Mizzou prepares for second year of Kerrick Jackson era
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Mizzou baseball is gearing up to make a run at reaching its first NCAA Regional since the 2012 season.
The Tigers are set to begin their second season under head coach Kerrick Jackson at the Puerto Rico Challenge, starting on Feb. 14.
On Wednesday, MU was picked to finish last in the conference by the league's head coaches in this year's SEC Baseball Coaches Poll and did not have any preseason All-SEC selections. Entering the 2025 campaign, Coach Jackson is expecting the SEC to be even more challenging this season with the additions of Texas and Oklahoma but recognizes that his team was just a few plays away from playing postseason baseball last year.
"Damn, damn tough, right? I mean you're, you're adding two teams that are regional teams and perennial regional teams and super regional teams and teams that have gone to Omaha, so when you just make the pool that much deeper, it becomes a a very even more competitive league than what it was," Jackson said at Tuesday's press conference. "The beauty about the SEC is you don't have to win the league to put yourself in a position to be a regional. Last year they took 11 teams, and you guys saw us play. Last year, we had 32 losses, 14 of those 32 losses were two runs or less. We win the right seven games, we go from 13th place to 8th place in the SEC. We're in 8th place in the SEC, we're in a regional, right? 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 to be in a good position."
You can watch the full press conferences with Coach Jackson, pitcher Xavier Lovett and infielder Jackson Lovich in the slideshow above.
Jackson guided Mizzou to a 23-32 record (9-21 in SEC play) in his first season at the helm of the program but led his team to several signature wins, including a sweep of No. 4 Florida and victories over No. 21 Kentucky, No. 14 South Carolina and No. 18 Mississippi State. Jackson and his staff established a new culture over the course of the 2024 campaign, and now, his team is entering the new season bought into those beliefs and with a different mentality.
"The things that we wanted to implement from a mental standpoint and a culture standpoint, it took last year's team a little bit to get it. These guys came in with it," Jackson said. "They have embodied it, and they've held each other accountable. They work together. They love playing with each other, so that's been the biggest difference we've seen."
"I feel like we have a lot of guys who are more bought into the culture that Coach Jackson and the coaching staff has been applying since last year, so I feel like that's been a really good thing for this team," Mizzou right-handed pitcher Xavier Lovett said. "No Opportunity Wasted. I feel like we have really took that as a team, took that to heart, and that's what we try to apply each and every day. I can see it in every last one of our guys."
Jackson has been impressed with the work ethic his team has embodied this offseason and believes his group will be improved offensively and defensively compared to last year. However, Mizzou has already encountered some adversity. The team announced their expected starting shortstop Gehrig Goldbeck will only be available as a hitter this season after undergoing Tommy John Surgery.
Despite Goldbeck's unfortunate injury, MU will have some reinforcements on its pitching staff this season. After missing the entirety of the 2024 campaign due to Tommy John Surgery, Sam Horn and Blair Oaks graduate Wil Libbert are both healthy and ready to make an impact for the Tigers this season. Although Horn's rehab and throwing process went well, Jackson said the team will take its time with building up his pitch count as Horn prepares to focus on spring football in March. However, Jackson is also excited about Libbert's return and believes he could put himself into a position to be the team's closer this season.
"I think the biggest thing is what type of opportunity does he earn, right? What can he handle? I think long term he can do just about anything, but in the short term, if you want to be a starter, you got to be able to go through the order twice at least, right? Can you throw your secondary pitches for strikes?" Jackson said. "I think there's a learning curve for him that's going to be there, but if he's able to do those things, I think his role could be any of those, right? His mentality, how good the fastball is, he could close for us as a true freshman because I'm not worried about him going out and being competitive."
MU is set to face tough competition early in the season with its trip to Puerto Rico Challenge. The Tigers will battle two teams that earned 2024 NCAA Regional bids in their three games at the event, including UConn who reached NCAA Super Regionals last season. Facing competitive teams early in its schedule could pay dividends for Mizzou on the road to SEC play.
"I just think good baseball. I mean, that's really what we're expecting is we're trying to play the game itself, not the opponent, just play as clean as baseball as we can," Lovich said. "I think any experience helps, just learn more about the team and learn more about each other, is kind of how I see it helping."
Mizzou's season opener against Penn State is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 14 at 3 p.m. in Puerto Rico.
