
Baseball Claims SEC Road Series Win at No. 24 Kentucky
4/5/2026 4:32:00 PM | Baseball
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Mizzou baseball defeated No. 24 Kentucky, 5-2, on Sunday afternoon at Kentucky Proud Park to earn its first road series win over a ranked opponent since 2021. Freshman Blaize Ward had a career day, going 3-for-3 and reaching base all five times he came to the plate while the Tigers' bullpen posted five scoreless innings in the victory.
The Tigers struck first in the top of the second, plating the game's first run on an opposite-field single by Ward as Pierre Seals came home to score after leading the inning off with a double. Kentucky evened the score in the bottom half of the frame on an RBI single from Scott Campbell Jr.
The Wildcats took the lead temporarily on a solo home run by Luke Lawrence in the bottom of the third.
In the fifth, Mizzou put together a four-run inning to jump back in front, 5-2. Shortstop Kam Durnin drove in the first run of the inning with a sac-fly to center field and Keegan Knutson came in on a first and third double steal play. Ward knocked his third hit of the game and drove in his second run with a single through the right side before a bases-loaded walk drawn by fellow freshman Juliomar Campos forced in the fourth run of the inning.
Freshman RHP Sam Rosand made his first career start and was efficient, using 52 pitches to work four innings and allow just two runs on five hits with one strikeout and one walk. Lefty Juan Villarreal relieved Rosand in the fifth and posted three hitless, scoreless frames to keep the score at 5-2 and bridge the gap to freshman RHP Eli Skidmore.
Skidmore answered the bell with a pair of scoreless, one-hit innings of his own in the eighth and ninth to finish the game and earn his first career save as the Tigers earned the series win over the 24th-ranked Wildcats.
NOTEBOOK
- The series win over the No. 24 Wildcats marks the first road series win over a ranked opponent for the Tigers since taking down No. 3 Mississippi State on the road in 2021.
- Kentucky suffered both its second and third home losses of the season at the hands of Mizzou this weekend. With the loss, the Wildcats dropped to an impressive 15-3 at home this season.
- Ward went 3-for-3 and reached base all five times he came to the plate (two HBP). He drove in a pair of runs and notched his eighth multi-hit game and third three-hit game of the season. The freshman extended his on-base streak to 14 games as he has now hit safely in 13 of his last 14 games.
- Villarreal was electric out of the bullpen, throwing a season-high three innings without allowing a hit (0 R, 0 H, 1 K, 2 BB) to earn his first win as a Tiger.
- Skidmore earned his first collegiate save with a pair of scoreless innings (1 H, 0 R, 1 K, 2 BB).
- Peer extended his on-base streak to 21 games with a 1-for-5 day at the plate.
- Jase Woita extended his on-base streak to 28 games with a hit by pitch – the longest by a Tiger this season.
- Durnin went 1-for-4 from the leadoff spot and drove in a run.
The Tigers are back at the friendly confines of Taylor Stadium on Tuesday vs. Missouri State at 6 p.m. CT on SEC Network+. All Mizzou baseball games can also be streamed on the Varsity Network by Learfield, with longtime play-by-play announcer Tex Little on the call and Matt Michaels providing color.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Villarreal, Juan (1-0)
L: Ben Cleaver (1-2)
S: Skidmore, Eli (1)

Batting:
2B: Seals, Pierre 1
RBI: Durnin, Kam 1 ; Ward, Blaize 2 ; Campos, Juliomar 1
SH: Knutson, Keegan 1
SF: Durnin, Kam 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Woita, Jase 1 ; Seals, Pierre 2 ; Maisonet, Eric 1 ; Knutson, Keegan 1
CS: Peer, Kaden 1
HBP: Woita, Jase 1 ; Ward, Blaize 2 ; Campos, Juliomar 1

Batting:
2B: Jayce Tharnish 1
HR: Luke Lawrence 1
RBI: Luke Lawrence 1 ; Scott Campbell Jr. 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Luke Lawrence 1 ; Tagger Tyson 1
HBP: Tyler Bell 1 ; Hudson Brown 1 ; Will Marcy 1 ; Scott Campbell Jr. 1




















