Mizzou Baseball Run-Rules Southern to Close Season-Opening Road-Trip

An 10-run eighth inning ends the Tigers trip south on a high note before they head back for their home-opener.

Amber Winkler | Feb 23, 2025

The Jackie Robinson Training Complex was the host of the Andre Dawson Classic. / Mizzou Athletics

The Missouri Tigers offense and pitching has been spotty in the first few games of their young season. If one side was going right, the other seemed to fall off.

But against the Southern Jaguars, everything seemed to be going right. The Tigers, propelled by a 10-run eighth inning, run-ruled the Jaguars 15-3.

On the mound, Missouri starter Kadden Drew tossed a gem. He threw six shutout innings, allowing just five hits and one walk. Drew was able to work through trouble in the third and sixth inning to keep the Jaguars from touching home.

From the plate, the Tigers put 14 balls into play and scored 15 runs. It started out slow with just two runs in the first four innings. Southern starter Nick Luckett had Mizzou's number and the two runs they scored off him in the first couple innings were helped with errors committed by Southern.

Most notably was third baseman Jackson Lovich making all the way home with one swing of the bat. He didn't get a home run, however, it was a double that left third base wide open for him to take after. Lovich was then able to trot home after a throwing error sent the ball out of play.

The Tigers took advantage of Luckett being left out there a bit too long in the sixth inning, sending in three more runs in that inning. Mizzou's offense got another jumpstart when reliever Kenneth Jackson took the mound in the seventh.

The Tigers added on one run in the seventh and four more onto Jackson in the eighth. The new Southern pitcher, Jeremiah Newman, couldn't stop the rampaging Tigers, who added six onto him. Mizzou was now in run-rule range.

Relievers James Vaughn and Ben Smith closed the game with one inning each. Vaughn struck out two and gave up no runs, while Smith gave up three runs on three hits.

By the end of the game, nearly none of the starters were left. Only right fielder Cayden Nicoletto remained in the game in his original position and second baseman Brock Daniels moved to first. Five freshman got opportunities in the later innings through pinch-hitting or defensive replacements. They had eight RBI's amongst them in the eighth inning, with Brady Picarelli being the standout.

Picarelli came in as a pinch-hitter for centerfielder Kaden Peer and quickly swatted his first career home run. He then came back up to the plate later in the inning and hit a double to bring in two more runs. Picarelli has made only one other appearance this season, with a single at-bat against UCF in the midweek game.

Missouri finished with a 2-1 record in the Andre Dawson classic and moves to 3-4 on the season. The Tigers will take on Lindenwood at home at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 25 for their homeopener.

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