MSSU baseball readies for final week
Apr. 27—The Missouri Southern baseball team will step out of MIAA play on Wednesday for a non-conference matchup at Drury before finishing up the regular season this weekend at home against Missouri Western.
Game time is set for 5 p.m. at USA Baseball Ballpark in Ozark with Drury. The Lions will play host to Missouri Western at Warren Turner Field on Friday, Saturday and Sunday this weekend. Game times are 6 p.m. Friday and 1 on Saturday and Sunday.
Saturday's game will serve as Senior Day for the Lions, while Sunday's game will feature a Back the Blue theme.
The Lions (25-20, 15-15 MIAA) sit in a tie for sixth place in the MIAA standings heading into the final weekend. Southern needs just two wins against Western to tie up the sixth spot in the standings, but with help, can move up to as high as fourth in the final standings.
Southern is hitting .309 as a team and carry a 5.97 team ERA. The Lions hit their 83rd home run as a team this past weekend, breaking the single-season record of 81 that was set in 2017.
Tommy Stevenson leads the team, who is hitting .397 with 15 home runs and 39 RBI. The 15 homers is a team-high, while Stevenson is second on the team with 42 runs scored.
Henry Kusiak is hitting .343 and he leads the Lions with 44 runs scored, while driving in 36 and posting seven home runs, 11 doubles and five triples. Matt Miller is hitting .325 with 14 doubles, 13 home runs and 49 RBI. Webb City product Treghan Parker leads the team with 50 RBI and has 11 home runs and 15 doubles on the season.
The Lions have seven hitters in their starting lineup hitting .300 or better with Jordan Fitzpatrick (.294) nearly there, as well. Fitzpatrick has a team-high 17 doubles on the season.
Logan VanWey, another Webb City product, recorded his 200th career strikeout this weekend at NSU and he leads the MIAA in that category.
VanWey is 5-3 on the season with a 3.78 ERA and has 103 strikeouts this season and 202 in his career, good enough for seventh place all-time at MSSU.
Cole Gayman is 5-2 on the season, while Jacob Davis is 5-1. Cole Woods has 65 strikeouts on the season, while Scott Duensing leads the MIAA with 25 appearances.
Drury (29-12) is ranked 30th in the latest D-2 coaches' poll. The Panthers hit .347 as a team and carry a 5.97 team ERA.
Drury lost three of four on the road this past weekend at Lindenwood. The Panthers have eight hitters in their lineup that average .300 or better, led by Brant Schaffitzel with a .452 mark.
He has ten doubles on the season to go along with 38 hits and 28 runs scored. Aaron Mann is hitting .392 with 55 runs scored,14 doubles and 46 RBI, while Stephen Randazzo leads the team with nine home runs.
Cade Watts (5-2) and Cody Bahl (6-2) lead the starters, while Mason Meeks (4-3) has 11 games started as well. Bahl has a team-high 60 strikeouts on the season.
Western (12-30, 8-22 MIAA) is hitting .257 as a team and carries a 7.18 team ERA. The Griffons lost two of three from Emporia State this past weekend.
Alex Crouch is one of three hitting .300 or better for Western as he carries a .321 average and leads the team with 15 homers and 41 RBIs.
Jordan Akins (3-5) leads the team with 11 starts, while Akins, Jacob Weirich and Zack Cushing are tied for the team-lead with 43 strikeouts.
After this weekend, the Lions will prep for the opening round of the MIAA tournament which will take place on campus sites.
The best-of-three series will decide which four teams advance to the championship round on May 12-14 at Central Oklahoma.
