Joplin, Mo. – The Missouri Southern baseball team will be back on the road this week as the Lions head to Wichita to take on the Newman Jets this weekend in an MIAA series.
 
Games will be played on Thursday and Friday at 3 pm each day and on Saturday at 1 pm. Live stats and live video will be available for each game and links can be found in the story links section above.
 
The Lions (24-15, 14-10 MIAA) won a mid-week game at Rogers State on Tuesday, where Matt Miller drove in a pair and four Lions' pitchers held the Hillcats to just one run in a 2-1 win.
 
Southern enters the contest with the Jets (20-17, 10-14 MIAA) sitting in fifth place in the MIAA standings, one game out of third. The Lions hit .311 as a team and have a team ERA of 5.38.
 
The Lions lead the MIAA in doubles, doubles per game, shutouts, strikeout to walk ratio and triples, while ranking second in hits, home runs, triples per game and walks allowed per nine innings (fewest). In total, Southern ranks in the top three of 14 different offensive and pitching categories.
 
Southern ranks fourth nationally in both home runs and shutouts, while ranking sixth in doubles, seventh in triples, eighth in home runs per game, ninth in slugging, 12^th in doubles per game, 14^th in triples per game and 17^th in runs scored.
 
Individually, Jordan Fitzpatrick ranks third nationally and leads the MIAA in doubles, while also leading the MIAA in doubles per game. He ranks 18^th nationally in sacrifice flies as well as 21^st in doubles per game. Tommy Stevenson is sixth nationally in total bases, while ranking eighth nationally and second in the MIAA in home runs, 12^th nationally in home runs per game and 13^th in slugging.
 
Henry Kusiak ranks 12^th nationally and second in the MIAA in triples, while Stevenson ranks second in the MIAA in batting average.
 
Logan VanWey leads the pitchers and is 4-3 on the season with a 3.79 ERA. He is tops in the MIAA with 86 strikeouts and is 3-1 in his last five starts where he has allowed a total of four earned runs in that stretch for a 1.05 ERA. VanWey ranks third nationally in strikeouts and leads the MIAA with 76 k's, while ranking 11^th in games started and 12^th in strikeouts per nine innings. VanWey leads the MIAA in each of those categories.
 
Cale McCallister has a 2.12 ERA in 20 appearances and a 2-0 record out of the bullpen, while Scott Duensing and Ryan Paschal are tied for the team-lead in appearances with 20 each. Both Jacob Davis and Cole Gayman are 5-1 on the season. Duensing and Paschal rank third nationally in appearances, while leading the MIAA in that category.
 
Newman is led by Jenner Steele as he is hitting .383 on the season with seven home runs and a team-high 45 RBIs. Tyler Push is right behind at .381 and six home runs, while Carson Hawks leads the team with nine homers.
 
Asher Finke is 6-2 in ten starts, while Garrett VandeVenter is 4-3 and Nate Denniston is 5-4. Denniston and Finke have 52 and 51 strikeouts, respectively to lead the Jets. Connor Langrell leads the MIAA with eight saves.
 
After this game the Lions will stay on the road with a three-game series April 22-24 at Northeastern State.