Joplin, Mo. - The 21st ranked Missouri Southern baseball program program is set to host the Drury Panthers on Tuesday, Feb. 21st from Warren Turner Field with first pitch set for 2:00pm.

The Lions (8-4) as a team is averaging 8.4 runs and 10.5 hits per game and as a pitching staff has a 4.82 ERA with 8.6 strikeouts per game and opponents hitting .255 against them. Nate Mieszkowski was named MIAA Hitter of the Week on Monday and for the season is hitting. .449 while scoring 16 runs, having four doubles and four home runs for 13 RBIs for a .776 slugging percentage. Matt Miller is second on the team for batting average at .409 but leads the Lions with five home runs and 15 RBIs while slugging .818. Garrett Rice has a .360 average while scoring 15 runs and having three doubles and three home runs for 10 RBIs. Ethan Clark at .400, Tyler Ferguson at .308, Henry Kusiak at .302 and Will Doherty at .300 are the other Lions hitting at or above .300 that regularly see playing time. Cole Woods leads the pitching staff with 15.1 innings of work and 20 strikeouts while sharing the team lead with a 2-0 record with Cale McCallister. Owen Schneider has pitched 14.0 innings striking out 16 while opponents are hitting .216 against him, Trent Harris has thrown 12.1 innings so far while striking out 13 and McCallister has 10.0 innings of work while issuing out only one walk this season. Laif Hultine has made six appearances out of the bullpen with opponents hitting .182 against him, Kyle Kaempf and Jacob Davis have featured four times out of the bullpen with both limiting hitters to a .222 average against them. 

Drury (5-1) as a team is averaging 8.5 runs and 9.2 hits per game and as a pitching staff has a 5.47 ERA with 7.2 strikeouts per game and opponents hitting .282 against them. Connor Bain is hitting .313 to lead the team in batting average and stolen bases going 3-for-3 in attempts so far. Brair Stinson is hitting .304 with nine RBIs and the lone triple this season, Luke Burk is hitting .286 with a team-high 10 RBIs, Brooks Sunny played in the first three games of the season for the Panthers and leads the team with three home runs and a 1.600 slugging percentage. On the mound, Cody Bahl leads the team with 12.0 innings of work for a 2-0 record thanks to opponents hitting .125 against him, Cade Waits is the other pitcher to throw more than 10 innings with 11.0 innings of work and 10 strikeouts with opponents hitting . 283 against him. Mason Meeks completes the weekend trio of starters and has pitched 7.2 innings while striking out seven. Wesley Laaker and Zach McKinnis have made three appearances out of the bullpen as Laaker has thrown 4.2 innings and limits opponents to a .188 average.