Joplin, Mo. -- The 21st ranked Missouri Southern Baseball team will head back on the road as the Lions will travel to St. Joseph this weekend to take on the Griffons of Missouri Western with games on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. 

Southern is 13-4 overall and 5-4 in the MIAA and are coming off a series win over No. 19 Emporia State when the Lions took the final two games of the series. Payton Walker and Zach Litchen threw gems in their wins on the mound with Walker shutting out the Hornets for the first time in two years for that program. Walker earned the MIAA Pitcher of the Week honor for his effort against ESU. 

Western is 14-6 overall and 6-3 in the MIAA. The Griffons lost two of three from Washburn, but took two of three from Southwest Baptist and swept Pittsburg State this past weekend. Western swept a non-conference double-header at Truman State in mid-week play.

The Lions, as a team, rank 16th nationally in slugging and home runs per game, while ranking 23rd in home runs, 25th in triples and 30th in scoring. Pitching wise, the Lions rank 36th nationally in hits allowed per game, 30th in shutouts and 42nd in striktouts per nine innings. Southern leads the MIAA in shutouts, while ranking second in slugging and third in doubles per game, earned run average, home runs per game, strikeouts per nine innings, triples and triples per game. 

Individually, Walker ranks 20th nationally in wins, while ranking 27th in complete games, 35th in waks and hits per inning, and 48th in ERA. Jesse Rall ranks fifth and seventh in hit by pitch and hit by pitch per game. Rall also ranks 15th in on base percentage and 18th in slugging. Jacob Bryant ranks 15th in sacrifice bunts, while Tyler Sutherland ranks fifth in sacrifice flies. Richie Gorski ranks 22nd in runs per game. 

In the MIAA, Walker leads the league in WHIP, complete games, and ERA, while ranking second in wins and third in strikeout to walk ratio. Rall leads the MIAA in on base percentage, while ranking second in slugging, hit by pitch and hit by pitch per game. Bryant and Sutherland lead the leage in sacrifice bunts and sacrifice flies, while Gorski ranks second in both runs and runs per game. Zach Litchen ranks third in the MIAA in both ERA and strikeouts per nine innings. 

Western ranks 17th nationally in sacrifice flies and 24th in home runs per game, while ranking 31st in slugging, 36th in scoring and 37th in both walks and triples. The team leads the MIAA in sacrifice flies. 

Individually, Evan Jones leads the MIAA in hits allowed per nine innings, while Cosimo Cannella leads in sacrifice flies. David Glaude ranks second in triples, while Preston Bailey is second in strikeouts per nine innings. 

All three games will have live audio via this link: www.mixlr.com/mososports. First pitch for Friday's game is slated for 4 pm, while each game on the weekend is slated for a 1 pm first pitch.