Javyn Pimental is scheduled to be the starter in game one of the series on Friday night, after starting the season 2-0 and going five-plus innings in four of five starts. Back from Tommy John surgery a season ago, Pimental currently carries a 3.52 ERA with 23 strikeouts over 23.0 innings of work.
Jr. RHP Josh McDevitt is scheduled to take the mound in game two of the series on Saturday evening, where he will be in search of his fourth win of the campaign. To start the season, McDevitt has gone 3-0 with a 2.49 ERA and 36 strikeouts over 25.1 innings of work. With his career-high 10 punchouts against sixth-ranked Auburn last Saturday, he has now recorded six or more strikeouts in each of his five starts this season.
So. LHP Brady Kehlenbrink will be the starter for the Tigers in the series finale on Sunday. Kehlenbrink holds a 3-1 record and has thrown at least five innings in each of his five starts this season, including 6.0 innings in each of his last two. The lefty rocks an impressive 38-to-6 strikeout to walk ratio, leading the team in punch outs.

MAKING STRIDES ON THE MOUND

Under first-year pitching coach Drew Dickinson, the Tigers have made impressive strides on the mound through the first 21 games of the campaign.
As of March 19, the Tigers rank 17^th nationally in hits allowed per nine innings (7.04), 45^th in strikeouts per nine innings (10.4), 54^thin ERA (4.24) and 56^th in WHIP (1.36).
Five innings from starting pitching has become the standard under Dickinson in 2026. Mizzou starters have gone five-plus innings in 16 out of 21 starts.
In the opening weekend of SEC play vs. No. 6 Auburn, Mizzou starters Javyn Pimental, Josh McDevitt and Brady Kehlenbrink each went six-plus innings.
The starting rotation has combined for a 9-2 record, a 3.75 ERA, 119 strikeouts to just 44 walks and opponents are batting just .198 against the unit.

CONSECUTIVE SHUTOUTS FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 2017

The Tigers recorded consecutive shutouts for the first time since May 18-19, 2017, after defeating UIC 7-0 and 10-0, respectively, March 7 and 8.
Those shutouts accounted for 16 innings within a 22-inning stretch of consecutive scoreless frames by Tiger pitchers.

OFFENSE CONTINUES TO ROAR

The Tigers are No. 6 nationally in triples (9), No. 8 in HBP (50), No. 18 in runs (192), No. 24 in on-base percentage (.436), No. 44 in batting average (.306) and No. 47 in hits (206).
With the Tigers 15-1 victory over UAPB on Feb. 24, they became the fastest team in program history to reach 100 runs (8 Games).
The Tigers' run-rule victory over UAPB on Feb. 24 marked the first time Mizzou has recorded four-straight run-rule wins in the 56-game regular season era (1997).
MU earned its fifth run-rule victory of the season on Sunday (March 8) in a 10-0 win over UIC.

MACON US GO!

Lead-off hitter Tyler Macon has been a spark plug for the Mizzou offense to start the season.
Through the first 20 games of the campaign, Macon is eighth in the SEC in hits (30) with a .405 batting average (No. 6 SEC), 25 runs (No. 12 SEC) and 25 RBI (No. 13 SEC).
Macon has slugged a team-best seven doubles and a pair of triples and is getting on base at a .510 clip (No. 10 SEC) thanks to walking equal times (15) to striking out (15).
In the game three record-breaking win over Mount St. Mary's on Feb. 15, Macon became the first Tiger in program history to go 8-for-8 on base – going 6-for-6 at the plate with a pair of doubles, eight RBI and four runs scored, also reaching twice via walk.
In addition, Macon became just the third Tiger ever to record six hits in a game and the first since Jeff Terrell in 1995 (6-for-6, cycle, vs. Iowa State). The other was Jay Hawkins in 1956 in a 27-4 win over Nebraska (6-for-7, school-record six runs scored, three stolen bases, four RBI).

WAITER, BRING ME WOITA

South Carolina transfer Jase Woita has made an immediate impact in the Mizzou lineup this season after hitting .300 with six home runs in 45 games for the Gamecocks in 2025.
The physical, left-handed slugger is off to a hot start with the Tigers, batting .371 with an OPS of 1.047 thanks to a team-leading four home runs in 18 games played.
He's driven in 28 runs to lead the squad and ranks 37^th in the country (No. 8 SEC) in that department.
Better yet, Woita is 19^th nationally in RBI per game (1.56).
He drove in a career-high eight runs in the record-breaking 34-3 win over Mount Saint Mary's on Feb. 15 - one shy of the program record for RBI (9) in a game.
In addition to the run production, Woita has been among the nation's toughest batters to strike out. He ranks 23rd in the country in that metric, striking out just once every 16.8 at-bats (four times in 67 at-bats).
Woita saw his 12-game hitting streak come to an end last weekend vs. No. 6 Auburn but extended his on-base streak to 16 games in Wednesday's game at Kansas.

LIGHTING UP THE SCOREBOARD

The Tigers have scored 192 runs through 21 games (9.1 per game) to rank 18^th nationally and fourth within the league.

PASS THE TORCH

The Tigers have already hit consecutive home runs on three occasions this season:
- Sam Parker / Chris Patterson (Feb. 15 vs. Mount St. Mary's, 8^th inning)
- Eric Maisonet / Isaiah Frost (March 5 vs. UIC, 7^th inning)
- Kaden Peer / Cameron Benson / Pierre Seals (March 8 vs. UIC, 3^rdinning)
In the series finale vs. UIC on March 8, the entire starting outfield (Peer, Benson, Seals) went back-to-back-to-back in a matter of five pitches – all solo shots.
It marked the second time of Benson's career being a part of back-to-back-to-back home runs, the first coming April 11, 2023, as a member of the Kerrick Jackson-coached Memphis Tigers in an 11-9 win at Ole Miss.

GOING STREAKING!

Mizzou had its 13-game winning streak snapped last weekend – its longest since rattling off 20-straight victories in 2017.
South Carolina grad transfer Jase Woita and outfielder Cameron Benson are each riding 16-game on-base streaks into Friday's matchup.
In addition, Benson extended his hitting streak to 11 games on Wednesday vs. Kansas.
Graduate outfielder Pierre Seals has put together a six-game hitting streak, second-longest actively on the team.
Center fielder Kaden Peer has been on base in all nine games since returning from injury.
Shortstop Kam Durnin has reached base safely in eight-straight games.

ON LIKE DONKEY KONG

Mizzou ranks 24^th nationally with a .436 on-base percentage, major thanks to ranking 47^th nationally in hits (206).
The Tigers have drawn 111 free passes to rank 55^th nationally in that category.
In addition, MU ranks eighth in the country with 50 HBP.

WEAR IT!

The Tigers are averaging 2.38 HBP per game to rank eighth nationally, being plunked 50 times so far this season.
Winthrop leads the nation with 67 HBP.
Mizzou has been hit five-plus times on five occasions and has been hit at least twice 10 times.
Freshman Blaize Ward was hit three different times in the series finale versus New Haven and has been hit six times (tied for the team lead) in just 34 at-bats.

KEEP STACKING BRICKS

The Tigers and head coach Kerrick Jackson have developed a new winning ritual: stacking bricks.
After each win, the Tigers add a brick to the wall, each of them resting on three black cinder blocks at the base of the wall that each display one of the team's three core values: accountability, respect and connection.
The bricks themselves have a color-code black are non-conference victories, gold are SEC victories and tiger-striped brick signifies a series-clinching victory.

DEFEND THE TURF

Mizzou is in its first season of a brand-new turf surface at Taylor Stadium, and the Tigers are off to a 10-3 start on the new digs.
With their 10-0 shutout of UIC on Sunday (March 8), the Tigers officially have more home wins this season than they had all of last season, going 8-20 at Taylor Stadium in 2025.

NON-CON DOMINANCE

After concluding the 2025 season with a 13-11 record against non-conference opponents, the Tigers are off to a 15-3 start in 2026.
Last year's Tigers clinched a winning non-con season slate for the 11^th time in the last 12 seasons; only MU's 2021 squad (7-14) failed to reach the .500 mark vs. non-SEC foes over that span.
Over the last 13 seasons, the Tigers' dominance has been equally impressive, with MU winning 116 more non-conference games than it has lost (207-91).

C-LOHSE-ING TIME

Lefty Ian Lohse has served as a key back-end bullpen piece so far for the Tigers, locking down four saves through the first 21 games of the season - tied for second in the SEC and 11^th nationally.
He recorded three saves in a matter of four days from Feb. 25-28, including two in the same day in the double-header sweep of NDSU on Feb. 28.
On the season, the sixth-year southpaw has pitched to the tune of a 3.86 ERA over 7.0 innings, racking up 11 strikeouts.

HISTORIC OFFENSIVE OUTPUT

Mizzou baseball used a record-setting performance from its offense in Sunday's series finale to earn a dominant 34-3 victory over Mount St. Mary's on Feb. 15.
Missouri's 34 runs were its second most in a single game in program history and the most since a 35-run outing in 1902.
As a team, the Tigers had a program-best 32 RBI, passing the previous record of 28 against Texas on April 19, 2008.
In addition, the Tigers' 26 hits matched a program record that had been done just twice (2005 vs. Navy; 2008 vs. Texas).
Lead-off hitter Tyler Macon went 6-for-6 (eight RBI) to become the third Tiger in program history with a six-hit performance while Jase Woita, batting second, went 4-for-7 with a home run and eight RBI. The top two spots in the Tigers' lineup combined to go 10-for-13 with 16 RBI and seven runs scored, while both Macon and Woita came up one RBI short of tying the school record (nine).
Left fielder Isaiah Frost was overshadowed while still having a huge day at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a double and five RBI.
Four Tigers scored four runs apiece: Macon, Chris Patterson, Jamal George and Gehrig Goldbeck.
Overall, 11 Tigers recorded hits while 13 players scored a run.

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