Maryville, Mo. - The Lions will hit the road again after four home contests, taking on the Northwest Missouri Bearcats in a three game series. Unlike most three game series, game one will take place on Thursday. That series opening contest is scheduled for 3:00pm, Friday's game will be at 2:00pm, and Saturday's finale has a start time of 1:00pm.     

Game Information:
Teams: Missouri Southern (27-6, 14-3 MIAA) vs Northwest Missouri (12-17, 4-12 MIAA) - plays Washburn on 3/27 at 3:00pm
Date: March 28-30 (Thursday-Saturday)
First Pitch: 3:00pm, 2:00pm, 1:00pm
Location: Maryville, Mo.
Site: Bearcat Baseball Field
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Scouting the Lions
The Lions remained at #8 in the most recent NCBWA poll as there were no changes in the top 10. In the Central Region rankings and MIAA standings, MSSU is second behind Central Missouri, taking a 27-6 (14-3 MIAA) record into this three game series with Northwest Missouri. 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 midweek 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. The Lions took a break in MIAA action with a midweek contest against Drury, outlasting the Panthers 10-8. Returning to conference play, the Lions took two out of three against Washburn, winning game one 3-0 and game three 11-8 but dropping game two 7-5. In game two of the spread out series with Rogers State, the Lions found all kinds of ways to score, winning it 13-4. 

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 .426 batting average (52-122), collecting 11 doubles, 3 triples, and 11 home runs this season for an .836 slugging percentage. From those hits, he has driven in 46 runs and scored 46 himself. Additionally, Kusiak has been named the MIAA Hitter of the Week twice this season. He leads the conference in hits, runs scored, runs batted in, and on base percentage, ranking second in the MIAA in batting average, home runs, and hit by pitch. 

Will Doherty has driven in 44 runs so far this season and has crossed the plate 41 times. Of his 49 hits, 12 have been doubles, 2 triples, and 8 home runs. He is hitting .374 with an OPS of 1.160. In the MIAA rankings, Doherty leads the league in at-bats, claiming the second spot in hits, runs batted in, and runs scored. 

Leadoff batter Drew Townsend enters the series against the Bearcats 38-118 (.322) with 6 doubles, 6 home runs, 19 RBI, and 41 runs scored. His .518 on-base percentage is second on the team, as he has drawn an NCAA Division II leading 44 walks this year, picking up four more on Tuesday. 

Cole Gayman has won seven games in eight starts this year, leading to four total, three straight MIAA POTW awards and one NCBWA National Pitcher of the Week honor. Over his 49.2 innings pitched this year, he has given up 24 hits, 7 earned runs, and 19 walks, striking out 52 batters in the process. He is holding opposing hitters to a .138 average and has an ERA of 1.27. Cale McCallister has a 3-1 record on the year, retiring 38 by strikeout over his 39.2 innings pitched. Out of the bullpen, Kyle Moore has recorded 5 saves and 2 wins over 26.2 innings pitched, striking out 25 batters. 

Scouting the Bearcats
The Northwest Missouri Bearcats enter the series at 12-17 (4-12 MIAA) on the year. They split their opening series at Christian Brothers, taking games two and three but dropping the first and last of that series. In their next series, the Bearcats won three out of four against Henderson State, scoring 12+ runs in all three wins. Northwest Missouri then visited Joplin for the Lion Classic, falling to Lewis in the tournament opener, defeating Mary 13-5, and falling to Minnesota State - Mankato on a walk-off home run. The Bearcats haven't had great success in MIAA play, dropping four of their five series played so far. They took the series opener against ESU, but lost the final two. Following that series, the team went on a seven game skid, getting swept by PSU and UCM, then dropping a midweek game to Washburn. Ending that streak, NWMSU took two out of three against Missouri Western. Last weekend, the Bearcats fell to Rogers State in the first two games but picked up an 11-9 victory in game three. They'll play one more contest at home on Wednesday against Washburn before hosting Missouri Southern.  

Ryan Williams (#10) leads the team with a .389 average. He has picked up 42 hits in 108 at-bats, recording 11 doubles, 2 triples, and 3 home runs for a slugging percentage of .611. Trey Morris (#43/44) leads the team with 39 RBI and 5 home runs. Starting in 29 contests, he has added 10 doubles for a .555 slugging percentage. Caden Diel (#22) has the second best batting average at .366, driving in 17 runs and scoring 20 himself in just 23 games played. He is also 12-12 in stolen base attempts this year. 

Quinn Mason (#18) has started game one in all five weekend series for Northwest Missouri. He carries a 2-3 record with a 7.60 ERA. Against Emporia State, Mason struck out 11 innings over 6.2 scoreless innings. Casey Stalzer (#16) typically gets the nod for game two. Over 39.2 innings this year, Stalzer has struck out 54 batters with a 7.03 ERA. Andrew Clark (#29) will likely start game three, but Jacob Gajic (#32) has a 2-3 record with a 5.90 ERA. He has struck out 33 over 29.0 innings, and batters are hitting .284 against him.