Joplin, Mo. -- The 5th-ranked Missouri Southern baseball team will be in action this weekend as the Lions will travel to Washburn for a weekend series with the Ichabods. 

The series will feature a single game on Friday at 2 pm and a double-header on Saturday at 1 pm. All games will feature live stats and live video and links for both can be accessed in the story links above. 

The Lions (9-0, 3-0 MIAA) moved up to No. 5 nationally in the latest Division II National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Poll this week and is ranked No. 1 in the association's central region poll. 

Washburn is 2-5 overall and 2-1 in the MIAA after taking two games from Missouri Western last week in the series with the Griffons. 

Southern features the MIAA's top pitching staff with a 2.25 team ERA. The Lions have two shutouts on the season and four saves. Will Bausinger is the two-time MIAA Pitcher of the Week after winning the award again this week. Bausinger became the all-time strikeout leader in MSSU history this past week as he has 279 punchouts in his career. This year, Bausinger is 3-0 with a 2.29 ERA, striking out 31 batters and walking just four and limiting batters to a .164 average. Zach Parish is 2-0 with a 0.89 ERA and he shares the MIAA-lead with Bausinger with 31 strikeouts. Hitters are hitting just .186 against Parish. Zac Shoemaker is 2-0 with 24 strikeouts on the season, while Chase Beiter has struck out five in 3.2 innings with a save and Cole Woods has struck out 14 in seven innings and has two saves. 

Offensively, the Lions are hitting .273 as a team and are led by Henry Kusiak with a .378 average. Kusiak has 14 hits and five doubles to go along with a team-high eight runs scored. Troy Gagan leads the team with 12 RBIs and his hitting .353 and is tied for the team-lead with three home runs. 

Up Next
The Lions will stay on the road as Southern will travel to St. Joseph next weekend to take on the Griffons of Missouri Western on Friday and Saturday.