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Missouri will lift the lid on its 130th season of varsity baseball Friday (Feb. 17) against No. 11 Oklahoma State at 11 a.m. (CT) to open the College Baseball Showdown at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
The Tigers’ matchup with the Cowboys is the first of three contests against nationally-ranked Big 12 Conference foes on the weekend, preceding Mizzou’s Saturday (Feb. 18) 3 p.m. game vs. No. 26 Texas and Sunday’s (Feb. 19) 6:30 p.m. tilt against No. 16 TCU.
Mizzou is 80-42-1 all-time in season openers and 3-3 in such contests under head coach Steve Bieser. The Tigers will making their first season-opening trip to the Lone Star State since 1975.
ABOUT MISSOURI
• Mizzou’s 2023 roster features a heavy helping of talent from within the state of Missouri’s borders, with 16 players hailing 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.
• A host of newcomers should bolster a group of 14 returning letterwinners; 10 freshmen will join 10 transfers to give the Tigers a new look across the diamond in 2023.
• Joining Luke Mann and Trevor Austin as key returning regulars will be catchers Tre Morris, outfielders Carlos Pena, Ross Lovich and Ty Wilmsmeyer and infielder Justin Colon.
• On the mound, Mizzou will look to veterans Austin Troesser, Ian Lohse, Tony Neubeck, Carter Rustad and Kyle Potthoff for significant innings and key leadership.
ABOUT THE OPPOSITION
• Oklahoma State enters the season ranked 11th according to the NCBWA and No. 9 in D1Baseball.com’s poll on the heels of a 42-22 campaign in 2022.
• Under the direction of head coach Josh Holliday, the Cowboys were picked to finish second in the Big 12 Conference after going 15-9 in league play to tie for the No. 2 spot in last year’s regular-season race.
• Three different Cowboys were tabbed for preseason All-America laurels, including Friday’s projected starting pitcher Juaron Watts-Brown, a sophomore transfer who earned Freshman All-America and All-Big West honors last year for Long Beach State.
• Fellow OSU stalwarts Nolan McLean and Roc Riggio also netted preseason All-America nods and return to anchor the Cowboys lineup.
• Led by head coach David Pierce, Texas was picked to place fourth in this year’s Big 12 race, after the Longhorns racked up 47 victories and their record 38th College World Series appearance in 2022.
• UT, which enters the year No. 26 in the NCBWA preseason poll, returns All-Big 12 left-hander Lucas Gordon, who went 7-2 with a 3.05 ERA last spring, as well as right-hander Tanner Witt, who missed the bulk of last season with an injury.
• TCU enters 2023 as the preseason favorite in a stout Big 12 field following a 38-22 season and conference title in head coach Kirk Saarloos’s first year at the helm.
• Ten Horned Frogs received all-conference recognition last year and five were drafted over the summer.
• TCU does return Golden Spikes Award candidate Brayden Taylor, who has totaled 25 home runs and over 100 RBIs combined in his first two collegiate seasons.
SERIES HISTORIES
• Mizzou and Oklahoma State will square off for the 213th time in their history to open the 2023 season.
• The Cowboys hold a 133-79 all-time edge in the series, which dates back to 1912.
• The Tigers and Cowboys competed as conference foes for much of the last century, but have not met since 2012, with Mizzou notching a 4-2 victory on Feb. 25 of that year to claim a Big 12 series win in Columbia.
• MU enters the 2023 season with four straight victories against the Longhorns since 2012.
• The Tigers posted a 9-8 win over the Horns in their most recent meeting at the Shriners College Classic on March 1, 2020.
• UT leads the series by a 34-29 count, despite dropping six of the last eight meetings in the series, which dates to 1905.
• Mizzou has faced TCU just 11 times previously, with the Horned Frogs owning a 7-4 series advantage.
• The two teams last played in March 2010 at the Minute Maid Classic in Houston.
HE’S THE MANN
• Luke Mann was cited for Preseason All-SEC honors, becoming the first Tiger in five years to earn preseason laurels.
• The fifth-year third baseman from St. Louis belted 15 of his 17 home runs last season in SEC play.
• Mann’s 17 blasts were the most by a Tiger since Cody Ehlers hit 18 round-trippers in 2004.
• The lefty went long nine times in April 2022, which tied for the most in the SEC.
• His 15 home runs in SEC games ranked second among all league batters.
• With 28 career homers, the third baseman ranks seventh among all active SEC hitters entering the season.
• Mann needs just one more home run to match Tom Ciombor (29) in the No. 10 spot on Mizzou’s career list.
BIESER BELIEVER
• Mizzou head coach Steve Bieser begins his seventh year guiding the Tigers this weekend, entering the season with a 158-131-1 record as MU’s bench boss.
• Bieser is just four wins shy of the 300-victory plateau through 10 seasons as an NCAA Division I head coach, bringing a 296-228-1 mark into action Friday.
• 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.
LOVE THAT LEATHER
• Mizzou featured one of the SEC’s top defenses in 2022, finishing the season with a team .976 fielding percentage.
• The Tigers turned 45 double plays on the season and ranked 24th nationally and second in the SEC in twin killings per outing (0.88).
• Mizzou turned three double plays in their May 14 win over Florida, marking the third time the Tigers recorded three double plays in a game last spring.
• The 45 double plays were the most for a Mizzou team since 2018, when the Tigers turned 46.
• MU also rated 32nd nationally in team fielding.
LOOKIN’ GOOD WITH LOHSE
• Junior lefty Ian Lohse has been a dangerous weapon out of the Tiger bullpen over the last two seasons, posting a 3.55 ERA with five saves in 26 appearances.
• Last season, the St. Louis product limited left-handed batters to a miniscule .071 batting average.
• Lohse fanned 31 hitters in 23.2 innings, collecting three saves and 12 scoreless appearances.
• Notched a team-best 1.40 ERA in 11 SEC outings to lead the Tigers.
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 2022 season.
• The Tigers will play in eight matchups televised on the SEC Network, along with an ESPNU broadcast at Texas A&M on April 13.
• Additionally, four regular-season dates have been designated as potential wild cards, allowing the league to select additional games for broadcast.
• Along with the nine linear broadcasts, Mizzou’s SEC matchups and select non-conference games will stream on SECN+.
• All games at the College Baseball Showdown will be streamed live on FloBaseball.TV.
FOLLOW THE TIGERS
Mizzou baseball season and single-game tickets are on sale now. Individual season tickets for the Tigers’ 27-game home slate, which opens Feb. 28 vs. Lindenwood, are $65 for adult general admission.
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.
