Baseball Hosts Vanderbilt for Final Home Series of Season

Friday, May 8

Columbia, Mo.

6 P.M.

Missouri

Vanderbilt

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Baseball Hosts Vanderbilt for Final Home Series of Season

5/7/2026 4:41:00 PM | Baseball

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Baseball is set to host Vanderbilt for a three-game Southeastern Conference series, Friday through Sunday at Taylor Stadium. The weekend series marks the final three home games of the 2026 season for the Tigers.

Game one is scheduled for Friday at 6 p.m. CT, followed by game two at 4 p.m. CT Saturday and Sunday's series finale at 1 p.m. CT. All three games will be streamed live on SEC Network+. Sunday will be Senior Day at Taylor Stadium as the Tigers will honor Peyton Basler, Cameron Benson, Gehrig Goldbeck, Jamal George, Keegan Knutson, Juan Villarreal and Keegan Knutson at approximately 12:35 p.m. CT.

Mizzou (21-26, 4-20 SEC) will aim to get back in the win column after dropping its weekend series at No. 5 Georgia last weekend. Right-handed pitcher Josh McDevitt was sharp on the mound in Friday night's 4-0 loss to the Bulldogs, throwing 6.1 innings and allowing just one run on four hits and zero walks, striking out six.

Tigers' shortstop Kam Durnin had a big weekend in Athens, launching three home runs to bring his season total to seven (second on the team behind Jase Woita, 11). He ripped a pair of solo shots in Sunday's loss and ended the series batting .500 with three homers, three RBI and three runs scored, recording a 1.983 OPS for the weekend.

Vanderbilt (28-22, 10-14 SEC) will enter the matchup coming off a 12-6 win over Louisville on Tuesday night after being swept in Tuscaloosa by No. 24 Alabama last weekend. The Commodores fell 5-4 in the opener before being shut out 5-0 in game two and dropping the finale, 8-5.

As of Thursday, Vandy is No. 68 nationally in RPI and finds itself on the bubble of an NCAA Tournament bid with a 19-year NCAA postseason streak on the line.

All Mizzou baseball games are available via audio stream on The Varsity Network app by Learfield with longtime play-by-play voice Tex Little on the call alongside Matt Michaels providing color.

Expected Pitching Matchup vs. Vanderbilt

Friday, May 8 (6 P.M. CT) – SECN+
- Mizzou – RHP Josh McDevitt (3-5, 3.84 ERA, 84 K, 33 BB)
- Vanderbilt – RHP Connor Fennell (3-2, 5.48 ERA, 82 K, 16 BB)
Saturday, May 9 (4 P.M. CT) – SECN+
- Mizzou – LHP Brady Kehlenbrink (3-8, 6.68 ERA, 83 K, 19 BB)
- Vanderbilt – TBA
Sunday, May 10 (1 P.M. CT) – SECN+
- Mizzou – RHP Keyler Gonzalez (3-1, 4.94 ERA, 30 K, 6 BB)
- Vanderbilt – TBA

SCHEDULE

Mizzou vs. Vanderbilt, Friday, May 8 @ 6 P.M. CT
- Taylor Stadium | Columbia, Mo. | LIVE STATS | SECN+
Mizzou vs. Vanderbilt, Saturday, May 9 @ 4 P.M. CT
- Taylor Stadium | Columbia, Mo. | LIVE STATS | SECN+
Mizzou vs. Vanderbilt, Sunday, May 10 @ 1 P.M. CT
- Taylor Stadium | Columbia, Mo. | LIVE STATS | SECN+

SCOUTING THE COMMODORES

Vanderbilt enters the weekend with a 28-22 overall record and a 10-14 record in SEC play. After being swept by Alabama last weekend, the Commodores bounced back with a 12-6 win over Louisville on Tuesday.
The Commodores have one of the most balanced offenses in the SEC. The offense is headlined by Brodie Johnston and Braden Holcomb. Johnston is hitting .347 with 14 home runs and 43 RBI, while Holcomb is hitting .345 with 13 home runs and 45 RBI.
As a team, they're slashing .290/.400/.534 with 100 home runs, nine triples, and 95 doubles. They've tallied 390 runs and 492 hits in 50 games this season. The Commodores are one of the top teams in the SEC in home runs, slugging percentage and walks.
Mike Mancini leads Vandy with 15 long balls this season, helping the Commodores to the No. 6 national ranking in home runs (100).
On the bump, Vanderbilt holds a team ERA of 5.32 with an average of 9.8 strikeouts per nine innings. They're holding opponents to a .240 average with 490 strikeouts and 235 walks in 429.2 innings pitched.
Friday night starter Connor Fennell has eaten the bulk of innings with 67.1 IP this season. He holds a 5.48 ERA with 82 strikeouts and a 3-2 record.
Defensively, Vanderbilt is fielding .976 with 43 double plays turned.
Vanderbilt is fighting for its postseason life with a 19-year NCAA Regional streak on the line. The Commodores enter the weekend on the bubble at No. 68 in the RPI.

SERIES HISTORY vs. VANDY

Friday's game will mark the 36th all-time meeting between the two programs, with the Commodores holding a 30-5 advantage in the series.
The Tigers trail 3-15 all-time in Columbia, picking up a series win in 2018.
Mizzou last beat Vandy, 5-4, on April 7, 2023.

McDEVITT KEEPS DEALING

Junior RHP Josh McDevitt continues to have an impressive season on the mound for the Tigers, carrying a season ERA of 3.84 over 65.2 innings, striking out 84 opponents to lead the squad.
McDevitt checked in at No. 54 on D1 Baseball's Week 12 Top 100 Starting Pitcher rankings on May 7.
In 12 starts this season, McDevitt has allowed more than four hits only three times.
The junior righty has struck out six-plus opponents in 10 of his 12 starts.
Last time out, he went 6.1 innings and allowed just one run on four hits and zero walks, striking out six.

B.K. HAS IT HIS WAY

Sophomore lefty Brady Kehlenbrink had a career outing on the mound vs. South Carolina on April 10.
He tossed a career-long 7.1 innings and threw over 100 pitches (102) for the second time in his career while allowing no earned runs on just a pair of hits.
He allowed just one unearned run while racking up 10 strikeouts and not issuing a single walk.
It marked the second start this season for Kehlenbrink striking out 10-plus without issuing a walk or an earned run (March 8 vs. UIC).
He followed it up with a six-inning effort at No. 14 Oklahoma on April 18, allowing four runs on eight hits and a pair of walks while striking out 10 for the second-straight start.
Kehlenbrink has struck out six-plus in nine of his 12 starts this season. He has struck out at least eight batters on six occasions.

BLAIZE-ING FRESHMAN

Freshman infielder Blaize Ward has been on a tear as of late, earning SEC Co-Freshman of the Week honors on April 6 after hitting .615 for the week and helping the Tigers win the series at No. 24 Kentucky.
Ward hit .667 in the series at Kentucky with a pair of multi-hit games, including a 3-for-3 effort in Sunday's series-clinching win in which he got on base all five times he came to the plate.
He's batting .306 (37-for-121) for the season after taking on an everyday role midway through the season.
He slugged three home runs in a five-game stretch from April 17-23 – including a leadoff homer vs. SIUE on April 17, the first for the Tigers since Jackson Beaman vs. Illinois on March 26, 2024.
In SEC play, Ward has led the Tigers with a .333 batting average (24-for-72) to go along with a pair of home runs, a double, 13 RBI and eight runs scored, collecting seven multi-hit games in 21 league contests.
Ward was a key part in the Friday night win at No. 22 Tennessee, going 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI.
The Maumelle, Arkansas, native has knocked multiple hits in seven of his last 20 games overall and has hit safely in 21 of his last 27 games.

RANKED ROAD SERIES WIN

After taking down No. 24 Kentucky in Lexington, the Tigers earned their first road series win over a ranked opponent since 2021 at No. 3 Mississippi State.
The series win also marked the first SEC series win of the season for the Tigers as they matched their conference win total from last season through the first dozen games of this year's conference slate.
The Tigers handed the Wildcats just their second and third home losses of the season, respectively, as Kentucky slipped to an impressive 15-3 at Kentucky Proud Park after the defeat.

MAKING STRIDES ON THE MOUND

Under first-year pitching coach Drew Dickinson, the Tigers have made impressive strides on the mound through the first 47 games of the campaign.
As of May 7, the Tigers rank 32nd nationally in strikeouts per nine innings (10.0) and 43rd in hits allowed per nine innings (8.3).
Over 209.1 innings of work, the starting rotation has combined for a 5.16 ERA, 234 strikeouts to 94 walks and opponents are batting just .236 against the rotation.
The bullpen has worked 186.2 innings and compiled a 12-8 record while pitching to a 5.74 ERA with 207 strikeouts while opponents are hitting .256 off the unit.
The Mizzou bullpen was dominant in the series win at No. 24 Kentucky, tossing 13.2 innings and allowing just one earned run (two total), for an ERA of 0.66 for the weekend.

CONSECUTIVE SHUTOUTS FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 2017

The Tigers recorded consecutive shutouts for the first time since May 18-19, 2017, after defeating UIC 7-0 and 10-0, respectively, March 7 and 8.
Those shutouts accounted for 16 innings within a 22-inning stretch of consecutive scoreless frames by Tiger pitchers.

GOING STREAKING!

Mizzou had a 13-game winning streak snapped by No. 6 Auburn on March 13 – its longest since rattling off 20-straight victories in 2017.
South Carolina grad transfer Jase Woita put together a 29-game on-base streak from Feb. 15 to April 9 – the longest by a Tiger this season. He is currently riding a four-game hitting streak.
Shortstop Kam Durnin has put together both an 18-game streak and an eight-game streak this season. Overall, he's been on base in 31 of 35 games. Durnin is currently riding a four-game hit streak.
Center fielder Kaden Peer reached base safely in his first 22 games of the season after returning from injury. The streak came to an end vs. South Carolina on April 9, but he has been on base in 29 of 35 games overall.
Freshmen Blaize Ward and Donovan Jordan along with junior catcher Mateo Serna have each hit safely in three-straight games.

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 batting .311 with a team-best 11 home runs and 44 RBI to rank 16th in the SEC in RBI and 27th in home runs.
In the Friday night game at No. 14 Oklahoma on April 17, Woita slugged a pair of home runs (410 ft., 436 ft.) in a 3-for-4 performance with three RBI and a walk. It marked the second two-homer game of Woita's career and his first in the Black & Gold.
He slugged four home runs in a six-game stretch from April 11-23.
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.
Woita put together a 29-game on-base streak from Feb. 15 to April 9 - the longest streak by any Tiger this season.

PASS THE TORCH

The Tigers have hit consecutive home runs on three occasions this season:
- Sam Parker / Chris Patterson (Feb. 15 vs. Mount St. Mary's, 8^th inning)
- Eric Maisonet / Isaiah Frost (March 5 vs. UIC, 7^th inning)
- Kaden Peer / Cameron Benson / Pierre Seals (March 8 vs. UIC, 3^rdinning)
In the series finale vs. UIC on March 8, the entire starting outfield (Peer, Benson, Seals) went back-to-back-to-back in a matter of five pitches – all solo shots.
It marked the second time of Benson's career being a part of back-to-back-to-back home runs, the first coming April 11, 2023, as a member of the Kerrick Jackson-coached Memphis Tigers in an 11-9 win at Ole Miss.

WEAR IT!

The Tigers are averaging 1.79 HBP per game to rank 47th nationally and third in the SEC, being plunked 84 times so far this season.
Coastal Carolina is the national leader with 118 HBP while Kentucky leads the SEC with 116.
Mizzou has been hit four-plus times on six occasions and has been hit at least twice in nearly half of its games (21 times). Overall, the Tigers have been hit at least once in 33 of 47 games.
The Tigers were plunked a season-high seven times on Feb. 15 vs. Mount St. Mary's.

TRACK MEET

The Tigers rank third in the SEC in triples (11).
Tyler Macon, Eric Maisonet and Isaiah Frost have each hit two on the season to share the team lead.
Oklahoma leads the SEC with 14 three-baggers apiece.

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 12-13 on the new digs.
With their 10-0 shutout of UIC on March 8, the Tigers clinched having more home wins this season than they had last season, going 8-20 at Taylor Stadium in 2025.

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