- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 445,511
- Reaction score
- 44
ST. CHARLES, Mo. -- There's no hiding it.
Missouri baseball has been behind the times in the SEC.
As the program spirals towards a possible 0-30 record in conference play, it also flirts with history. The last winless season in the SEC came in 1962 from Vanderbilt, a school now seen among the top of the sport in the past two decades.
The notion Missouri will regain strength and resources to compete at a regional level next season is an unfair expectation, but athletic director Laird Veatch remains confident the school is taking the right steps to support coach Kerrick Jackson and his program.
"It is a challenge, right?" Veatch said Tuesday about resuscitating the baseball program during his "ZOU to YOU" Tour media session. "We got to continue to support our coach and help him be successful, and that's a process, right? It doesn't happen overnight. You look at what happened with say Mizzou football here just a handful of years ago.
"We weren't quite there, but we stood through it. And we supported the coach, and we continue to knock out the things you need to to get there. It's a part of its investment, part of its support. We need to have a plan. We need to roll up our sleeves and get after to get there."
That supports starts with a large investment.
Missouri issued a release April 22, advertising for bids to replace the turf field at Taylor Stadium. The request came with an estimated cost of $1.3-1.4 million.
"It's a driving need," Veatch said. "Candidly, we have several areas, particularly in our Olympic sports, from a facility standpoint, that are just woefully behind. That was one of them. It got to the point where it is not a luxury. It's a necessity. In order to have safe competitive competition, we got to be able to provide those services and do those things."
The majority of SEC teams have full turf fields, but this movement from the athletic department isn't addressing a new issue. Former players have spoken out about the lack of funding to the program.
"No turf outfield, it's not a good look," former Tigers first baseman Peter Zimmermann said in June 2023. "There are public high schools throughout the state of Missouri that have turf outfields, and your flagship institution can't have a turf outfield? That hurts."
Zimmermann, who spent two seasons with the Tigers, addressed the needs for the baseball program ahead of Jackson's first offseason with the Tigers. While former athletic director Desireé Reed-Francois hired Jackson, Zimmermann still believed his former coach, Steve Bieser, got an unfair shake at the end of his time at Missouri.
"I think he got the short end of the stick," Zimmermann said. "He had to deal with having just the smallest budget in the SEC, the worst facilities in the SEC, the worst travel schedules in the SEC, and all that stuff coupled against him without really much help behind him."
Veatch reiterated that Jackson took over a difficult situation in his return to Missouri, but he also expressed his trust in Jackson continuing to approach the position in the right way with what's available right now, especially for a roster riddled by pitching injuries.
"We'll just keep supporting him," Veatch said. "You look at what happened with men's basketball. Last year, we had a similar struggle, and then flip it around to this year and made a big step. We need to continue to support our coach to get to that point."
Stay up to date on all the Mizzou news with your premium subscription.
Talk about this story in the story thread and discuss so much more in The TigerWalk.
Make sure you're caught up on all the Tiger news and headlines.
Continue reading...
