Mizzou baseball topples No. 24 Kentucky for first SEC series win of season

LEXINGTON, Ky. (KMIZ)

The Mizzou baseball team's first SEC series win since May of 2025 came in ranked fashion.

On Sunday, the Tigers proved they are the ultimate cats with a 5-2 win over the No. 24 Kentucky Wildcats in Lexington. With the victory, head coach Kerrick Jackson and his team moved to 19-14 overall and 3-9 in Southeastern Conference play.

After Mizzou took an early one-run lead in the second inning, thanks to Blaize Ward RBI single to left field, the Wildcats responded with a pair of runs in the second and third innings. However, that's where the production at the plate would end for UK, as the the Tiger pitching staff managed to shut the home team out the rest of the way.

True freshman pitcher Sam Rosand earned the win on the hill for MU. Outside of the pair of runs he gave up in the home half of the second and third innings, Rosand was in control. He struck out one batter and allowed five hits through 4.0 innings of work for his second victory of the season.

Senior Juan Villareal and freshman Eli Skidmore took Mizzou over the finish line with a shutout relief effort. Villareal was tremendous, throwing 3.0 innings of no-hit ball, striking out one UK batter. Meanwhile, Skidmore earned his first save of the 2026 campaign with 2.0 innings of one-hit ball.

At the dish, a four-run fifth inning is what lifted Coach Jackson and his team to a win, on Sunday. Camdenton alum Kam Durnin got the rally going with a fly-out to center field to plate the tying run. After that, senior Keegan Knutson came home to take the one-run lead, while junior Kaden Peer was thrown out stealing second base.

From there, the Tigers only put some insurance on their lead, as Ward was blazing hot at the dish. The true freshman brought home his second runner of the afternoon on an RBI single down the first base line. With that 4-2 lead in hand and the bases loaded for Mizzou, freshman Juliomar Campos came home on a bases loaded walk to get the lead up to three runs.

Up next - Mizzou will return home to Taylor Stadium to host Missouri State in an in-state showdown. First pitch against the Bears is set for Tuesday at 6 p.m. in Columbia.