Joplin, Mo. - Following the completion of the regular season last weekend, the Missouri Southern baseball team is set for the 2024 MIAA Tournament. The top four seeds host the first round, then the remainder of the tournament will be played in Pittsburg, Kansas. Finishing as the 2 seed, the Lions will play host to the 7 seeded Northwest Missouri Bearcats in a best of three series.

Game Information:
Teams: #10 Missouri Southern (37-13, 24-9 MIAA) vs Northwest Missouri (21-28, 12-21 MIAA)
Dates: May 3-5 (Friday-Sunday)
First Pitch: 3:00pm, 1:00pm, 1:00pm (if necessary)
Location: Joplin, Mo.
Sites: Warren Turner Field
Live Stats
Live Video

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Scouting the Lions
The Lions came in at the #10 spot in the latest NCBWA National Poll, and are ranked #2 in the NCAA Division II Central Region rankings. Nine members of the Missouri Southern squad earned All-MIAA honors; that release can be found here. 

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. The team ended their regular season home schedule with a bang, sweeping Missouri Western by scores of 5-0, 14-6, and 9-3. Wrapping up the regular season, Southern fell twice in their three game series at Central Missouri. They won game two 9-7, coming back from a 6-0 deficit in the eighth inning, taking the lead on a three-run home run by Henry Kusiak. UCM mounted a small comeback in game three, taking it 5-2. 

Henry Kusiak has broken five records this year, becoming the program's sole leader in career runs batted in, career hits, total bases, at-bats, and extra base hits. He has started all 50 contests this season, leading the Lions with a .391 batting average, .516 on base percentage, and .714 slugging percentage. Of his 75 hits, 17 have gone for two bases, 3 triples, and a team-high 13 home runs. He has driven in 55 runs, scored 66, and walked 39 times this year. Additionally, Kusiak has been named the MIAA Hitter of the Week twice this season, and just earned first team All-MIAA and Gold Glove honors. 

Will Doherty is hitting .379 this season, recording an MIAA-high 77 hits. Of those hits, 19 have been doubles, 2 triples, and 10 home runs. He leads the team in the runs batted in category as well, driving in 61 this spring. Doherty was named third team All-MIAA Third Base by the league. 

Ethan Clark has recorded 63 hits for a .337 batting average, driving in 38 runs and scoring 42 as well. Drew Townsend continues to lead all of NCAA Division II in walks, drawing 52 this season. He has also crossed the plate 62 times. Garrett Rice is hitting .318 on the year, recording a .591 slugging percentage with 13 doubles, 1 triple, and 9 home runs. He has driven in 52 runs, crossing the plate 40 times himself. Earlier this season, Rice was named an MIAA Hitter of the Week. 

Cole Gayman has won nine games in 13 starts this year, leading to five total MIAA POTW honors, two NCBWA Central Region Pitcher of the Week awards, and one NCBWA National Pitcher of the Week honor. Over his 79.2 innings pitched this year, he has given up 55 hits, 22 earned runs, and 34 walks, striking out 80 batters in the process. He is holding opposing hitters to a .191 average and has an ERA of 2.49, both being MIAA bests. Along with those categories, Gayman also leads the MIAA in innings pitched, batters struck out looking, wins, runs allowed, and earned runs allowed. In all of NCAA Division II, his 9 victories ranks 3rd, hits allowed per nine innings is 5th, earned run average is 7th, and strikeouts is 15th. 

Trent Harris is 5-0 on the season, striking out 61 over 59.1 innings pitched with a 5.16 ERA. Out of the bullpen, Laif Hultine and Kyle Moore have each recorded 5 saves this season, combining for 60 strikeouts as Moore has 35 and Hultine has 25 on the year. Keaton Anderson has started three games this season, holding a 3-0 record with an ERA of 2.70. Over his 40.0 innings pitched, Anderson has struck out 30 batters and is holding opponents to a .211 batting average. 

Scouting the Bearcats
The Northwest Missouri Bearcats ended their regular season with a 21-28 (12-21 MIAA) record, earning the 7 seed in the MIAA Tournament. Since MSSU and NWMSU met in Maryville at the end of March, the Bearcats have gone 6-10. They took two out of three at Fort Hays State and at home against Northeastern State, but dropped two out of three against UCO and got swept by Newman. In their final series of the regular season, the Bearcats fell 10-3 in the opening contest against #20 Central Oklahoma, but bounced back with a 9-4 win. They then went 11 innings with the Bronchos, eventually falling 7-6. 

Ryan Williams (#10) leads the team with a .390 average. He has picked up 69 hits in 177 at-bats, recording 17 doubles, 2 triples, and 11 home runs for a slugging percentage of .695. Trey Morris (#43/44) leads the team with 62 RBI and 11 home runs as well. Starting in 49 contests, he has added 14 doubles for a .561 slugging percentage. Kaehukai Young (#20) has driven in 23 runs on 44 hits, 7 being doubles and 6 going for home runs. He has walked 25 times and is a perfect 6-6 in stolen base attempts.

The Lions will likely see Quinn Mason (#18) in game one. He carries a 2-5 record with an 8.10 ERA. Casey Stalzer (#16) typically gets the nod for game two. Over 68.2 innings this year, Stalzer has struck out an MIAA-leading 97 batters with a 6.16 ERA. Jacob Gajic (#32) has thrown in 21 games, taking a 4.50 ERA and .260 B/AVG into the weekend. He has struck out 53 over 52.0 innings pitched, collecting 8 saves on the year.