Baseball Hosts Alabama to Open Second Half of SEC Schedule

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Missouri baseball opens the second half of its 2023 Southeastern Conference slate with a three-game set against Alabama this weekend at Taylor Stadium, beginning with a 6 p.m. contest Friday (April 21).

The Tigers (23-13, 5-10 SEC) enter the series looking for their third consecutive victory after mounting a ninth-inning comeback to nip Missouri State on Tuesday, following a 13-5 rout of Texas A&M in their series finale with the Aggies last Saturday.

Alabama (26-12, 6-9 SEC) wrapped up its first SEC series win last weekend, taking the final two games of its series with Auburn, before dropping a midweek contest to UAB on Tuesday.

The matchup features two of the top 24 teams in the nation, according to this week’s NCAA Division I RPI; Mizzou enters the series at No. 22, while the Crimson Tide rates No. 24.

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, Saturday’s contest will be televised live on SEC Network, with Sam Ravech and Lance Cormier on the call, while the Friday and Sunday games will be streamed on SEC Network+.

PITCHING PROBABLES

Game 1 – RHP Chandler Murphy (Mizzou) vs. RHP Luke Holman (Alabama)
Game 2 – TBD (Mizzou) vs. RHP Garrett McMillan (Alabama)
Game 3 – TBD (Mizzou) vs. RHP Jacob McNairy (Alabama)

PROMOTIONS

Mizzou Baseball Tickets
Friday – Beat Bama buttons and trading cards (first 250)
Saturday – Gold Rush/Gold Mizzou t-shirt (first 250)
Sunday – Family Funday (postgame autographs, kids run the bases)

SERIES HISTORY

Missouri and Alabama will meet for the 17th time in Friday’s series opener.
UA holds a 9-7 edge in the series and has won four straight over the Tigers, dating back to 2018.
Alabama swept a three-game series from Mizzou in the two clubs’ last matchup, April 30-May 2, 2021, in Tuscaloosa.
The teams have split their previous six meetings in Columbia, with UA claiming two of three games in the most recent matchup at Taylor Stadium in 2018.

MEET THE TIGERS

Missouri is off to a 23-13 overall start this season, including a 5-10 SEC record.
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 13-3 at home thanks in part to a pitching staff that has limited the opposition to a .192 batting average and 3.5 runs per game at Taylor Stadium.
As a team, Mizzou ranks fourth in the SEC in hit by pitches (61) and fifth in triples (10).
The Tigers pitching staff ranks 15th nationally—and fifth in the SEC—in hits allowed per nine innings (7.62).
Mizzou has out-hit the competition in 25 of its 36 games, going 21-4 in those contests.
Tre Morris has been the Tigers’ top two-out hitter this season, logging eight hits in 23 at-bats (.348).
Trevor Austin has driven in runs in 12 of his 13 chances with runners on third base and less than two out.
Ty Wilmsmeyer’s total of 15 steals is tied for third in the SEC, while Mizzou ranks fifth as a team in steals (48).
Dalton Bargo is hitting a team-best .356 at home, with two home runs and 11 RBIs at Taylor Stadium.
Dylan Leach has gunned down five would-be basestealers to rank second among all SEC catchers.
Chandler Murphy has gone 3-1 with a 2.13 ERA in his four home starts.
Rorik Maltrud ranks 23rd nationally in strikeouts/9.0 IP (13.03) and fifth among all SEC pitchers in strikeouts (32) during conference play.
Hank Zeisler has been one of the Tigers’ most consistent offensive threats, totaling 10 home runs and 39 RBIs to date, while leading the SEC in triples (3) and ranking ninth in walks (31).
Zeisler has produced 18 of his team-leading 39 RBIs with two out.
Luke Mann is hitting a club-best .343 to go along with 12 homers, two of which came in Mizzou’s 13-5 win at Texas A&M last Saturday; the fifth-year third baseman currently sits in the No. 5 spot on the Tigers’ career home run list.
Zach Franklin leads the club with six victories and two saves in 13 total appearances.
As a team, the Tigers are batting .268 through the first 36 games of the season.
The Mizzou pitching staff has logged double-digit strikeout totals in 18 of its 36 games and ranks 18th nationally in K’s/9.0 IP (10.5).

MEET THE CRIMSON TIDE

Under the direction of sixth-year head coach Brad Bohannon, the Crimson Tide enters Friday’s series opener with a 26-12 overall mark and a 6-9 SEC record.
Alabama has been one of the SEC’s top offensive clubs, bringing a .308 team batting average into the series.
Averaging 8.2 runs per contest, the Crimson Tide is led by Tommy Seidl’s .367 batting average and Colby Shelton’s 13 home runs.
On the mound UA has logged a 3.79 team ERA, which is good for fifth in the SEC.
Luke Holman and Jacob McNairy share the team lead with five mound victories apiece.

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 last Saturday’s 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.

FAB FROSH FINDING SUCCESS

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 9-2 mound mark through the first 36 games of the season.
Led by Lunceford’s 3-2 mark and Smith’s 3.24 ERA, the group has posted a combined 101 strikeouts over 91.1 innings.
Smith has been dominant out of the bullpen, logging a 1.74 ERA while holding the opposition to a .162 batting average in his four relief outings.
In addition to MU’s rookie hurlers, freshman designated hitter Dalton Bargo has been a staple in the middle of the Tigers lineup all season; the Omaha native is hitting .277 with three home runs and 16 RBIs while hitting third in the Mizzou batting order 27 times to date.

NON-CON DOMINATION

Mizzou’s 18-3 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 36-6 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 0.6013 rating into the week; the league’s 254 nonconference victories and 0.8247 win percentage are tops among all conferences as well.
Mizzou is hitting .300 against non-league foes and averaging nearly 10 hits per contest, while also posting a 3.89 team ERA.
Individually, Luke Mann is hitting .361 with six homers and 17 RBIs during nonconference play.
During Steve Bieser’s tenure as head coach, the Tigers have posted a cumulative 117-39 record in nonconference play, good for a .750 win percentage.

THROWING SMOKE

Mizzou’s pitching staff is off to a blazing start, with 18 double-digit strikeout totals in 36 games.
With 349 K’s, the Tigers could threaten the program’s single-season record for strikeouts (559 in 2019).
The Tigers rank 18th nationally as a staff in strikeouts per nine innings (10.5).
Mizzou’s team WHIP of 1.36 ranks 37th among all Division I pitching staffs, while the Tigers’ 7.62 hits allowed per game ranks 15th in the nation.
As a staff, the Tigers have limited the opposition to a collective .225 batting average, with seven different pitchers logging averages against below that figure.
Individually, Zach Franklin’s season total of six wins is tied for 17th among all Division I pitchers.
Austin Troesser is working on a string of four consecutive scoreless relief outings totaling 8.0 innings; the junior right-hander has allowed just two hits while fanning eight hitters during the streak.
Troesser has gone 2-1 with a 2.18 ERA in his nine relief appearances this season.
Rorik Maltrud has been dominant as well, ranking among the conference’s leaders in opposing batting, strikeouts and hits allowed during SEC play.

TALK OF THE TOWN

Missouri’s strong start to the 2023 season has brought with it plenty of attention, as the Tigers received votes in at least one national poll for seven straight weeks (Feb. 27-April 10)
Mizzou checked in at No. 22 in this week’s RPI ratings.
The Tigers spent two weeks ranked among the top 25 clubs in the nation, peaking at No. 15 in Collegiate Baseball’s March 20 poll.
Mizzou has opened the home portion of its schedule by winning 13 of its first 16 games at Taylor Stadium, drawing 10 different crowds of 1,000 or more and a total of 19,148 fans over 13 home dates, good for an average of 1,473 spectators per date.
That marks a 44-percent increase in year-to-date home attendance compared to the first 13 home dates of the 2022 season, when Mizzou drew five crowds of 1,000 or more and an average of 1,023 fans per game over the same stretch. That marks a 71.8-percent increase in year-to-date home attendance compared to the first 12 home dates of the 2022 season, when Mizzou drew an average of 855 fans per game.

BIESER BELIEVER

Mizzou head coach Steve Bieser is in his seventh year guiding the Tigers, entering the weekend with a 181-144-1 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 Friday’s game with a career 319-241-1 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.
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 victories).
Mizzou produced 39 wins in Southeastern Conference play from 2017-19 as well, marking its top three-year stretch in league play since joining its new conference in 2013.

TIGERS ON THE TUBE

Missouri is slated to appear in at least nine linear broadcasts on the ESPN family of networks over the course of the 2023 season.
The Tigers will play in eight matchups televised on the SEC Network, as well as last Thursday’s series opener at Texas A&M, which was broadcast live on ESPNU.
Additionally, four regular-season dates have been designated as potential wild cards, allowing the league to select additional games for broadcast.
Mizzou’s SEC matchups and select non-conference games will stream on SEC Network+.

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