Joplin, Mo. - The Lion baseball team wrapped up non-conference play for the regular season on Tuesday, now they look to host Missouri Western for their final home series of the regular season. Game one on Friday will be played at Joe Becker Field as part of the team's throwback game. The team will return to Warren Turner Field for the games on Saturday and Sunday, the senior recognition taking place on Saturday at 12:30pm. 

Game Information:
Teams: #9 Missouri Southern (33-11, 20-7 MIAA) vs Missouri Western (18-22, 9-18 MIAA)
Dates: April 19-21 (Friday-Sunday)
First Pitch: 6:00pm, 1:00pm, 1:00pm
Location: Joplin, Mo.
Sites: Joe Becker Stadium - Friday, Warren Turner Field - Saturday/Sunday
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Scouting the Lions
In the most recent NCBWA national poll, the Lions dropped to the #9 spot. They remain second in both the Central Region rankings and MIAA standings behind Central Missouri. MSSU 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. The team bounced back with a big weekend, sweeping Northeastern State on the road by scores of 5-1, 13-9, and 11-1 in seven innings. In their second contest against Drury and final non-conference game of the regular season, the Lions fell to the Panthers 11-4. 

Henry Kusiak broke his fifth record this year last weekend, becoming the program's sole leader in career runs batted in. The other program records he broke this year include career hits, total bases, at-bats, and extra base hits. He leads the team in nearly every hitting category, recording a .393 batting average (66-168), collecting 13 doubles, 3 triples, and 12 home runs this season for a .732 slugging percentage. From those hits, he has driven in 51 runs and scored 57 himself. Additionally, Kusiak has been named the MIAA Hitter of the Week twice this season. He leads the conference in hits, ranking second in the MIAA in runs scored and third in OBP, at-bats, and hit by pitch. 

Will Doherty has driven in a team-high 55 runs so far this season and has crossed the plate 52 times as well. Of his 64 hits, 16 have been doubles, 2 triples, and 9 home runs. He is hitting .371 with an OPS of 1.112. In the MIAA rankings, Doherty leads the league in at-bats and is tied for the most hits and runs batted in. 

Ethan Clark has recorded 56 hits for a .346 batting average, driving in 34 runs and scoring 36 as well. His 17 doubles and 3 triples are both team-highs. Drew Townsend continues to lead all of NCAA Division II in walks, drawing 49 this season. He has also crossed the plate 54 times. Garrett Rice was named last week's MIAA Hitter of the Week. On the season, Rice has driven in 46 runs with 11 doubles and 9 home runs. 

Cole Gayman has won eight games in 11 starts this year, leading to four total MIAA POTW awards and one NCBWA National Pitcher of the Week honor. Over his 65.2 innings pitched this year, he has given up 43 hits, 16 earned runs, and 28 walks, striking out 74 batters in the process. He is holding opposing hitters to a .181 average and has an ERA of 2.19, both are top numbers in the MIAA. Trent Harris picked up another win on Saturday, now 4-0 on the season. He has 57 strikeouts over 49.0 innings pitched with a 4.59 ERA. Out of the bullpen, Laif Hultine picked up save number 5 this season last Friday, upping his career total to 15. The program record for most career saves is currently 17. In his 27.0 innings pitched, Hultine has retired 25 via the strikeout. Keaton Anderson got his first start of the season last Sunday, going 5.0 innings for the win. He gave up just 1 run on 7 hits, striking out 2 and giving up 0 walks in the process.

Scouting the Griffons
The Missouri Western Griffons bring an 18-22 (9-18 MIAA) record into the weekend series against Southern. That record has them tied for 8th in the current MIAA standings. In their season opening season at Southwestern Oklahoma State, the Griffons split the four game series, then they swept St. Cloud State with two shutout contests. Against Drury, MWSU took two out of three, and their loss was a 6-5 score. They took their first two conference series of the season, defeating Northeastern State and Central Oklahoma. Following that, the Griffons dropped six straight MIAA contests to Washburn, Central Missouri, and Northwest Missouri. Their struggles continued until their first series of April, when the team took two out of three against Emporia State. Since then, MWSU has dropped their past four which includes a 12-4 score against UCM and three against Pittsburg State. 

Jackson Bryant (#18) leads the team with a .357 batting average. He has collected 11 doubles, 2 triples, and 3 home runs, driving in a team-high 34 runs in the process. On the base path, Bryant is 10-11 in stolen base attempts. Blake Anderson (#10) leads the team with 49 hits on the year, 4 being doubles and another a home run. He has drawn a team-high 16 walks and has an on base percentage of .426. Three Griffons lead the team with 4 home runs, Ryan Koval (#22), Jared Munk (#36), and Noah Cook (#24).

Zack Cushing (#14) leads the team with 49.0 innings pitched, but has only recorded 2 starts this year. He has a 5-3 record with a 6.06 ERA, striking out 49 and giving up 11 walks. Lynden Bruegman (#8) has appeared in 9 games, starting 7 of those. With an 8.03 ERA, he is 0-2 on the year and has struck out 36 batters in the process. Sam Kratz (#20) has tossed 27.2 innings for MWSU, recording 26 strikeouts with an 8.46 ERA.