UT Martin Visits Baseball Tuesday to Open Six-Game Home Stand

COLUMBIA, Mo. – University of Missouri baseball returns to Columbia to open a six-game home stand Tuesday (April 2) when the Tigers welcome UT Martin to Taylor Stadium for a two-game nonconference series. First pitch for the opener is set for 6 p.m. (CDT) Tuesday, with a 3 p.m. Wednesday afternoon tilt slated to complete the midweek series.

The Tigers will be looking to halt a five-game slide after dropping three tightly-contested Southeastern Conference road contests with No. 7 Vanderbilt over the weekend. Tuesday’s meeting will mark just the second meeting of Mizzou (10-18) and UT Martin (11-17).

Each of Mizzou’s games with UT Martin will be streamed live on SEC Network+. All Mizzou baseball games in 2024 will be produced by the Tiger Radio Network and streamed live through the Varsity Network App (by searching ‘Missouri’) with Tex Little and Matt Michaels once again handling broadcast duties.

PITCHING PROBABLES

Game 1 – LHP Daniel Wissler (Mizzou) vs. RHP Choyce Diffey (UT Martin)
Game 2 – RHP Josh McDevitt (Mizzou) vs. TBD (UT Martin)

SERIES HISTORY

Tuesday’s series opener will mark just the second meeting of Missouri and UT Martin.
The Tigers claimed the only previous matchup with the Skyhawks, a 7-3 decision on March 14, 2004 in Millington, Tenn.
This week’s series with UT Martin will mark Mizzou’s third matchup against a member of the Ohio Valley Conference this season; the Tigers dropped a midweek contest to SEMO (Feb. 27), before topping Lindenwood (March 5) at home.
The Tigers bring a cumulative 89-28 all-time record against the current membership of the OVC into Tuesday’s series opener.

SCOUTING MISSOURI

Missouri posted a 30-24 regular-season finish last spring, including a 10-20 SEC mark.
Kerrick Jackson was named the 15th head coach in Mizzou history in June, returning to Columbia to lead a program for which he served as an assistant coach from 2011-15 under Mizzou Hall of Fame head coach (and current pitching coach) Tim Jamieson.
The Tigers return three regular starters from last season, led by senior INF/OF Trevor Austin, who batted .311 with eight homers and 10 steals to help bolster the MU offense.
Senior INF Matt Garcia turned in a solid debut season with the Tigers, providing clutch hitting and lock-down defense on the MU infield.
MU should also receive a lift from sophomore INF Jackson Lovich and junior OF Juju Stevens, who each made key contributions in limited duty in 2023.
Several newcomers could also make early contributions, including junior INF Danny Corona, who helped Wake Forest to a 2023 College World Series berth, C Jedier Hernandez, a standout behind the plate for Seton Hall the last two seasons, and sophomore OF Jeric Curtis, a Texas Tech transfer who brings significant speed to the Tiger outfield and batting order.
On the mound, sophomore RHP Logan Lunceford is back to help anchor Mizzou’s weekend rotation after posting 68 strikeouts to lead all SEC freshman hurlers last spring.
Junior LHP Javyn Pimental also contributed significantly to the Tigers’ mound efforts in 2023, making eight starts for the Tigers.
Mizzou should also benefit from the potential return of a pair of veterans who missed significant time last spring; left-hander Ian Lohse and RHP Carter Rustad missed significant portions of 2023 due to injury following promising starts to the campaign.

MIZZOU BY THE NUMBERS

Missouri is coming off a 30-win campaign last spring, which marked the 20th time the Tigers reached the 30-win plateau in the last 30 seasons, as well as the 35th time overall.
1B Jackson Lovich leads the Tigers with 20 RBIs and a .322 batting mark. The sophomore recorded a career-best 13-game hit streak, February 24-March 15.
Lovich leads the SEC and ranks 16th nationally with three triples.
RHP Brock Lucas brings a streak of 9 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings (spanning three appearances) into the week.
Lucas worked a pair of 4.0-plus inning relief stints in his last two outings, including a career-best 4.1 hitless innings against Kansas (March 19).
LHP Daniel Wissler has allowed three runs of fewer in all four of his starts this season. Additionally, the sophomore has not given up more than three hits in any of his last seven appearances (since Feb. 24).
LHP Javyn Pimental has fanned at least five batters in four of his six outings to date, including a career-best nine punchouts vs. Purdue Fort Wayne (March 9).
Pimental has been outstanding in SEC play, limiting three top 25 clubs to a combined batting mark of .143.
Pimental held No. 1 Arkansas hitless through four frames as part of 5.0 shutout innings on March 17. He also notched his first win of the season against No. 21 Kentucky (March 23), allowing just one run on four hits over 6.0 innings.
INF Justin Colon has been a driving force for the Mizzou offense in the Tigers’ 10 wins, hitting a club-best .438 (7-for-16) with eight RBIs and a .571 OBP.
Colon registered his first four-hit game as a Tiger vs. Northern Kentucky (March 3). The junior also posted career bests for runs scored (4) and RBIs in the win.
OF Kaden Peer recorded a career-best four-game hit streak, March 22-26, hitting .353 (6-for-17).
INF Trevor Austin leads the club with eight home runs, matching his personal season high (2023) and upping his career total to 24 round-trippers.
OF Jackson Beaman led the Tigers with a .364 (4-for-11) batting mark in three games last week. The outfielder also posted team-leading totals for hits, runs scored, RBIs, slugging percentage and walks.
LHP Ryan Magdic has proven to be a valuable weapon out of the bullpen, logging three scoreless two-inning outings to date. The graduate transfer has fanned 16 hitters in just 13.0 innings.
C Jedier Hernandez hit a club-best .360 (18-for-50) with 12 RBIs in March, logging five multi-hit performances in 13 games.
RHP Carter Rustad notched career victory No. 15 March 9 with 6.0 strong innings in MU’s win over PFW. Rustad has posted a 4.67 strikeout-to-walk ratio and ranks fifth in the SEC (and 48th nationally) in walks allowed per nine innings.
RHP Jacob Peaden ranks eighth in the SEC in saves (3) and fourth in games finished (7).
The Tigers rank seventh in the conference in stolen bases (31), led by eight steals from OF Jeric Curtis.
As a team, Mizzou ranks fifth in the SEC in fielding double plays (17).
The Tigers’ pitching staff ranks 33rd nationally in walks allowed per nine innings (3.67).

SCOUTING UT MARTIN

Under seventh-year head coach Ryan Jenkins, the Skyhawks are off to an 11-17 start to the season following an OVC series win over Eastern Illinois this past weekend.
The Skyhawks are hitting .290 as a club, led by OF Will Smith’s .342 average.
UTIL Mac Danford leads UT Martin with 29 RBIs and shares the team lead with six home runs, while INF Cole Smith paces the offense with a .581 slugging percentage to go along with his 24 RBIs.
On the mound, the Skyhawks have posted a 6.25 team ERA to date. Tuesday’s projected starter, RHP Choyce Diffey, has compiled a 2-2 record and 8.31 ERA in 10 outings this spring.
RHP Tucker Reed has been UT Martin’s most dependable arm out of the bullpen, registering a 2.81 ERA to go along with a 2-0 mark and the lone save registered by a Skyhawk this season.

LIGHTS-OUT LUCAS

Sophomore RHP Brock Lucas brings a string of 9 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings into Tuesday’s contest.
Lucas has turned in three straight scoreless relief outings, dating back to March 17.
The St. Elizabeth, Mo., product most recently logged a pair of 4.0-plus inning efforts out of the MU bullpen, including a 4 1/3 inning hitless stint vs. Kansas (March 19), and four additional scoreless frames, allowing just one hit, against Kentucky (March 24).
For the season, Lucas has compiled a club-best 1.89 ERA, while holding the opposition to a .176 batting average.
In his seven outings, Lucas has recorded five scoreless appearances, three of which have extended four innings or more.

TERRIFIC WITH TWO

The Tigers have been clutch this season with two out, both at the plate and on the mound.
Mizzou’s offense has recorded 57 two-out RBIs in just 28 games, while hitting .275 (89-for-324) after the second out has been recorded in an inning this season.
Jackson Lovich has been MU’s most productive two-out threat, hitting a scorching .342 (13-for-38) and driving in 13 runs in such situations.
Mizzou pitchers have been equally dominant, holding the opposition to a collective .206 (61-for-296) two-out batting average.
Brock Lucas has yet to allow a two-out hit, holding the opposition hitless in 21 official at-bats. Jacob Peaden has been nearly flawless as well, limiting MU’s opponents to just one hit in 20 two-out at-bats (.050).

MIZZOU MILESTONES

Several Tigers have reached or are approaching significant career milestones this season.
Tuesday’s series opener will mark Kerrick Jackson’s 200th career game as a Division I head coach.
INF Danny Corona recorded the 100th hit of his collegiate career in last March 19 vs. Kansas at Kauffman Stadium.
INF Trevor Austin sits atop the Tigers’ leaderboard for career hits among active players with 134.
Austin ranks fourth all-time at Mizzou in HBP (38) to go along with his 24 career homers, which is eight shy of cracking the Tigers’ all-time top 10 list.
C Jedier Hernandez enters Tuesday’s game two hits shy of 100 for his career.

NON-CON DOMINATION

Mizzou has claimed nine nonconference victories over the first six weeks of the season, continuing a string of recent dominance in nonconference play.
MU logged a 20-3 mark against non-SEC foes last spring, after going 18-3 in nonconference in 2022.
MU has an overall mark of 47-15 in non-SEC competition since the start of the 2022 season.
Over the last decade, the Tigers’ dominance has been equally as pronounced, with MU winning 100 more nonconference games than it has lost (174-75), good for a .699 winning percentage.

RANK AND FILE

The Tigers notched their first win over a top 25 foe March 23 with their 2-1 victory over No. 21 Kentucky.
The victory also marked head coach Kerrick Jackson’s first conference win — as well as the first SEC win for a Black head coach in the circuit’s history.
Mizzou recorded seven wins over ranked opponents last season, but suffered 18 of its 24 overall losses against ranked clubs.
This year, the Tigers could face as many as 10 ranked SEC foes in weekend series, as each of their scheduled league opponents have spent time in at least one top 25 poll this spring.

MOUND MAGIC

The Mizzou pitching staff has met the challenge of SEC play, logging a team ERA of 3.57 over the Tigers’ last two league series.
Against back-to-back ranked opponents (Kentucky and Vanderbilt), the Tigers have limited the opposition to .238 hitting and an average of just 4.5 runs per game over the six-game stretch.
Mizzou’s three weekend starting pitchers — RHP Logan Lunceford, LHP Javyn Pimental and RHP Carter Rustad — have combined to hold the opposition to 12 earned runs over their 28.0 total innings, while striking out 21 hitters.
Additionally, the MU bullpen has been equally as effective, holding the Wildcats and Commodores to a .206 average. RHP Bryce Mayer has turned in 5.1 scorelesss innings, combining with RHP Brock Lucas, LHP Daniel Wissler, LHP Ryan Magdic and RHP Victor Quinn for 14.0 scoreless frames.

TICKETS
Mizzou baseball 2024 season and single-game tickets are on sale now. Fans can purchase tickets by calling the ticket office at 1-800-CAT-PAWS or by visiting MUTigers.com/Tickets.

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

This article is provided by University of Missouri Athletics