Weather Forecast: Friday- 74F and Sunny | Saturday - 81F and Sunny | Sunday - 81F and Sunny
Probable Pitchers: MSSU - Payton Walker, Cody Hutchinson, Zach Litchen | Fort Hays - DJ Carr, Logan Herd, Kyle Vogt

Joplin, Mo. -- The Missouri Southern baseball team will be back in action this weekend as the Lions play host to Fort Hays State in a three-game MIAA series at Warren Turner Field. 

Southern enters the series with a 26-14 overall record and a 16-13 mark in MIAA play. The Lions are in a tie for fifth place in the MIAA with Northwest Missouri going into the final three weekends of the regular season. 

Fort Hays is 17-23 overall and 11-18 in MIAA play. The Tigers are in a tie for 11th place in the MIAA standings. The top eight teams advance to the MIAA Tournament to beld on May 12-15 in St. Charles on the campus of Lindenwood. 

The Lions are led by Jesse Rall as the senior is hitting .383 with 18 home runs and 48 RBIs. He is slugging .851 and has an on-base percentage of .527. Chris Hoffman is hitting .375 on the season with six home runs, 38 RBIs, 12 doubles and three triples. He is 10-14 on the basepaths. Hoffman has really come on as of late, however, as he is hitting .413 in the last ten games with three home runs and 9 RBIs with 19 hits and 10 runs scored. 

Southern ranks 9th nationally in slugging, while ranking 11th in home runs, 14th in on-base percentage, 15th in walks, 17th in doubles and 20th in triples. Individually, Rall ranks third nationally in home runs, 6th in slugging, 8th in runs, 12th in on-base percentage, 13th in total bases, 15th in hit by pitch, and 25th in RBIs. 

Rall leads the MIAA in slugging, runs, home runs, and on-base percentage, while ranking third in hit by pitch and fifth in RBIs. 

Payton Walker leads the pitching staff with a 6-3 overall mark and he has an ERA of 2.93 in 11 appearances with ten starts. He has three complete games, one shutout and has struck out 53 in 70.2 innings pitched. Cody Hutchinson is 5-4, while Zach Litchen is 3-1. Litchen has a 3.89 ERA. Conner Matson is 4-0 out of the bullpen, while Kyle McCulloch is 2-1. 

Hays is led by Alex Weiss who is hitting .391 on the season with four home runs and 35 RBIs. Austin Unrein leads the team with eight home runs, while Connor Ross and Joe Mapes have seven long balls each. Unrein leads the team with 64 hits, while Ross has scored a team-high 43 runs. The Tigers are hitting .314 as a team, but have a 7.36 team ERA. 

The two teams last year put on a power display at Larks Park in Hays. Southern scored a total of 57 runs in the four-game series with the two teams combining to score 82 in total. The teams hit a total of 21 home runs and the Lions had 54 RBIs, 15 doubles and 59 hits in the series. Walker and Hoffman both had complete-game efforts on the mound. 

All three games this weekend will be carried live on the radio by ESPN Joplin on 101.5 FM. A live webcast of the audio can be found on www.mssulions.com.