Joplin, Mo. -- The Missouri Southern baseball program has changed up its weekend schedule for its MIAA series against Northwest Missouri State.
Originally slated for a three-game set starting on Friday, the series will now start on Thursday with a 4 pm first-pitch from Warren Turner Field. Game two will be on Friday at 3 pm, with the finale set for Saturday afternoon at 1 pm. All games will feature live video and live stats and links to each can be found above in the story links section.
The Lions (9-7, 1-2 MIAA) are coming off an 11-0 win at East Central in non-conference action.
Tommy Stevenson hit a pair of home runs in the game, while
Drew Davis and
Jordan Fitzpatrick added a home run each.
Stevenson leads the way offensively for the Lions as he averaged .407 with eight home runs and 24 RBIs. Stevenson ranks second in Division II in that category and leads the MIAA, while ranking sixth nationally and second in the MIAA in RBIs.
Jordan Fitzpatrick and
Treghan Parker rank fifth nationally and both lead the MIAA in doubles, while
Henry Kusiak and
Nate Mieszkowski rank fourth nationally and second in the MIAA in triples.
On the mound
Cole Woods is sixth nationally and leads the MIAA in strikeouts, while
Scott Duensing and
Ryan Paschal No. 1 and No. 3 nationally in appearances, while ranking 1 and 2 in the MIAA.
The Lions as a team are the top home run and top triple team in Division II, while ranking No. 2 in doubles. Southern ranks fifth nationally in hits and fourth in slugging.
Northwest (4-9, 0-3 MIAA) comes into the game having just lost all three to Central Missouri in its MIAA opener. The Bearcats played just two weeks ago at Warren Turner as part of the MIAA/GLVC Crossover. Tyler Peters leads Northwest offensively with a .367 batting average, while Jacob Pinkerton has a team-high two home runs. Donovan Warren and Ryan Koski are tied for the team-lead in RBIs with eight. Zach Wiese and Jacob Gajic lead the way in ERA with 2.49 and 2.53 marks, respectively, while Max Spitzmiller has the team-high in both strikeouts (36) and wins (2).
