Baseball Hosts Jayhawks Tuesday to Open Final Home Stand

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Missouri baseball opens an eight-game home stand with a 6 p.m. (CDT) nonconference contest against archrival Kansas Tuesday (May 2) evening at Taylor Stadium.

Mizzou is a perfect 9-0 in midweek action (Tuesday and Wednesday games) this season and brings a 19-3 overall mark against nonconference foes into Tuesday’s game.

The Tigers and Jayhawks will meet for the 350th time in a series that dates back to 1901.

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, Tuesday’s contest will be televised live on the SEC Network, with Clay Matvick and Mike Rooney calling the action.

PITCHING PROBABLES

Tuesday, May 2 (6 p.m.) – LHP Nic Smith (Mizzou) vs. RHP Steven Andrews (Kansas)

PROMOTIONS

Mizzou Baseball Tickets

• Taco Tuesday – Half-priced walking tacos
• Free Mizzou cowboy hats (first 500 students)
• Raffle for Kansas City Royals tickets

SERIES HISTORY

• Kansas has been the Tigers’ most frequent opponent, with Mizzou holding a 218-129-2 all-time series edge.
• Mizzou is looking for third straight win over KU after claiming a 14-6 victory last April in Columbia and an 8-3 win in the two clubs’ previous meeting this season on March 22 in Kansas City.
• Luke Mann has tormented KU pitching over the last four seasons, hitting .462 with two homers and six RBIs in four previous games against the Jayhawks.

MEET THE TIGERS

• Missouri is off to a 24-19 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 six wins over RPI Quadrant I clubs to its credit, including five vs. teams rated among the top 25.
• Mizzou is 13-6 at home thanks in part to a pitching staff that has limited the opposition to a .218 batting average and 4.1 runs per game at Taylor Stadium.
• Mizzou ranks fourth in the SEC in hit by pitches (72), fifth in triples (11) and sixth in sac flies (23).
• The Tigers pitching staff ranks 30th nationally in hits allowed per nine innings (8.17).
• Mizzou has out-hit the competition in 26 of its 43 games, going 22-4 in those contests.
• Tre Morris has been the Tigers’ top two-out hitter this season, logging 10 hits in 30 at-bats (.333).
• Trevor Austin has driven in runs in 13 of his 14 chances with runners on third base and less than two out.
• Ty Wilmsmeyer’s total of 18 steals ranks second in the SEC, while Mizzou ranks fifth as a team (56).
• Dylan Leach has reached base safely in 15 of his last 16 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 eight starts and leads all freshman SEC hurlers in strikeouts with 59.
• Rorik Maltrud ranks 23rd nationally in strikeouts/9.0 IP (12.67) and eighth among all SEC pitchers in overall strikeouts (61).
• Hank Zeisler has been one of the Tigers’ most consistent offensive threats, totaling 12 home runs and 46 RBIs to date, while ranking third in the SEC in triples (3) and 10th in walks (36); the first baseman has produced 21 two-out RBIs this season.
• Zach Franklin leads the club with six victories and two saves in 16 total appearances; the graduate transfer ranks fifth among all active NCAA Division I pitchers in career victories (22) and seventh in career strikeouts (266).
• The Tigers are 21-4 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 43 games and ranks 28th nationally in K’s/9.0 IP (10.1).

MEET THE JAYHAWKS

• Under the direction of first-year head coach Dan Fitzgerald, Kansas has gone 21-23 to start the season.
• The Jayhawks dropped two of three on the road against Oklahoma over the weekend to fall to 6-12 in Big 12 Conference play.
• Kansas is hitting .277 as a team with 54 home runs through its first 44 games.
• Kodey Shojinaga paces the KU offense with a .369 batting average to go along with five home runs and 29 RBIs.
• Cole Elvis leads the Jayhawks with 11 home runs, while Chase Jans has racked up a club-best 44 RBIs.
• On the mound, Collin Baumgartner leads the way for KU with a 4-1 record, 4.34 ERA and 58 strikeouts.
• The Jayhawk pitching staff has logged a 6.14 team ERA and combined on three total shutouts.

TIGERS AT THE TURNSTILES

• Mizzou has opened the home portion of its schedule by winning 13 of its first 19 games at Taylor Stadium, drawing 13 different crowds of 1,000 or more and a total of 25,005 fans over 16 home dates, good for an average of 1,562 spectators per date.
• That marks a 57-percent increase in year-to-date home attendance compared to the first 16 home dates of the 2022 season, when Mizzou drew 15,873 spectators and six crowds of 1,000 or more for an average of 993 fans per game over the same stretch.
• Both the Tigers season total and single-game attendance average are on pace to shatter the program’s single-season marks, previously set in 2008, when MU drew a total of 31,450 fans over 26 dates, for an average of 1,210 fans per game.
• Mizzou needs to draw a total of 6,446 fans over the final eight home games to break the club’s single-season mark.

YOUNG GUNS ARMED AND DANGEROUS

• Mizzou’s pitching staff has received a needed boost from its talented freshman class, which features five hurlers—Sam Horn, Brock Lucas, Logan Lunceford, Nic Smith and Daniel Wissler—who have combined to post a 10-4 mound mark through the first 43 games of the season.
• Lunceford, who has fanned six or more batters in six of his eight starts, leads all SEC freshman pitchers in opposing batting (.196) and strikeouts (59) while earning a role in Mizzou’s weekend rotation.
• Led by Lunceford’s three victories and Smith’s 4.29 ERA, the group has posted a combined 115 strikeouts over 110.2 innings.

SUPER-MANN TAKES FLIGHT

• Luke Mann continued his climb up the Mizzou home run chart (see above), hitting the 39th and 40th homers of his career in Mizzou’s April 15 win at Texas A&M to gain sole possession of the No. 5 spot on the list.

• Mann became the second Tiger in 10 days to hit three home runs in a game March 24 at No. 4 South Carolina as part of a career-best four-hit performance.
• Mann needs two more long balls to match the career totals of Aaron Senne and Ryan Fry, currently tied in the No. 3 position with 42 round-trippers.
• The St. Louis native logged a career-best 12-game hit streak (Feb. 24-March 15).
• The fifth-year third baseman hit .400 (18-for-45) with four homers and 11 RBIs during his hit streak.
• Mann was tabbed for first-team preseason laurels, becoming the first Tiger honoree since Kameron Misner’s second-team selection five years ago.
• Mann’s 17 home runs in 2022 were the most by a Tiger since Ehlers hit 18 round-trippers in 2004.

NON-CON DOMINATION

• Mizzou’s 19-3 mark against non-SEC foes continues a string of recent dominance in nonconference play.
• The Tigers went 18-3 in nonconference play last spring as well, giving them an overall mark of 37-6 in non-SEC competition since the start of the 2022 season.
• The SEC continues to dominate the top spot in the conference RPI ratings, bringing a Division I best 0.5931 rating into the week; the league’s 259 nonconference victories and 0.8094 nonconference win percentage are tops among all conferences as well.
• Mizzou is hitting .296 against non-league foes and averaging nearly 10 hits per contest, while also posting a 3.85 team ERA.
• Individually, Luke Mann is hitting .352 with six homers and 17 RBIs during nonconference play.
• During Steve Bieser’s tenure as head coach, the Tigers have posted a cumulative 118-39 record in nonconference play, good for a .752 win percentage.

THROWING SMOKE

• Mizzou’s pitching staff is off to a blazing start, with 21 double-digit strikeout totals in 43 games.
• With 403 K’s, the Tigers could threaten the program’s single-season record for strikeouts (559 in 2019).
• The Tigers rank 28th nationally as a staff in strikeouts per nine innings (10.1).
• Mizzou’s team WHIP of 1.42 ranks 56th among all Division I pitching staffs, while the Tigers’ 8.17 hits allowed per game ranks 30th in the nation.
• As a staff, the Tigers have limited the opposition to a collective .238 batting average, with nine different pitchers logging averages against below that figure.
• Individually, Zach Franklin’s season total of six wins is tied for 43rd among all Division I pitchers.
• Franklin, who ranks second in the SEC in games finished (14), has logged all six of his victories out of the bullpen, fashioning a 4.26 ERA and 51 of his 52 strikeouts in relief appearances.
• Austin Troesser has been strong for the Tigers in relief as well, recording two wins, a save and a 3.51 ERA with 27 K’s over 25.2 innings out of the bullpen this season.

BIESER BELIEVER

• Mizzou head coach Steve Bieser is in his seventh year guiding the Tigers, entering the weekend with a 182-150-1 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 Tuesday’s game with a career 320-247-1 mark in 11 seasons.
• The Tigers have finished with an overall record above .500 in five of Bieser’s six seasons.
• 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.