Joplin, Mo. – The Missouri Southern baseball team will be back in action this weekend as the Lions head to Emporia State to take on the Hornets in a three-game set starting on Friday.
Game times are 5 pm on Friday, 2 pm on Saturday and 1 pm on Sunday. Weather for the weekend looks clear with temperatures in the high 50's to low 60's.
Southern (16-11, 7-6 MIAA) is coming off a three-game set with Washburn where the Lions took the series-opener in a tight set between the two teams.
As a team, the Lions lead Division II in home runs (52), while ranking second in triples, ninth in slugging, 10
th in doubles, 14
th in hits and 19
th in runs scored. The Lions also rank 21
st nationally in hit by pitch.
Southern leads the MIAA in home runs, shutouts (by pitchers), strikeout to walk ratio, and triples, while ranking in the top three in 12 different categories.
Individually,
Tommy Stevenson ranks second nationally in total bases, fourth in home runs, and ninth in slugging, while leading the MIAA in on base percentage and total bases. Stevenson ranks second in batting average, home runs, hits, and slugging, while ranking third in triples and fourth in RBIs.
Jordan Fitzpatrick ranks third nationally in sacrifice flies and tenth in doubles, while leading the MIAA in sac flies and ranking third in doubles.
Henry Kusiak ranks ninth nationally in triples and second in the MIAA in that category.
Scott Duensing and
Ryan Paschall are tied for the NCAA lead in appearances (17), while
Cale McCallister is fourth nationally and third in the MIAA.
Logan VanWey ranks eighth nationally in strikeouts and 11
th in games started, while leading the MIAA in strikeouts and starts and ranking second in strikeouts per nine innings.
Cole Woods ranks second in the MIAA in strikeouts per nine innings and third in strikeouts overall.
The Lions hit .303 as a team, while six of the regular nine starters have batting averages above .300. All nine regulars are hitting .277 or higher. McCallister leads the pitchers with a 1.66 ERA in 15 appearances, while VanWey has struck out 56 batters in 36.2 innings of work.
Emporia State (10-16, 4-9 MIAA) went 2-2 last week with a mid-week loss to Pittsburg State before taking two-of-three from Northwest Missouri.
The Hornets hit .262 as a team and carry a 5.65 team ERA. ESU is led by TJ Racherbaumer with a .388 average and a team-high five home runs and 20 RBIs. He is carrying a .731 slugging mark this season. Sam Chaput and Blake Carroll have four home runs each.
The ESU pitchers are led by Jarrett Seaton with a 3-2 record in six starts. He has a team-high 38 strikeouts in 31.2 innings pitched. Aaron Bechtel has 37 strikeouts of his own, while Caril Aikman has a team-high four saves and 11 appearances.
After this series, the Lions will host Rogers State on Tuesday night at 6 pm before playing host to Fort Hays State next weekend.
Live stats and live video will be available for all games this weekend and links to each can be found in the story links section above.
