Baseball Hosts Georgia for Final SEC Home Series

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Missouri baseball opens its final home series of the 2023 regular season, welcoming Georgia to Taylor Stadium for a three-game Southeastern Conference series, beginning Friday (May 12) with a 6 p.m. (CDT) contest.

Mizzou (27-20, 7-17 SEC) will be looking to solidify its position in the SEC regular-season standings, as well as the conference’s postseason tournament, after taking two of three league games from Ole Miss last weekend.

The Bulldogs (28-21, 10-14 SEC) enter the weekend riding a hot streak of their own after claiming a series win against Tennessee last weekend, as well as a midweek victory over USC Upstate on Wednesday.

In addition to Friday’s opener, the Tigers and Bulldogs will square off at 2 p.m. Saturday (May 13) in game two, before wrapping up the series with a Noon tilt on Sunday (May 14).

Mizzou will honor 10 graduating student-athletes as part of Senior Day festivities prior to Saturday’s contest. Cam Chick, Zach Franklin, Matt Garcia, Jacob Hasty, Dylan Leach, Rorik Maltrud, Ben Pedersen, Kyle Potthoff, Ty Wilmsmeyer and Hank Zeisler  (as well as 2022 Senior Day honorees Luke Mann and Tre Morris) will all be recognized in an on-field ceremony commencing at 1:30 p.m.

Fans can once again catch Mizzou baseball on the airwaves all season long on KTGR and the Tiger Radio Network. Tex Little and Matt Michaels return to the booth for the call. Additionally, Sunday’s series finale will be televised live on the SEC Network, with Matt Schick and Todd Walker calling the action.

PITCHING PROBABLES

Friday, May 12 (6 p.m.) – RHP Chandler Murphy (Mizzou) vs. RHP Kolten Smith (Georgia)
Saturday, May 13 (2 p.m.) – LHP Javyn Pimental (Mizzou) vs. TBD (Georgia)
Sunday, May 14 (12 p.m.) – TBD (Mizzou) vs. TBD (Georgia)

PROMOTIONS

Friday – Beat Georgia buttons
Saturday – Senior Day
Sunday – Mother’s Day/Family Funday (postgame autographs, kids run the bases, trading cards)

SERIES HISTORY

  • Mizzou and Georgia will meet for the 27th time in Friday’s series opener.
  • The Bulldogs hold a 15-11 edge in the all-time series and have won nine of 11 meetings with the Tigers in Columbia.
  • Last season, Mizzou took two of three from Georgia in Athens, claiming an 11-3 win in the opener and a 10-3 victory in game two, before the Bulldogs rallied for an 11-10 decision in the finale.
  • The Bulldogs have controlled the series of late, winning nine of the last 12 meetings since 2018.

MEET THE TIGERS

  • Missouri is off to a 27-20 overall start this season.
  • The Tigers received votes in at least one major poll for seven straight weeks (Feb. 27-April 10), peaking as high as No. 15 in Collegiate Baseball’s March 20 poll.
  • Mizzou’s 2023 roster features a heavy helping of talent from within the state of Missouri’s borders, with 16 players from the Show-Me State.
  • Additionally, Mizzou head coach Steve Bieser has brought in players from a total of 16 different states, plus the territory of Puerto Rico.

MIZZOU BY THE NUMBERS

  • Missouri has seven wins over RPI Quadrant I clubs to its credit, including five vs. teams rated among the top 25.
  • Mizzou is 16-7 at home thanks to a pitching staff that has limited the opposition to a .243 batting average and an offense that has averaged 7.6 runs per game at Taylor Stadium.
  • Mizzou is currently tied for second in the SEC in triples (14) and ranks fourth in hit by pitches (77).
  • The Tigers pitching staff ranks 35th nationally in strikeouts per nine innings (9.8).
  • Mizzou has out-hit the competition in 29 of its 47 games, going 25-4 in those contests.
  • Matt Garcia has been the Tigers’ top two-out hitter this season, logging 11 hits in 34 at-bats (.324).
  • Trevor Austin has driven in runs in 13 of his 15 chances with runners on third base and less than two out.
  • Ty Wilmsmeyer’s total of 19 steals ranks second in the SEC, while Mizzou ranks fifth as a team (59).
  • Luke Mann matched his single-season career high of 17 home runs (2022) by belting four homers in last weekend’s series with Ole Miss.
  • Dylan Leach has reached base safely in 18 of his last 19 games since March 28, logging 13 of his 20 hits on the season during the same stretch.
  • Logan Lunceford has fanned at least six hitters in six of his nine starts and leads all freshman SEC hurlers in strikeouts with 62.
  • Rorik Maltrud ranks 11th among all SEC pitchers in overall strikeouts (65).
  • Hank Zeisler has been one of the Tigers’ most consistent offensive threats, totaling 14 home runs and 54 RBIs to date, while ranking third in the SEC in triples (3) and eighth in walks (39); the first baseman has produced 26 two-out RBIs this season.
  • Zach Franklin leads the club with six victories and two saves in 18 total appearances; the graduate transfer ranks fifth among all active NCAA Division I pitchers in career victories (22) and eighth in career strikeouts (267).
  • The Tigers are 24-5 when scoring at least six runs, but just 3-15 when failing to do so.
  • The Mizzou pitching staff has logged double-digit strikeout totals in 21 of its 47 games.

MEET THE BULLDOGS

  • Under the direction of 10th-year head coach Scott Stricklin, Georgia enters the weekend 28-21 overall and 10-14 in SEC play.
  • The Bulldogs have won nine of their last 14 conference games since starting the SEC season 1-9.
  • Georgia features two of the SEC’s top hitters in redshirt freshman Charlie Condon, who brings a .410 batting average, 22 homers and 62 RBIs into Friday’s game; Connor Tate is hitting .390 with 13 homers and an SEC-best 76 hits.
  • On the mound, the Bulldogs have been hampered by injuries, but freshman right-hander Kolten Smith has posted a 2-2 mark and 4.82 ERA in 10 total appearances; the duo of Liam Sullivan and Jaden Woods have combined to log 125 K’s this season to pace the Georgia staff.

GETTING OFFENSIVE

  • Missouri’s series win over Ole Miss (May 4-6) featured a breakout performance by the Tiger offense, which plated 38 runs in the three-game set.
  • Mizzou rallied from a seven-run deficit for an 11-9 win in game one of the series, marking the Tigers’ largest comeback win since May 5, 2019 at Tennessee.
  • The Tigers’ three-game run total represented its best ever in an SEC series, and the most scored by a Mizzou offense over a three-game stretch since April 2009, when MU scored 42 runs in a three-game Big 12 Conference series against Texas Tech.
  • Seven different Tigers homered in the series, including five — Luke Mann (4), Ty Wilmsmeyer (3), Matt Garcia (2), Tre Morris (2) and Hank Zeisler (2) — who went deep multiple times against the Rebels.
  • Mizzou scored at least one run in 15 of its final 18 turns at bat in the series, and put up multi-run scoring rallies in 10 different innings over the three-game stretch versus the defending national champions.

TIGERS AT THE TURNSTILES

  • Mizzou shattered a program record for total home attendance in a single season, eclipsing the previous mark of 31,450 fans (2008) last Saturday vs. Ole Miss.
  • MU enters its final home series of the season with a cumulative home attendance total of 32,457.
  • Saturday’s crowd of 2,077 marked the Tigers’ fifth gathering of 2,000 spectators or more in 2023.
  • Through its first 20 home dates at Taylor Stadium, Mizzou has drawn 17 different crowds of 1,000 or more and averaged 1,622 spectators per date, which also represents a high-water mark for the program.
  • This season’s attendance growth marks a 44-percent increase in total attendance from last season, when Mizzou drew 28,181 spectators and 1,127 fans per home date.

LUKE HITTING NUKES

  • Luke Mann continued his climb up the Mizzou home run chart, moving into a tie with Mike Rogers for the No. 2 position on the list by hitting four home runs last weekend in the Tigers’ series with Ole Miss.
  • Mann needs four more long balls to match the career total (49) of Mizzou’s all-time home runs leader, Jacob Priday.
  • Mann was named SEC Co-Player of the Week, as well as one of Collegiate Baseball’s national players of the week on May 8, after totaling five homers and 27 total bases and helping the Tigers average just under 12 runs per game while logging a 3-1 week.
  • The St. Louis native logged a career-best 12-game hit streak (Feb. 24-March 15).
  • Mann was tabbed for First-Team All-SEC preseason laurels, becoming the first Tiger honoree since Kameron Misner’s second-team selection five years ago.
  • Mann’s 17 home runs in each of the last two seasons represent the top two single-season totals by a Tiger since Cody Ehlers hit 18 round-trippers in 2004.

GOING DEEP

  • Mizzou powered up to club 16 home runs in four games last week, hiking its season total to 65 homers.
  • Mizzou has reached the 60-home run plateau on just nine previous occasions, including only once before (2022) during the BBCOR era (2011 to present).
  • Mizzou’s 65 homers this spring represent the program’s top total since the 1998 squad blasted a school-record 110 bombs.
  • This year’s club ranks seventh on Mizzou’s all-time single-season home runs list, trailing the 1997 squad (72) by seven long balls for the No. 6 spot on the chart.

BIESER BELIEVER

  • Mizzou head coach Steve Bieser is in his seventh year guiding the Tigers, entering the weekend with a 185-151-1 record as MU’s bench boss.
  • Bieser topped the 300-victory mark with Mizzou’s 10-4 win at FIU on Feb. 25, and enters Thursday’s game with a career 323-248-1 mark in 11 seasons as a collegiate head coach.
  • The Tigers have finished with an overall record above .500 in five of Bieser’s six seasons.
  • Additionally, Mizzou is 119-39 in nonconference contests during Bieser’s tenure.
  • Bieser’s 104 wins from 2017-19 were the most ever by a Mizzou baseball coach in his first three campaigns.
  • Additionally, Bieser’s win total marked the winningest three-year stretch by the Tigers since 2008-10 (103).
  • Mizzou produced 39 wins in SEC play from 2017-19 as well, marking its top three-year stretch in league play since joining its new conference in 2013.

FOLLOW THE TIGERS

Single-game tickets for all Mizzou baseball home games in 2023 are on sale now and can be purchased by calling 1-800-CAT-PAWS, or by visiting MUTigers.com/feature/BSBTix.

For all the latest information on Mizzou baseball, please visit MUTigers.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow the Tigers on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

This article is provided by University of Missouri Athletics
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