Joplin, Mo. - The Missouri Southern Baseball team returns home after four games on the road. This weekend series will be the team's first MIAA series played in Joplin this year, as the Lions are playing host to the Newman Jets. Game one of the series will take place at 3:00pm on Friday, March 1 at Warren Turner Field.  

Game Information:
Teams: Missouri Southern (14-4, 2-1 MIAA) vs Newman (3-14, 0-3 MIAA)
Date: March 1-3 (Friday-Sunday)
First Pitch: 3:00 PM, 1:00pm, 1:00pm
Location: Joplin, Mo.
Site: Warren Turner Field
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Scouting the Lions
The Lions jumped to #8 in the most recent NCBWA poll, taking a 14-4 record into this weekend's series with Newman. 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 Ouachita Baptist 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 with big victories over MSU-Mankato 2-1, Illinois Springfield 5-2, and Northeastern State 14-6. In their first MIAA series, they took two out of three against Fort Hays State, taking game one 14-10, game two 23-5, and dropping game three 5-3. Earlier in the week, MSSU fell to Oklahoma Baptist to split the season series with the Bison. 

Henry Kusiak leads the team with a .412 batting average (28-68), collecting 8 doubles, 1 triple, and 4 home runs this season. He has driven in 28 runs and scored 22 himself, and leads the team with a slugging percentage of .735. After Tuesday's contest, Kusiak is now 4 hits from tying the MSSU all-time hits record. Additionally, Kusiak was named the MIAA Hitter of the Week on Monday. 

Will Doherty leads the team with 6 home runs, going 25-70 (.357) at the plate with 2 doubles and 2 triples along with his 6 home runs. His 26 RBI ranks second on the team and he has crossed the plate 23 times this year. 

Leadoff batter Drew Townsend enters Tuesday's contest 20-57 (.351) with 2 doubles, 3 home runs, 12 RBI, and 26 runs scored. His .587 on-base percentage leads the team, as he has drawn an NCAA Division II leading 30 walks this year. 

Cole Gayman has made four starts this year, leading to a pair of awards in the MIAA POTW the NCBWA National Pitcher of the Week. Over his 22.0 innings pitched this year, he has given up 14 hits, 6 earned runs, and 10 walks, striking out 26 batters in the process. He is holding opposing hitters to a .179 average. Cale McCallister and Trent Harris have each picked up a couple of wins as well. McCallister has struck out 25 over 20.1 innings pitched, and Harris has retired 22 by strikeout over 21.0 innings. Out of the bullpen, Kyle Moore has recorded 3 saves over 13.0 innings pitched, striking out 13 batters. 

Scouting the Jets
The Newman Jets bring a 3-14 (0-3) record into the weekend series, having won their most recent contest against Southeastern Oklahoma State 13-3 in seven innings. Prior to that, the Jets got swept in their MIAA-opening series with Rogers State. The first game was decided 10-7 in 11 innings, game two ended 12-2, and the final contest was a 13-10 score. They picked up a 7-4 win in 10 innings against Southwestern College, but also dropped three games to Concordia St. Paul. A 7-4 win over Southern Nazarene in game three of a four game series is where their third win came from. All four games of that series were decided by three runs or less. 

Trent Trammell (#25) leads the team with a .434 batting average (23-53). He has scored 16 times, driving in 14 runs as well, hitting 6 doubles, 2 triples, and a home run. Garrett Arnold (#22) leads the team with 7 doubles, hitting .375 with a slugging percentage of .696 and collecting 14 RBI. Will Bomersbach (#19) has made the most of his 10 hits, collecting 2 doubles and 4 home runs with 10 RBI and a team-high .750 slugging percentage. 

Colby Wilson (#31), Cole Landgraf (#14), and Connor Rowe (#40) each have very similar stats, having recorded just more than 19 innings pitched each. Wilson has the lowest ERA of the three at 11.90, but Landgraf leads the trio with 17 strikeouts and the lowest opponent batting average at .313.