Kentucky Baseball Welcomes Missouri to Lexington this Weekend

Fresh off of a bounce-back comeback victory over Western Kentucky on Tuesday, Kentucky Baseball welcomes the Missouri Tigers to Lexington this weekend for a three-game series.

The Bat ‘Cats are all the way up to No. 18 in the national rankings after winning 18 of its last 19 games. Missouri dropped out of the Top 25 rankings on Monday after being swept by South Carolina, which has started 7-0 in SEC play. The Tigers regrouped however and won back-to-back nonconference games against Illinois and Lindenwood this week. A series victory over the ‘Cats this weekend may catapult the Tigers back into next week’s rankings.

When first pitch is thrown at this weekend’s affairs, it will mark the 28th all-time meeting in the Battle of the Cats. Kentucky leads the all-time series 15-12 but dropped two of three to Missouri in Columbia last season. Missouri Baseball has won one National Championship (1954) and has made the NCAA Tournament 22 times but haven’t made The Big Dance since they departed the Big 12 in 2012.

That luck could change this year, however, as the Tigers were featured in Baseball America’s latest 2023 NCAA Tournament Projection, which was released on March 30th. Missouri landed in the Stillwater Region with Oklahoma State, Dallas Baptist, and Oral Roberts. Kentucky landed in the Louisville Region with Louisville (who they still have to play twice), Indiana (who they run-ruled 12-2 on March 14th) and Wright State (who Kentucky took two of three from early in the season).

Notable Missouri MLB alumni include 3x Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer, 4x All-Star Ian Kinsler, and 1x All-Star Kyle Gibson.

Missouri Impact Players

The Tigers like to start fast. Missouri has outscored its opponents 25-12 in the first inning this season and is 17-0 when they score first. The Tigers are led by 5th-year Luke Mann, who just hit three home runs in a game last Friday against South Carolina. Mann was voted First-Team All-SEC in the preseason, and he is certainly living up to that honor so far. He leads the Tigers in batting average (.361), hits (35), and total bases (65). His 17 home runs hit last season were the most by a Missouri player in 18 years, and he looks well on his way to improving on that number if he continues at this pace.

Missouri has outhit its competition in 20 of 25 games played, going 18-2 in that span. Sophomore Justin Colon has been instrumental to the Tigers’ success this season, as he has reached base safely in 57.9 percent of his leadoff opportunities. The most experienced player on Missouri’s roster, 6th-year Hank Zeisler, leads the Tigers in home runs (nine) and RBI (32). 14 of his 32 RBI were hit with two outs in the inning.

Mizzou is a very talented offensive team, but the pitching staff might be even better. The Tigers’ pitchers have notched 17 double-digit strikeout performances this season and are on their way to breaking the program record for strikeouts in a single season (559). Missouri ranks top 10 in the country with 11.6 K/9 (ninth), 1.21 WHIP (10th), and 6.6 allowed hits per game (sixth).

Starters Rorik Maltrud and Chandler Murphy have anchored the staff. Maltrud is the true ace, having made three starts on the season with a 2.13 ERA. Mizzou will trot Maltrud out to face the ‘Cats on Sunday. Murphy is 3-1 on the season with a 30/25 K:H ratio and a 4.15 ERA. Murphy will start for Mizzou on Saturday. The Tigers are 3-3 in conference play after sweeping #10 Tennessee at home and being swept by #9 South Carolina on the road.

Kentucky Impact Players

Heading into the weekend series, the Wildcats, which are No. 1 in the latest RPI, are tied for the most wins in nation vs. RPI Top 100 and second in wins vs. Top 50. The ‘Cats will be looking to add three more wins to that total with a sweep of Missouri this weekend. Every single game, it seems like a new hero appears to will Kentucky to a win. Before the season, head coach Nick Mingione told KSR that the team’s 2023 battle cry was “WIN FOR KENTUCKY.” The Wildcats have certainly taken this to heart.

This week’s hero was WKU transfer Jackson Gray. Gray’s seventh-inning grand slam propelled the ‘Cats over Western Kentucky on Tuesday to notch their 18th win over the last 19 attempts. Gray is up to third on the team with a .356 average and is second in total bases (52). Gray is riding a six-game hitting streak and has notched two or more hits in four of those games. He has seemed to find his footing in the blue and white. Longwood transfer Hunter Gilliam forms a dynamic transfer duo with Gray, as Gilliam has blossomed into one of the best first basemen in all of the SEC. Gilliam is in the midst of an 18-game hitting streak and hasn’t been held without a hit since February 25th. If Gilliam can notch a hit on Friday night, he would have gone the entire month of March without a hitless contest.

Tyler Bosma and Zack Lee will be starting for Kentucky this weekend. These two have been very reliable this season. Lee has transformed into the Wildcat ace, sporting a 3-0 record with a 2.73 ERA. He has struck out more batters (29) than hits allowed (22) and has given up just five XBH in 105 batters faced. Bosma’s ERA swelled to 5.13 after a rough outing against Alabama, but he has still been solid this season. In 26.1 IP, Bosma is 3-1 with 16 strikeouts.

Kentucky will be looking to improve to 7-0 in three-game series this season and 3-0 in SEC series. With a series victory, the ‘Cats may find themselves in the Top 15 of Monday’s rankings.

Game 1: Friday, March 31st, 2023 (Kentucky Proud Park – 6:30 PM)
UK: TBD vs MIZ: RHP Austin Troesser (2-1, 2.66 ERA, 20.1 IP)
Game 2: Saturday, April 1st, 2023 (Kentucky Proud Park – 2:00 PM)
UK: LHP Tyler Bosma (3-1, 5.13 ERA, 26.1 IP) vs MIZ: RHP Chandler Murphy (3-1, 4.15 ERA, 30.1 IP)
Game 3: Sunday, April 2nd, 2023 (Kentucky Proud Park – 12:00 PM)
UK: RHP Zack Lee (3-0, 2.73 ERA, 29.2 IP) vs MIZ: RHP Rorik Maltrud (1-0, 2.13 ERA, 25.1 IP)

NEED you this weekend, #BBN! No changes to tonight's game as of now.

🆚 No. 25 Missouri
🏟 Kentucky Proud Park
⌚️ 6:30 p.m. ET
📻 https://t.co/YSiOMplyn8 AM WLAP
📊 https://t.co/WpYBTSiINp
💻 https://t.co/NZ1lmmqOIB
🎫 https://t.co/TyzqeF9g9T pic.twitter.com/zhlF2S6l9Q

— Kentucky Baseball (@UKBaseball) March 31, 2023