The Missouri Tigers are set to begin Year 2 of the Kerrick Jackson era in Columbia looking for some more success.
But Jackson said he believes the team is already close to where it needs to be.
“You guys saw us play last year with 32 losses,” Jackson said. “Fourteen of those 32 losses were two runs or less. We win the right seven games, we go from 13th place to eighth place in the SEC. If we’re in eighth place in the SEC, we’re in a regional. So what I’m trying to get our guys to understand is, play the game clean. Don’t worry about the other team, don’t worry about what the other team can do, don’t worry about their ranking, don’t worry about any of that stuff. We just go out and play the game the way we’re supposed to play the game and we’ll put ourselves in a good position.”
In Jackson’s first year, the Tigers went 23-32 overall and 9-21 in SEC play, the worst overall and conference record the team had ended with since 2021 when Missouri went 15-36, 8-22.
But no program is able to build itself up to its full potential in Year 1 and Jackson said the focus isn’t on the schedule people outside the program place on the team.
“The only people that set a schedule is everybody outside of the program,” Jackson said. “Those that are inside the program understand that It’ll get where it needs to get to when it needs to get there and you don’t put any pressure on that.”
Many of the most important players from last year’s team are back inside the building this year.
Junior infielder Jackson Lovich is back after being second on the team among qualified batters with a .287 batting average to go with six doubles, four triples and 10 home runs, which placed him second on the team.
Lovich came into the season expecting to take over at third base for the graduated Trevor Austin, but with an injury to newcomer Gehrig Goldbeck from Kansas City, Kansas, Community College, Lovich has taken reps at shortstop and might end up as the Tigers’ full-time glove up the middle, but there are a few options as the season gets started.
Goldbeck had to have Tommy John surgery and will not be able to play the field, but Jackson said he will likely remain in the lineup as a designated hitter depending on his recovery.
“We’ve looked at (junior) Peyton Basler, who was (Goldbeck’s) teammate at KCK, who also had a very high fielding percentage, high on base guy, baseball IQ guy,” Jackson said. “We’ve looked at Jackson Lovich there a little bit as well as (freshman) Trey Lawrence, who’s a true freshman for us, who is a really, really solid defender.”
As Jackson continues to figure out his lineup, another sure bat to be involved is sophomore outfielder Kaden Peer who played in 39 games as a freshman and hit .252 with two home runs, while senior catcher Jedier Hernandez, nicknamed Yadier, will return behind the dish after batting .267 with 10 doubles in 39 games last season.
The Tigers also return junior outfielder Jeric Curtis who hit .254 with eight RBI in 34 games last season.
And with those returners come a handful of newcomers.
Junior utility man Cameron Benson joined the Tigers from Memphis, coming with Jackson, going into last season, but redshirted, while senior outfielder Pierre Seals joins the Tigers from Memphis this season by way of the transfer portal.
The Tigers added a handful of players from the junior college ranks in Basler and Goldbeck from KCK, junior infielder Keegan Knutson from San Jacinto CC, junior right handed pitcher Josh Kirchhoff from Iowa Central CC, junior right handed pitcher Aeneas Clark from South Mountain CC, junior infielder Blake Simpson from Connors State College and sophomore right handed pitcher Jaylen Merchant from Division II USC Aiken.
“The guys that are from the transfer portal, if they’ve been in a Division I institution previously, they’ve had that level of experience,” Jackson said. “... The junior college guys, I think you just dig deep into the level that they played and who they are and what their understanding of the game is and then based on that, you can kind of predict. But sometimes, it takes a junior college kid a year or so to transcend and get himself in a position where he understands how the game is supposed to be played.”
The Tigers also return a number of pitchers from last year’s staff with junior right hander Brock Lucas the innings leader among returners after posting a 3.63 ERA in 18 games of relief, throwing 39.2 innings and striking out 32. Daniel Wissler is back as the leading left hander after the junior pitched 37.0 innings to a 4.38 ERA in 13 games and seven starts.
Ian Lohse returns after pitching in 16 games last year as the graduate student pitched 29.1 innings and struck out 31.
“We have some guys that have done some really good things for us,” Jackson said. “We have some good arms, but don’t necessarily have a lot of starting experience. So we’re kind of working through that a little bit to this point.”
The Tigers will also get highly-regarded redshirt freshman Wil Libbert back from Tommy John surgery, as well as sophomore Sam Horn, who will miss time during spring football before returning to the baseball team after.
Jackson still has a lot to figure out about this year’s roster, the rotation, bullpen and lineup as the Tigers head to the Peurto Rico Challenge, where they will play Penn State, UConn, Stetson and UCF before heading to Florida for the Andre Dawson Classic. The Challenge begins Feb. 14.
The Tigers will play their first game at Taylor Stadium when they host Lindenwood at 4 p.m. on Feb. 25.
But as Jackson is figuring all that out, he is sure of one thing that’s already better than last year.
“Our kids’ mentality, the things that we wanted to implement from a mental standpoint and a culture standpoint,” Jackson said. “It took last year’s team a little bit to get it. These guys came in with it and they have embodied it and they’ve held each other accountable and they work together. They love playing with each other. So that’s the biggest difference we’ve seen.”
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