Springfield, Mo. - The Missouri Southern Baseball team will take a brief break from conference action, traveling to Springfield for a midweek contest against the Drury Panthers. This will be the first of two meetings between the teams, as they'll meet up in Joplin on April 16.      

Game Information:
Teams: Missouri Southern (23-5, 11-2 MIAA) vs Drury (7-10, 5-3 GLVC)
Date: March 19 (Tuesday)
First Pitch: 4:00pm
Location: Springfield, Mo.
Site: Mark Worley Field at Meador Park
Live Stats
Live Video

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Scouting the Lions
The Lions were put at #9 in last week's NCBWA poll, and they take a 23-5 (11-2 MIAA) record into Tuesday's contest at Drury. 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. Their eight game win streak came to an end in game two against Pittsburg State, but the Lions closed out the series with a 3-1 victory to take the series two games to one. 

Henry Kusiak has broken three records this year, becoming the program's all-time hits leader, recording the most total bases, and most at-bats in program history. He leads the team in nearly every hitting category, recording a .408 batting average (42-103), collecting 9 doubles, 2 triples, and 8 home runs this season for a .767 slugging percentage. From those hits, he has driven in 36 runs and scored 37 himself. Additionally, Kusiak was named the MIAA Hitter of the Week on February 26. 

Will Doherty leads the team in RBI, driving in 37 so far this season. Of his 41 hits, 10 have been doubles, 2 triples, and 7 home runs. He is hitting .366 and has crossed the plate 37 times this year.

Leadoff batter Drew Townsend enters the weekend 33-97 (.340) with 4 doubles, 5 home runs, 17 RBI, and 35 runs scored. His .542 on-base percentage is second on the team, as he has drawn an NCAA Division II leading 38 walks this year. 

Cole Gayman has won six games in seven starts this year, leading to three MIAA POTW awards and one NCBWA National Pitcher of the Week honor. Over his 41.2 innings pitched this year, he has given up 21 hits, 7 earned runs, and 17 walks, striking out 45 batters in the process. He is holding opposing hitters to a .144 average and has an ERA of 1.51. Cale McCallister had a solid outing on Sunday to improve his record to 3-1 on the year. Over his 36.0 innings pitched, he has retired 36 by strikeout and has an ERA of 3.00. Out of the bullpen, Kyle Moore has recorded 4 saves and 2 wins over 23.2 innings pitched, striking out 22 batters. 

Scouting the Panthers
The Drury Panthers enter Tuesday's competition with a 7-10 (5-3 GLVC) record on the year. In their first series of the year, the Panthers dropped two out of three to Missouri Western, although two of those contests were decided by one run. They followed with two big wins over the #8 team in the nation in West Texas A&M, but then dropped four straight to Augustana and #3 Central Missouri. Their first conference series was a 3-1 win over Missouri-St. Louis, nearly taking game four as well but dropping it 6-7. Most recently, Drury split their series with Missouri S&T, taking games one and three by scores of 7-0 and 14-2. 

Wes Collins (#33) is batting .404 (23-57) on the year, driving in 15 runs with 8 doubles and 3 home runs. Luke Burk (#8) leads the team with an .843 slugging percentage, recording 3 doubles, 1 triple, and 7 home runs. He also leads the team with 22 RBI and is hitting .333 on the season. 

In their midweek against Central Missouri, Drury threw Cade Waits (#21) for 4.1 shutout innings, giving up just 1 hit and 1 walk with 2 strikeouts. His record sits at 3-0 with a 2.35 ERA over 23.0 innings on the year. Cody Bahl (#22) is 3-1 with a team-low 2.17 ERA. He leads the team in strikeouts at 29, and has thrown 2 complete games, one of those being a shutout.