MSSU baseball to play host to Missouri Western

(From MSSU Lions Athletic News)

The 25th ranked Missouri Southern baseball team will play host to Missouri Western on Thursday and Friday in an MIAA three-game series.

Originally slated to be games played over Friday through Sunday, the Lions and Griffons will now play one game Thursday at 2 pm with a double-header on Friday at 1 pm.

Both teams come in atop the MIAA as they both swept MIAA series last weekend; the Lions winning at Central Oklahoma and the Griffons sweeping Fort Hays State in a series that was played in Edmond.

Southern (10-3, 3-0 MIAA) comes into the series with one of Division II's best pitching staffs, ranking fourth in strikeout to walk ratio, fifth in shutouts and tenth in strikeouts.

Will Bausinger and Zach Parish both rank sixth nationally in complete games, while Bausinger and Parish rank fifth and 11th, respectively in strikeouts. Cam Bednar ranks 9th in saves and 3rd in appearances. The Lions have a 3.62 ERA and rank second in the MIAA in strikeouts.

Offensively, Southern is hitting .288 as a team, with four individuals: Dexter Swims (.386), Freddie Landers (.349), Alex Phillips (.306) and Davin Gummere (.304) hitting above .300. Gummere ranks fourth nationally in walks, while Landers ranks third in hit by pitch.

Western (5-5, 3-0 MIAA) enters the game, hitting .278 as a team and sports a 4.98 team ERA. The Griffons have two hitting at or above .400 with Conrad McMahon (.410) and Fahd Shakeel (.400). Anthony Castaneda is 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA in three starts and leads the team with 31 strikeouts on the year.