Tahlequah, Okla. - The Lion baseball team remains on the road for a three game series, beginning Friday evening. They'll take on the Northeastern State Riverhawks, this time counting toward MIAA records. In February, NSU visited Joplin for a non-conference game where MSSU took that contest 14-6.
Game Information:
Teams: #8 Missouri Southern (30-10, 17-7 MIAA) vs Northeastern State (19-20, 10-14 MIAA)
Dates: April 12-14 (Friday-Sunday)
First Pitch: 6:00pm, 6:00pm, 1:00pm
Location: Tahlequah, Okla.
Site: Rousey Field
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Scouting the Lions
Following a series victory over #19 Central Oklahoma that featured two run-rule wins, the Lions moved back into the #8 spot in the most recent NCBWA poll, remaining second in both the Central Region rankings and MIAA standings. 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. On the road against Northwest Missouri, Southern dropped game one 6-5 in 11 innings, took game two 7-5 in 12 innings, then fell in game three to suffer their first series loss of the season. They bounced back with a big series win, taking two out of three against #19 Central Oklahoma. In their two victories, the Lions run-ruled the Bronchos, taking game two 11-1 in seven innings and game three 17-6 in eight innings. Wrapping up their spread out series with Rogers State, the Hillcats took game three by a score of 8-4 to avoid the season sweep.
Henry Kusiak has broken four records this year, becoming the program's all-time hits leader, recording the most total bases, at-bats, and extra base hits in program history. On Sunday, Kusiak tied the program's career RBI record, needing one more to set a new record. He leads the team in nearly every hitting category, recording a .411 batting average (62-151), collecting 13 doubles, 3 triples, and 12 home runs this season for a .775 slugging percentage. From those hits, he has driven in 50 runs and scored 52 himself. Additionally, Kusiak has been named the MIAA Hitter of the Week twice this season. He leads the conference in hits and on base percentage, ranking second in the MIAA in batting average and third in OPS, runs batted in, runs scored, and hit by pitch.
Will Doherty has driven in 49 runs so far this season and has crossed the plate 50 times as well. Of his 56 hits, 13 have been doubles, 2 triples, and 9 home runs. He is hitting .350 with an OPS of 1.089. In the MIAA rankings, Doherty has the second most at-bats, ranking fourth in runs scored and runs batted in.
Ethan Clark has recorded 49 hits for a .336 batting average, driving in 31 runs and scoring 30 as well.
Drew Townsend continues to lead all of NCAA Division II in walks, drawing 45 this season. He has also crossed the plate 48 times.
Garrett Rice is coming off a solid weekend, earning him MIAA Hitter of the Week honors. He went 7-13 at the plate with 10 RBI. Of his seven hits, three went for extra bases in two doubles and a home run.
Cole Gayman has won seven games in 10 starts this year, leading to four total MIAA POTW awards and one NCBWA National Pitcher of the Week honor. Over his 59.2 innings pitched this year, he has given up 36 hits, 15 earned runs, and 26 walks, striking out 65 batters in the process. He is holding opposing hitters to a .168 average and has an ERA of 2.26.
Trent Harris recorded a win against UCO on Saturday, tossing 6.0 innings. He gave up 1 run on 4 hits, striking out 8 in the process. Out of the bullpen,
Kyle Moore has recorded 5 saves and 2 wins over 32.0 innings pitched, striking out 29 batters.
Michael Moore also had a good weekend, throwing 6.0 innings over two games with an ERA of 0.00. He struck out 7, giving up just 3 hits, walking 0 batters.
Scouting the Riverhawks
The Northeastern State Riverhawks enter the weekend with a record of 19-20 (10-14 MIAA) on the season. After dropping their first four to begin the season, NSU bounced back with an eight game win streak. Their first two losses came against Ouachita Baptist by scores of 9-7 and 7-6. Ending that win streak was Missouri Southern, as the Lions hosted the Riverhawks in a non-conference competition on February 20. Northeastern State started with a 2-0 lead, but MSSU took over 12-2 by the fifth inning, ending in a 14-6 final score. That started a bit of a skid, as the Riverhawks dropped 9 of their next 10 MIAA contests, including sweeps by Central Missouri and Fort Hays State. Following that skid, NSU has won their past four series, sweeping Newman and taking two out of three against Emporia State, Pittsburg State, and Rogers State. On Tuesday, Northeastern State traveled to Edmond, Oklahoma to face #19 Central Oklahoma. The Riverhawks fell 2-1, giving up both runs in the fifth. NSU had just two hits in the contest, both coming from center fielder Matt Kaiser who also scored the team's lone run.
Tyson Fourkiller (#2) leads the Riverhawks with a .411 batting average, picking up 58 hits on the year. Five of those have been doubles, one has been a home run, driving in 20 runs and scoring 46 himself. That average and hits both rank second in all of the MIAA. Gage Williams (#25) is near the .400 mark with a .390 average (39-100). He has hit 7 home runs, adding 4 doubles and 2 triples to his extra-base hit totals, driving in 33 runs on the year. C.D. White (#16) is the team leader in RBI, driving in 41 this season with 7 doubles, 3 triples, and 4 home runs. The team leader in home runs is Isaiah Keller (#10) with 8 on the year, also recording 8 doubles with 35 RBI.
CJ Briley (#26) will likely open the series on the mound. He has a 5-2 record over 10 starts, striking out 55 over his 58.0 innings pitched. With a 4.34 ERA, Briley has given up 28 earned runs and opposing batters have a .256 average against him. Christian Johnson (#22) has made 6 starts this year, maintaining an 0-3 record with an 8.55 ERA. He has struck out 41 over 33.2 innings pitched. C.D. White (#16) has also made 6 starts on the bump, going 3-1 in that span. His ERA is at 6.39 and has retired 23 via the strikeout over 31.0 innings pitched.
