Baseball Set to Begin Four-Game Home Series vs. UIC

Thursday, March 5

Columbia, Mo.

6 P.M.

Missouri

UIC

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3/4/2026 5:23:00 PM | Baseball

Game Notes (PDF)

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Baseball will welcome the UIC Flames to Taylor Stadium for a four-game weekend series, beginning Thursday evening at 6 p.m. CT. Game two of the series is scheduled for Friday at 6 p.m., followed by game three Saturday at 4 p.m. with the finale slated for Sunday at 1 p.m.

The Tigers (10-2, 0-0 SEC) enter the series against the Flames (4-6, 0-0 MVC) looking to extend their eight-game win streak, as one more win would match a pair of nine-game streaks (2023, 2018) as the longest since a 20-game heater in 2017.

All games can be streamed on the Varsity Network by Learfield, with longtime Mizzou play-by-play announcer Tex Little on the call and Matt Michaels providing color. Games one, two and four of the series will be streamed live on SEC Network+.

Expected Pitching Matchups vs. UIC Flames

Thursday, March 5 (6 p.m. CT)
- Mizzou – LHP JD Dohrmann (1-0, 1.64 ERA)
- UIC – TBD
Friday, March 6 (6 p.m. CT)
- Mizzou – LHP Javyn Pimental (2-0, 1.72 ERA)
- UIC – RHP Mason Lei (2-1, 1.96 ERA)
Saturday, March 7 (4 p.m.))
- Mizzou – RHP Josh McDevitt (2-0, 3.21 ERA)
- UIC – LHP Brandon Bak (1-1. 4.24 ERA)
Sunday, March 8 (1 p.m.)
- Mizzou – LHP Brady Kehlenbrink (2-0, 6.00)
- UIC – RHP Mason Buss (0-2, 5.79 ERA)

Schedule

Mizzou vs. UIC, Friday, March 5 @ 6 p.m. CT | Taylor Stadium| LIVE STATS | TV
Mizzou vs. UIC, Saturday, March 6 @ 6 p.m. CT | Taylor Stadium| LIVE STATS | TV
Mizzou vs. UIC, Saturday, March 7 @ 4 p.m. CT | Taylor Stadium| LIVE STATS
Mizzou vs. UIC, Sunday, March 8 @ 1 p.m. CT | Taylor Stadium | LIVE STATS | TV

SCOUTING THE FLAMES

UIC is coming off a 22-33 season in 2025, finishing tied for third in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 16-11 record in conference play.
Junior RHP Mason Lei leads the Flames pitching staff with a 2-1 record with a 1.96 ERA and .177 opposing batting average through his first three starts of the season. He is scheduled to pitch in game two of the series on Friday night.
Junior C/DH Thomas Curry was listed as a MVC Player to Watch ahead of the 2026 season. He currently holds a .300 batting average through his first 10 games this season. Curry is coming off a season where he hit .308 with nine home runs and 39 RBI in 31 games.
Senior LHP Brandon Bak is scheduled to pitch in game three of the series on Saturday afternoon. He currently holds a 4.24 ERA this season through three starts. Last season, Bak threw the programs first no-hitter (7-innings vs. Valparaiso) since the 2004 season.
Senior RHP Mason Buss was a key offseason pickup for the Flames, coming over from Kansas State where he held a 6-3 career record with 53 strikeouts through 70.1 innings pitched.
Senior C/1B/DH Will Smoot currently leads the Flames with a .306 batting average, along with six RBI and a home run.
Freshman shortstop Sean Cody has had a strong start to his collegiate career with a team-leading 10 RBI and two home runs.

ON THE BUMP

Fr. RHP JD Dohrmann is scheduled to make his third start of the season in the series opener on Thursday night. Dohrmann has thrown 11.0 innings and carries a 1.64 ERA and 10 punchouts through his first two collegiate starts. In each of those starts, he has recorded at least five innings of work and five strikeouts.
Gr. LHP Javyn Pimental is expected to be the starter in game two of the series on Friday night, after three strong starts to begin in which he went five-plus innings. Back from Tommy John surgery a season ago, Pimental looks back to his old self, carrying a 1.72 ERA with 17 K through 15.2 innings of work.
Jr. RHP Josh McDevitt is scheduled to take the mound in game three of the series on Saturday afternoon, where he looks for his third win of the campaign. To start the season, McDevitt has gone 2-0 with a 3.21 ERA and 19 K through 14.0 innings of work. With his six punchouts against NDSU last Saturday, he has now recorded six-plus strikeouts in each of his three starts this season.
So. LHP Brady Kehlenbrink will be the starter for the Tigers in the series finale on Sunday afternoon. Kehlenbrink holds a 2-0 record and has thrown at least five innings in each of his three starts this season. The lefty is coming off an outing versus NDSU last Saturday where he went five innings and punched out a career-high nine batters.

OFFENSE CONTINUES TO ROAR

Mizzou leads the SEC in HBP (35) and ranks sixth in the nation and second in the SEC in runs, with 134, trailing only the Georgia Bulldogs (135).
With the Tigers 15-1 victory over UAPB on Feb. 24, they became the fastest team in program history to reach 100 runs (8 Games).
The Tigers' run-rule victory over UAPB on Feb. 24 marked the first time Mizzou has recorded four-straight run-rule wins in the 56-game regular season era (1997).

MACON US GO!

Redshirt-sophomore lead-off hitter Tyler Macon has been a bright spot for the Tiger offense, currently on an 11-game hit streak and has reached base safely in 13 consecutive games dating back to last season.
He leads the nation in hits and continues to rank near the top of several additional categories:
- Hits: 24 (NCAA Leader)
- RBI: 22 (T-No. 2 NCAA, No. 2 SEC)
- Hits Per Game: 2.00 (T-No. 3 NCAA, SEC Leader)
- BA: .480 (No. 25 NCAA, No. 3 SEC)
Through the first 12 games of the season, Macon is leading the nation with 24 hits and an SEC-leading 2.00 hits per game. His .480 batting average is the third best in the conference, while his 22 RBI are tied for first in the SEC and second in the nation. Macon has also recorded three doubles, 18 runs and a 1.161 OPS, all from the lead-off spot in every game but one.
In the record-breaking win over Mount St. Mary's on Feb. 15, Macon became the first Tiger in program history to go 8-for-8 on base – going 6-for-6 at the plate with a pair of doubles, eight RBI and four runs scored, also reaching twice via walk.
In addition, Macon became just the third Tiger ever to record six hits in a game and the first since Jeff Terrell in 1995 (6-for-6, cycle, vs. Iowa State). The other was Jay Hawkins in 1956 in a 27-4 win over Nebraska (6-for-7, school-record six runs scored, three stolen bases, four RBI).

FIVE-PLUS, FOR SURE

Under first-year Mizzou pitching coach Drew Dickinson, five innings has become the standard for Mizzou starting pitchers in 2026.
Through the season's first dozen games, MU starting pitchers Javyn Pimental, Josh McDevitt, Brady Kehlenbrink, JD Dohrmann and Luke Sullivan have gone five-plus innings in every start but one, including each of the first 10 starts of the season.
The starting rotation has combined for a 2.95 ERA and 73 strikeouts over 61.0 innings – walking just 22 batters.
Starting pitchers have yet to record a loss, with an overall record of 7-0, while opponents are batting just .177 against them.

WAITER, BRING ME WOITA

South Carolina transfer Jase Woita has made an immediate impact in the Mizzou lineup this season after hitting .300 with six home runs in 45 games for the Gamecocks in 2025.
The physical, left-handed slugger is off to a hot start with the Tigers, batting .415 with an OPS of 1.154 thanks to a team-leading three home runs through the season's first dozen games.
He's driven in 19 runs (trailing only Tyler Macon for the team lead) and is top-25 in the country in that department.
He drove in a career-high eight runs in the record-breaking 34-3 win over Mount Saint Mary's on Feb. 15 - one shy of the program record for RBI (9) in a game.

C-LOHSE-ING TIME

Lefty Ian Lohse has served as a key back-end bullpen piece so far for the Tigers, locking down four saves through the first three weeks of the season - tied for second most in the country.
Last week, he recorded three saves in a matter of four days, including two in the same day in the double-header sweep of NDSU.
On the season, the sixth-year southpaw has pitched to the tune of a 1.35 ERA over 6.2 innings, racking up 10 strikeouts and walking just three batters.

GOING STREAKING!

Redshirt-sophomore Tyler Macon, the nation's hit leader, is riding an 11-game hit streak entering the four-game series vs. UIC.
Beyond that, Macon has been on base in 13-straight games dating back to last season.
South Carolina grad transfer Jase Woita has been hot at the plate to start the season as well, as the lefty slugger is riding an eight-game hit streak himself.
Outfielder Cameron Benson has been on base in eight-consecutive games and has a hit in three-straight contests.
Outfielder Pierre Seals (seven games) and catcher Mateo Serna (six games) each have on-base streaks going entering the weekend.

ON LIKE DONKEY KONG

Mizzou ranks sixth nationally with a .474 on-base percentage.
The Tigers have drawn 78 free passes to rank 15th nationally in that category.
In addition, MU leads the league and ranks sixth in the country with 35 HBPs.

WEAR IT!

The Tigers are averaging 2.9 HBPs per game to lead the SEC and rank sixth nationally, being plunked 35 times so far this season.
Winthrop leads the nation with 44 HBPs.
Mizzou has been hit five-plus times on four occasions through nine games and has been hit at least twice on seven occasions.
Freshman Blazie Ward was hit three different times in the series finale versus New Haven.

KEEP STACKING BRICKS

The Tigers and head coach Kerrick Jackson have developed a new winning ritual: stacking bricks.
After each win, the Tigers add a brick to the wall, each of them resting on three black cinder blocks at the base of the wall that each display one of the team's three core values: accountability, respect and connection.
The bricks themselves have a color-code black are non-conference victories, gold are SEC victories and tiger-striped brick signifies a series-clinching victory.

DEFEND THE TURF

Mizzou is in its first season of a brand-new turf surface at Taylor Stadium, and the Tigers are off to a 5-0 start on the new digs.

NON-CON DOMINANCE

After concluding the 2025 season with a 13-11 record against non-conference opponents, the Tigers are off to a 10-2 start in 2026.
Last year's Tigers clinched a winning non-con season slate for the 11th time in the last 12 seasons; only MU's 2021 squad (7-14) failed to reach the .500 mark vs. non-SEC foes over that span.
Over the last 13 seasons, the Tigers' dominance has been equally impressive, with MU winning 114 more non-conference games than it has lost (202-90).

HISTORIC OFFENSIVE OUTPUT

Mizzou baseball used a record-setting performance from its offense in Sunday's series finale to earn a dominant 34-3 victory over Mount St. Mary's on Feb. 15.
Missouri's 34 runs were its second most in a single game in program history and the most since a 35-run outing in 1902.
As a team, the Tigers had a program-best 32 RBI, passing the previous record of 28 against Texas on April 19, 2008.
In addition, the Tigers' 26 hits matched a program record that had been done just twice (2005 vs. Navy; 2008 vs. Texas).
Lead-off hitter Tyler Macon went 6-for-6 (eight RBI) to become the third Tiger in program history with a six-hit performance while Jase Woita, batting second, went 4-for-7 with a home run and eight RBI. The top two spots in the Tigers' lineup combined to go 10-for-13 with 16 RBI and seven runs scored, while both Macon and Woita came up one RBI short of tying the school record (nine).
Left fielder Isaiah Frost was overshadowed while still having a huge day at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a double and five RBI.
Four Tigers scored four runs apiece: Macon, Chris Patterson, Jamal George and Gehrig Goldbeck.
Overall, 11 Tigers recorded hits while 13 players scored a run.

STAYING IN THE SHOW ME STATE

The 2026 Mizzou roster features 13 players from the state of Missouri: Dane Bjorn (St. Louis / Lindbergh HS), JD Dohrmann (St. Louis / St. John Vianney HS), Kam Durnin (Linn Creek / Camdenton HS), Isaiah Frost (Lee's Summit / Blue Springs South HS), Leo Humbert (St. Charles / Francis Howell HS), Brady Kehlenbrink (Ballwin / Parkway South HS), Ian Lohse (St. Louis / Marquette HS), Tyler Macon (Kirkwood / Kirkwood HS), Kaden Peer (Chesterfield / CBC HS), Eli Skidmore (O'Fallon / Francis Howell HS), Ben Smith (Springfield / Springfield Catholic HS), Luke Sullivan (St. Louis / Parkway South HS), Richie Swain (Wentzville / Timberland HS).

INTERNATIONAL INFLUENCE

The 2026 Mizzou roster includes five players from outside of the United States: Juliomar Campos (San Juan, P.R.), Jamal George (Trujillo Alto, P.R.), Eric Maisonet (Florida, P.R.), Keyler Gonzalez (Santa Clara, Cuba), Juan Villarreal (Panama City, Panama).

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