Joplin, Mo. - The Missouri Southern Baseball team is back at home this weekend, hosting the 2024 MSSU Lion Classic. From Friday, February 16 through Sunday, February 18, a total of nine games will be played between six teams. Along with Missouri Southern, the tournament will consist of Illinois Springfield, Lewis, Mary, Minnesota State - Mankato, and Northwest Missouri. Live stats and a live stream will be available for all nine contests, and results from each game will be updated on the tournament page linked at the top of this story. 

Missouri Southern Game One:
Teams: Missouri Southern (7-2) vs Minnesota State - Mankato (0-0)
Date: February 16 (Friday)
First Pitch: 4:00 PM
Location: Joplin, Mo.
Site: Warren Turner Field
Live Stats
Live Video

Missouri Southern Game Two:
Teams: Missouri Southern (7-2) vs Lewis (0-0)
Date: February 17 (Saturday)
First Pitch: 1:00 PM
Location: Joplin, Mo.
Site: Warren Turner Field
Live Stats
Live Video

Missouri Southern Game Three:
Teams: Missouri Southern (7-2) vs Illinois Springfield (2-1)
Date: February 18 (Sunday)
First Pitch: 4:00 PM
Location: Joplin, Mo.
Site: Warren Turner Field
Live Stats
Live Video

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Scouting the Lions
Now ranked #14 in the NCBWA week one poll, Missouri Southern brings a 7-2 record into this weekend's tournament. They began the year with a big 7-2 victory over #17 Southern Arkansas, and Cole Gayman was named the National Pitcher of the Week for his performance. The offense exploded in game two, winning 16-4 over Henderson State. Another strong offensive performance occurred the next day as the Lions defeated Arkansas-Monticello 10-6. Ouachita Baptist took the final game of the opening tournament, 8-1. In their first mid-week contest with SWOSU, MSSU plated a few late, but fell 7-4 to the Bulldogs. The Lions outscored the Tigers 26-2 in their home opening series, taking game one 15-1 in seven innings, game two 6-0, and game three 5-1. In their most recent contest, the Lion bats exploded for 21 runs against Oklahoma Baptist, ending it 21-6 in seven innings. 

Cole Gayman has made two starts this year, leading to major awards (MIAA POTW, National Pitcher of the Week). Over his 13.0 innings pitched this year, he has given up just 2 hits, 1 run, and 6 walks, striking out 16 batters in the process. He is holding opposing hitters to a .051 average. Trent Harris, Cale McCallister, and Michael Moore have also been strong on the mound, as each have recorded more than 10 strikeouts this year and have an ERA less than 2.50. 

Ethan Clark leads the team with a .417 batting average, going 15-36 at the plate. Those at-bats have resulted in 13 RBI and 12 runs scored. Drew Townsend is 11-28 (.393) on the year, with an on-base percentage of .614 with the help of his 15 walks. He is also 3-3 on stolen base attempts this year. Will Doherty has recorded 12 RBI with a .364 (12-33) batting average. Of his 12 hits, five have been for extra bases (one 2B, two 3B, two HR). Treghan Parker (.344) and Henry Kusiak (.323) are the other Lions batting over .300. Kusiak has a pair of doubles and a pair of home runs with 11 RBI and 13 runs scored this year. Parker has two doubles, one triple, and a home run with 8 RBI. 

Scouting the Mavericks
Minnesota State - Mankato hasn't played a game yet this season, but finished with a 43-18 (25-8 NSIC) record in 2023. They defeated Missouri Southern in the Central Region Championship game, but fell to Augustana in the Super Regional round. In this year's NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll, the Mavericks were picked second behind Augustana. Their roster returns 23 from last year, including junior infielder Aidan Byrne (#11) and right-handed pitcher Spencer Wright (#12). 

Bryne was a member of the starting lineup in all 61 games last season, leading the team in runs scored (66) and stolen bases (17) while posting the squad's second-best batting average (.347) and hits (78). In 25 games last season, he recorded at least two hits. Following his productive season, he was named to the CSC Academic All-District Team.

Wright appeared in 14 games last year, starting two of those. He totaled 39 innings pitched to match a 1-1 record, collecting three saves. His ERA stood at 2.54 and led the team with a 1.10 WHIP last season.


Scouting the Flyers
The Lewis Flyers out of Romeoville, IL will play their first contests of the season this weekend. In 2023, the Flyers ended with a 30-23 (20-12 GLVC) record, finishing fourth in the conference. Their 30 wins is the program's most since 2012. This year, Lewis was selected sixth in the GLVC Preseason Poll. Four All-Conference players return from last year's squad - Michael Alt, Cain Headrick, Thomas Fox, and Angelo Cantelo. 

Outfielder Michael Alt (#3) led Lewis with a .387 batting average and 74 hits. He scored 46 runs, drove in 26 RBI, hit 11 doubles, and drew 36 walks and a team-best .481 on-base percentage. Cain Headrick (#6) is also an outfielder, hitting .356 last year with 57 hits, four home runs and had 38 RBI. He also added 12 doubles, one triple and 10 walks, scoring 35 runs.
 
The Flyers were led in home runs by infielder Thoams Fox (#4). He finished with 13 home runs and 44 RBI on a .340 average, picking up 10 doubles, 39 walks, 47 runs scored, and had a team-best 1.057 on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS). Catcher Angelo Cantelo (#12) hit .363 with 61 hits and led Lewis with 46 RBI. He hit nine home runs, 13 doubles, scored 35 runs, and posted a team-high .601 slugging percentage along with a 1.027 OPS.

Scouting the Prairie Stars
The Illinois Springfield Prairie Stars have played one series this year, entering this weekend at 2-1. In that series, UIS visited Greeneville, TN to play Tusculum University, taking games one and two by scores of 8-2 and 4-3, but fell 5-4 in game three. Last year, the team finished 36-15 (25-7 GLVC) and fell in the Midwest Region Tournament. The team features a brand new coaching staff and 20 new players. Their Skipper, Trevor Forde, comes from Indianapolis where he served as an assistant for seven years. 

Earlier this week, Gavin Wahlbrink (#14) and Mack Clark (#5) were named the GLVC Pitcher and Player of the week, respectively. Wahlbrink threw 6.0 shutout innings, giving up just 3 hits and 0 walks, striking out 8 batters in the process. Clark started all three games for UIS, going 7-12 at the plate with 3 doubles and a home run with 3 RBI. Jackson Blemler (#16) is hitting .417 after going 5-12 in the series. TJ Yakimisky (#21) leads the team with 5 RBI, going 4-11 at the plate with a stolen base.