Joplin, Mo. – The eighth-ranked Missouri Southern baseball program will be in action this weekend as the Lions will travel to Pittsburg State to take part in an MIAA series on Saturday and Sunday.
 
Originally slated to start on Friday, the series with the Gorillas will now take part on Saturday and Sunday with a double-header on Saturday at 1 pm and a single game on Sunday at 1 pm.
 
The Lions (24-7, 17-7 MIAA) are coming off a 3-1 week that saw Southern take a mid-week game from Drury and two-of-three from Northeastern State. MSSU is ranked eighth in the latest D2 Coaches Poll and is 19^th in the Baseball Writer's Poll.
 
Southern leads the MIAA in doubles, shutouts and strikeouts per nine innings, while ranking second in walks, batting average, ERA, fewest hits allowed per nine innings, home runs, on base percentage, runs scored, slugging, strikeout-to-walk ratio and walks and hits per innings pitched (WHIP).
 
The Lions rank in the top ten nationally in four different categories, including third in doubles, seventh in both home runs and strikeout to walk ratio and ninth in home runs.
 
Individually, Troy Gagan leads the Lions with a .408 batting average. Gagan has nine home runs and 31 RBIs, while going 12-for-15 on the basepaths. Henry Kusiak is second on the team with a .374 batting average and is tied with Gagan with 31 RBIs, while Jordan Fitzpatrick is hitting .358 with eight home runs and 34 driven in. Tommy Stevenson leads the team with 40 RBIs and is second with nine home runs, while Joe Kinder leads the team with ten home runs.
 
Zach Parish is 8-1 on the season with a 1.38 ERA and 99 strikeouts in 65 innings. Parish has 451 strikeouts in his career and is 23 away from breaking the Division II all-time record. Will Bausinger is 5-2 on the season with 66 strikeouts, while Cole Woods leads the team with four saves and Scott Duensing has a team-high 15 appearances.
 
Parish leads the MIAA in strikeouts, wins, hits allowed per nine innings, WHIP and games started, while ranking second nationally in wins and strikeouts. He is the current active leader in Division II wins, strikeouts and games started.
 
Gagan leads the MIAA in hits and ranks 14^th nationally in the category, while ranking second in batting average. Fitzpatrick and Stevenson rank second in the MIAA in doubles and seventh nationally in the category, while Kinder is fourth in the MIAA in home runs.
 
Pitt State (19-11, 14-10 MIAA) is led by Aaron Gerdes with a .364 batting average. Garrett McGowan leads the team with nine home runs and 34 RBIs. David Henderson is 6-2 this season on the mound with a 2.98 ERA and leads the team with 44 strikeouts in 48 innings pitched.
 
All three games this weekend will be streamed on The MIAA Network and will have live stats. Links to both can be found in the story links above.