Joplin, Mo. - The 21st ranked Missouri Southern baseball program is set to host the Missouri Southern Invitational this weekend with games schedulded from Friday, Feb. 17th - Sunday, Feb. 19th.

Southern is set to play McKendree tomorrow at 4:00pm, #10 Illinois Springfield on Saturday at 1:00pm and then end the week with (RV) Minnesota State - Mankato at 4:00pm on Sunday with all games in the Missouri Southern Invitational being played at Warren Turner Field. 

The Lions (7-2) as a team is hitting .301 with 8.2 runs and 9.7 hits per game and as a pitching staff has a 4.31 ERA with 7.8 strikeouts per game and opponents hitting .240.Matt Miller is hitting .433 with four home runs, 12 RBIs, is slugging .933 with a .500 on base percentage for a 1.433 OPS. Garrett Rice has a team-high 14 hits with a .389 average, two home runs and eight RBIs while slugging .639 and having a .488 on base percentage. Henry Kusiak is hitting .355 with two home runs, five RBIs while slugging .581 and helping turn nine double plays defensive and recording 23 assists from short stop. Nate Mieszkowski (.343) and Tyler Ferguson (.333) round out the everyday players that are hitting above .300 with Mieszkowski scoring 10 runs and defensively helping to turn nine doubles plays and lead the team with 26 putouts from second base. On the mound Cale McCallister leads the team with a 2-0 record in 9.0 shutout innings with six strikeouts and only one walk issued with opponents hitting .233 against him. Cole Woods leads the team with 12 strikeouts and 9.1 innings with a 1-0 record and opponents averaging .278 against him. Owen Schneider is 1-0 as well with 9.0 innings of work, 11 strikeouts and opponents hitting .194 against him. From the bullpen, Laif Hultine has appeared in four games with 3.2 innings of work and four strikeouts and opponents hitting .233 against him. Kyle Kaempf and Jacob Davis have made three appearances with both recording a save as Kaempf is holding opponents to a . 077 batting average and Davis at a .267 average.

McKendree (0-3) as a team is hitting .221 with 2.3 runs and 7.0 hits per game and as a pitching staff has a 8.61 ERA with 5.3 strikeouts per game and opponents hitting .368. For the Bearcats, Noah Nelson is the only hitter batting above .300 with an .333 average thanks to four hits, one being a home run with two RBIs and is slugging ..583. Austin Francis is hitting .273 and leads the team with two doubles. On the mound Owen Gross, Garrett Herring and Ryan Drayer have started games this season with Gross having a starters low 4.50 ERA with five strikeouts in 4.0 innings of work and Herring leading the team with 4.1 innings of work. Griffin Frahm and Jameson Strozier have both made two appearances out of the bullpen as Nate Arnold leads the bullpen unit with a .250 opposing batting average through two innings of work.

#10 Illinois Springfield (1-3) is hitting .256 with 4.8 runs and 8.3 hits per game and as a pitching staff has a 4.94 ERA with 8.5 strikeouts per game and opponents hitting .222. Brandon Bannon is hitting .412 with seven hits and four runs scored with two RBIs while slugging .588. Asher Bradd is the other Prairie Star to average above .300 with a .400 batting average off six hits, and has a team-high .526 on base percentage thanks to drawing four walks. Brant Vanaman leads the team with five RBIs while Will Oberg has the lone homer of the season so far. On the mound Ryan Carmack has the lone win after pitching five shutouts innings and striking out 14 batters with hitting averaging .118 against him. Chad Saner, Adam Brouwer and Conor McKenna have also started games this season with Saner having six strikeouts in four innings and opponents hitting .143 against him. Gavin Wahibrink and Tyler Horvath have both made two appearances from the bullpen with 2.0 innings of work each.

(RV) Minnesota State - Mankato has not played in a game this season and went 39-9, 28-5 NSIC last season and was picked to win the 2023 NSIC regular season title. The Mavericks return 22 from last years team with Ryan Wickman and Nathan Culley named as Players to Watch in the NSIC. Wickman was a first-team All-NSIC and NSIC All-Defensive team outfielder after hitting .367 with 65 runs scored, 66 hits, six home runs, 35 RBIs while slugging .561 and having a .491 on base percentage, defensively the center fielder registered 101 putouts and three assists with a 1.000 fielding percentage. Cully was a second-team All-NSIC pitcher last year after posting a 4-1 record, 1.28 ERA with 56 strikeouts in 42.1 innings and opponents hitting .214 against him.