Joplin, Mo. - The Missouri Southern Baseball team will hit the road for a weekend series against Fort Hays State this Friday through Sunday. They have played at home for their previous nine contests, playing their most recent road contest on February 6. Although the team played Northeastern State on Tuesday, this weekend marks the conference-opening series. 

Game Information:
Teams: Missouri Southern (12-2, 0-0 MIAA) vs Fort Hays State (10-2, 0-0 MIAA)
Date: February 23-25 (Friday-Sunday)
First Pitch: 1:00 PM each day
Location: Hays, Kan.
Site: Larks Park
Live Stats
Live Video

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Scouting the Lions
The Lions remain #14 in the most recent NCBWA poll, taking a 12-2 record into this weekend's MIAA series against Fort Hays State. 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 another mid-week contest, the Lion bats exploded for 21 runs against Oklahoma Baptist, ending it 21-6 in seven innings. Missouri Southern then picked up five wins in four days, picking up big wins over MSU-Mankato 2-1, Illinois Springfield 5-2, and Northeastern State 14-6.

Henry Kusiak leads the team with a .412 batting average (21-51), collecting 6 doubles, 1 triple, and 2 home runs this season. He has driven in 21 runs and scored 17 himself, and leads the team with a slugging percentage of .686. With three more on Tuesday, Kusiak is now 11 hits from tying the MSSU all-time hits record. 

Also hitting above .400, leadoff batter Drew Townsend enters the weekend 18-44 (.409) with 2 doubles, 3 home runs, 9 RBI, and 20 runs scored. His .623 on-base percentage leads the team, as he has drawn an NCAA Division II leading 21 walks this year. 

Will Doherty leads the team with 33 total bases, going 18-50 (.360) at the plate with 2 doubles, 2 triples, and 3 home runs. His 18 RBI ranks second on the team and he has crossed the plate 16 times this year. 

Cole Gayman has made three starts this year, leading to a pair of awards in the MIAA POTW the NCBWA National Pitcher of the Week. Over his 19.0 innings pitched this year, he has given up just 9 hits, 2 runs, and 7 walks, striking out 23 batters in the process. He is holding opposing hitters to a .143 average. Cale McCallister has also picked up a couple of wins in 16.0 innings pitched, collecting 22 strikeouts. Out of the bullpen, Kyle Moore has recorded 3 saves over 11.2 innings pitched, striking out 12 batters. 

Scouting the Tigers
The Fort Hays State Tigers enter the conference-opening weekend with a 10-2 record on the year. Those two losses came in their season-opening series against Adams State. Currently, the Tigers have won nine straight, picking up the last against Adams State along with two four-game series sweeps. Two of the four contests with Adams State went 10 innings, FHSU winning one and losing one. Against East Central, Fort Hays State outscored their opponents 22-8 over four games. They also outscored New Mexico Highlands 25-6 in their series prior to this weekend. 

Brady Kreutzer (#13) leads the team in hitting, going 15-41 at the plate for a .366 average. Of those hits, 5 have been doubles, 3 triples, and 2 home runs, collecting 13 RBI. Jose Cintron (#11) and Shaun Gomez (#22) are also hitting over .300 for the Tigers. Cintron is 14-41 (.341) at the plate, driving in 10 runs and scoring 8 this year, also a perfect 5-5 in stolen base attempts. Gomez is 10-30 (.333) over 10 games played, sending 3 over the outfield wall this year. Elliott Herrmann (#24) leads the team with 4 home runs. 

On the mound, three Tigers have a 2-0 record. Cade Flaherty (#32) leads the team with a 0.50 ERA over 18.0 innings pitched. He has given up 11 hits and just 1 run, striking out 14 batters. Dylan Rinker (#35) and Tanner Vaughn (#14) lead the team with 18 strikeouts each, but Vaughn has surrendered 8 earned runs compared to Rinker's 2. Ty Riley (#15) has picked up 2 of the team's saves, pitching 7.2 scoreless innings, striking out 11, and giving up just 4 hits.