Baseball Hosts No. 4 Tennessee for SEC Opening Weekend

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Missouri baseball opens its 11th season of Southeastern Conference play this weekend, hosting No. 4 Tennessee in a three-game series at Taylor Stadium (March 17-19), beginning with a 3 p.m. contest Friday (March 17).

Winners of 11 of its last 12 games, Mizzou belted six home runs Tuesday to edge Lamar, 10-8, hiking its overall mark to 13-3 this season. Hank Zeisler accounted for three of those homers, becoming the first Tiger since Trey Harris in 2017 to go deep three times in one contest.

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, each of the three games in the series will be streamed live on SEC Network+.

PITCHING PROBABLES

• Friday-RHP Chandler Murphy (Mizzou) vs. RHP Chase Dollander (Tennessee)
• Saturday-RHP Rorik Maltrud (Mizzou) vs. RHP Chase Burns (Tennessee)
• Sunday-TBD (Mizzou) vs. RHP Drew Beam (Tennessee)

PROMOTIONS

• St. Patrick’s Day Mizzou Jersey (Friday-first 250 students)
• Raising Canes (Friday-first 500 students)
• Beat Tennessee buttons (Friday)
• Mizzou Spatula (Saturday-limited quantities)
• Boone Electric Cooperative Family Funday (Sunday) – Kids run the bases, postgame autographs and trading cards.

SEC OPENING WEEKEND

• Mizzou is 10-17 all-time on the opening weekend of SEC play. 
• In its nine previous SEC-opening series, the Tigers have claimed just two of those – both sweeps of Georgia (2015) and Alabama (2017).
• This weekend marks the second time the Tigers have opened the SEC slate against Tennessee; the Volunteers took two of three games from Mizzou to open the 2014 league season in Columbia.

SERIES HISTORY

• Missouri brings a slim 14-13 all-time edge over Tennessee into the weekend.
• The Volunteers claimed all three meetings with the Tigers last season in Knoxville (April 8-10, 2022).
• Tennessee has won six straight against the Tigers, sweeping each of the last two season series (2021-22).
• Mizzou and UT have split their previous 12 meetings in Columbia.

HOME COOKIN’

• Missouri concludes its 12-game home stand this weekend, bringing an 8-1 record at Taylor Stadium into the series.
• The Tigers have hit .312 as a team during their current home stand, averaging 1.8 home runs and 8.4 runs…