Pittsburg, Kan. - The Missouri Southern Baseball team continues their road stretch with a weekend series against the Pittsburg State Gorillas. Game one is scheduled for 3:00pm on Friday, game two will start at 2:00pm on Saturday, and the series finale will take place on Sunday at 12:00pm.    

Game Information:
Teams: Missouri Southern (21-4, 9-1 MIAA) vs Pittsburg State (17-5, 8-2 MIAA)
Date: March 15-17 (Friday-Sunday)
First Pitch: 3:00pm, 2:00pm, 12:00pm
Location: Pittsburg, Kan.
Site: Al Ortolani Field
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Scouting the Lions
The Lions jumped up a spot to #9 in the most recent NCBWA poll, taking a 21-4 (9-1 MIAA) record into the weekend series at Pittsburg 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 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. MSSU fell to Oklahoma Baptist in their second meeting this year, splitting the season series with the Bison. 

In the first MIAA series of the year, the Lions swept the Jets by scores of 15-0, 7-6, and 11-9. They picked up a second straight series sweep against Emporia State, 5-0, 11-7, 11-8. In the first of the split up midweek series with Rogers State, Bryce Darnell won his 500th game as the head coach of the Lions with a 5-1 victory. 

Henry Kusiak has broken two records this year, becoming the program's all-time hits leader and recording the most total bases in program history. He leads the team in nearly every hitting category, recording a .419 batting average (39-93), collecting 8 doubles, 2 triples, and 8 home runs this season for an .806 slugging percentage. From those hits, he has driven in 35 runs and scored 35 himself. Additionally, Kusiak was named the MIAA Hitter of the Week on February 26. 

Will Doherty leads the team in RBI, driving in 36 so far this season. Of his 37 hits, 7 have been doubles, 2 triples, and 7 home runs. He is hitting .374 and has crossed the plate 34 times this year.

Leadoff batter Drew Townsend enters the weekend 32-85 (.376) with 4 doubles, 5 home runs, 17 RBI, and 34 runs scored. His .575 on-base percentage leads the team, as he has drawn an NCAA Division II leading 36 walks this year. 

Cole Gayman has made six starts this year, leading to a pair of MIAA POTW awards and the NCBWA National Pitcher of the Week. Over his 34.0 innings pitched this year, he has given up 17 hits, 6 earned runs, and 17 walks, striking out 35 batters in the process. He is holding opposing hitters to a .144 average and has an ERA of 1.59. Cale McCallister and Trent Harris have each picked up a couple of wins as well. McCallister has struck out 29 over 28.0 innings pitched, and Harris has retired 31 by strikeout over 27.1 innings. Out of the bullpen, Kyle Moore has recorded 3 saves and 2 wins over 21.1 innings pitched, striking out 21 batters. 

Scouting the Gorillas
The Pittsburg State Gorillas enter this weekend with a 17-5 (8-2 MIAA) record, third in the MIAA standings. Their season started with a 17-5 loss to Oklahoma Baptist, but they finished the opening tournament with three wins against East Central and New Mexico Highlands. In similar fashion, they dropped the series opener to Regis but took the final three games to secure the series win. After dropping a single contest to Arkansas Tech, the Gorillas swept the Southwest Baptist Bearcats in three games by a combined score of 51-4. They faced the Washburn Ichabods in their MIAA opening series, picking up a win in game one 8-6 but dropping games two and three 8-4 and 10-9. Since then, the Gorillas have won seven straight, sweeping three game series against Northwest Missouri and Rogers State, then picking up a 12-10 victory on Tuesday at Emporia State. Their offense has been clicking, as the Gorillas scored 72 runs over that stretch. 

Dylan Kurahashi-Choy Foo (#12) leads the team with a .386 (27-70) batting average and a team-high 9 doubles. He has also hit 4 home runs and driven in 21 runs. Three Gorillas have recorded 7 home runs on the year, Nixon Brannan (#29), Cade Clemons (#11), and Karson Coffee (#9). Each have more than 20 RBI on the year, led by Coffee with 29. Brannan is hitting .384 with 8 doubles as well, leading the team with a 1.291 OPS. 

Tanner Leslie (#7) has gotten the start in game one of each of PSU's MIAA series this season. His record is 4-0 with an ERA of 4.66, striking out 21 batters and holding them to a .259 batting average. Brady Pacha (#24) leads the team with 27 strikeouts over 23.0 innings pitched, going 1-2 in his 6 appearances. Cole Askew (#14) has tossed 10.1 innings with 2 saves recorded, and Andrew Wisner (#27) has been credited with the other 3 saves over 5.0 innings pitched.