Mizzou baseball to hire Brandon Van Horn as hitting coach

Mizzou baseball is set to hire Brandon Van Horn as its new hitting coach, per Kendall Rogers of D1Baseball.

Van Horn replaces the recently departed Bryson LeBlanc, who spent three seasons as the Tigers’ hitting coach.

Van Horn was most recently a minor league hitting instructor for the Houston Astros, spending the 2025 season and part of 2026 with the organization. He served as a hitting coach on New Mexico State’s staff for the 2023 season. He was a volunteer assistant for the program in the two seasons prior.

Van Horn played professionally for four seasons after being taken by the San Francisco Giants in the 19th round of the 2016 MLB Draft. In 2019, he hit three homers and drove in 34 runs over three levels, including Triple A.

Tigers land five transfers

Along with the addition of Van Horn to the staff, Mizzou has continued to pick up additions in the transfer portal.

The Tigers earned a commitment from former UNLV right-handed pitcher Ryan Marton on Saturday afternoon, per his X account. Marton, a Toronto product, spent the first two seasons of his career at Midland College before transferring to UNLV for the 2026 season.

In 13 games with the Rebels, Marton held a 2-3 record, 6.16 ERA and 22 strikeouts while giving up 15 runs and holding batters to a .219 average. He’ll join the Tigers as a senior.

Joining Marton in Mizzou’s transfer class is former Lipscomb utility player Cam Pruitt.

Pruitt starred at Wharton County Junior College and Paris Junior College in the 2024 and 2025 seasons, respectively, earning all-conference honors at the latter while posting a .367 batting average, 73 hits and 42 RBI.

He maintained the high level of play upon transferring to Lipscomb in the 2026 season, batting .357 while providing 76 hits, 48 RBI and two homers. He earned the Atlantic Sun Tournament MVP after helping lead Lipscomb to an ASUN championship. He will be a senior for the Tigers.

Mizzou also added a second Florida Gulf Coast transfer in this class: catcher/infielder Javier Gorostola, who was All-ASUN in 2026 while hitting .370 with 76 hits, 42 runs scored, 13 home runs and 56 RBI. Gorostola's ability to catch could help get him on the field, as the Tigers lost starter Mateo Serna to the transfer portal and backup Jamal George to graduation. With MU, he joins fellow UFGC transfer Wilfred Gonzalez, a middle infielder who committed to the Tigers earlier this month.

In addition, Mizzou also earned the commitment of former New Mexico State infielder Steve Solorzano, per his X account.

Solorzano has been among the top hitters in Conference USA throughout his career, making the CUSA All-Freshman first team in 2024 and being selected as the designated hitter on the All-CUSA first team in 2025.

Solorzano led the team with 78 hits in 2026, along with posting a team-high .341 batting average while hitting nine homers and racking up 51 RBI.

Solorzano and Pruitt’s batting averages and total hits would have led all Mizzou players with 10 or more plate appearances in 2026.

On Friday, New Mexico outfielder Anthony Diaz announced via X that he, too, was committing to be a Tiger. Last season, Diaz hit .307 with three home runs, 31 RBI and eight stolen bases.

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