Thursday, March 16, 2023

MSSU baseball to play 3-game series at Washburn


(From Missouri Southern Athletics)

The 11th ranked Missouri Southern baseball program is set to play in a three game MIAA series against conference leaders Washburn this weekend beginning on Friday Mar. 17th at Falley Field with first pitch set for 3:00pm in Topeka, Kan.

Southern (17-6, 8-2 MIAA) is ranked 11th in the latest NCBWA poll and is ranked first in the central region for the first time this season as Washburn (17-8, 10-1 MIAA) was ranked number seven in the central region and did not appear on the national poll.








The two teams will be battling mother nature this weekend in Topeka as the game on Friday was moved up two hours to now begin at 3:00pm, Saturday is still to be determined with the cold weather possibly forcing a double header to being played following the 12:00pm game on Sunday.

Statically the Lions as a team has one of the best offensive lineups in Division II with a division leading 50 home runs this season, second in home runs per game with 2.17, fourth in slugging percentage at .588, eighth in hits with 264, 10th for doubles with 54 and runs scored with 220, 16th for runs per game with 9.6 and is 25th in doubles per game with 2.35. In the MIAA the team is first in home runs, home runs per game, slugging percentage, runs and runs per game while being second for batting average at .323, hits, doubles and doubles per game.

Individually Southern is led by Nate Mieszkowski with .429 average, 33 runs scored, 42 hits, six doubles, nine home runs, 31 RBIs, slugging .786 with a .504 on-base percentage for a 1.290 OPS. Garrett Rice is hitting .388 with 28 runs scored, 38 hits, five doubles, seven home runs, 25 RBIs, slugging .673 with a .461 on-base percentage for a 1.134 OPS. Will Doherty is hitting .360 with 20 runs scored, 31 hits, eight doubles, three home runs, 21 RBIs, slugging .581 with a .434 on-base percentage for a 1.015 OPS, Matt Miller is hitting .349 with 25 runs scored, 30 hits, four doubles, nine home runs, 29 RBIs, slugging .709 with a .431 on-base percentage for a 1.140 OPS. Henry Kusiak is hitting .309 with 24 runs scored, 29 hits, six doubles and four homers to round out hitters that have played in at least 75% of games and average at least two plate appearances a game. Ethan Clark is hitting .379 with 14 runs scored, 22 hits, seven doubles, 20 RBIs while slugging .552 and Drew Davis is hitting .308 with seven runs scored, eight hits, two doubles, two home runs, nine RBIs.








As a pitching staff the Lions have a 5.81 ERA while averaging 8.3 strikeouts per game and opponents hitting .282. Individually Cole Woods is 4-1 with a 3.89 ERA in six starts for 34.2 innings while striking out 39 and opponents hitting .219 against him. Owen Schneider is 1-1 in six starts for 24.1 innings while striking out 21 and opponents hitting .277 against him. Trent Harris (2-0), Cale McCallister (3-0) and Cole Gayman (3-0) have gotten starts as well this season with Harris striking out 17 in 15.2 innings, McCallister striking out 11 in 17.0 innings and Gayman striking out 21 in 22.1 innings. Laif Hultine has made 12 appearances from the bullpen this season for a 3.09 ERA, 0.94 WHIP with a win and three saves in 11.2 innings while striking out 10 and opponents hitting .190 against him. Kyle Moore leads the bullpen with 21.2 innings from eight appearances with two wins and a save while striking out 25 and opponents hitting .277 against him.

The Ichabods as a team average 11.2 hits and 7.9 runs a game with Ike Book leading the way with a .412 average, 13 runs scored, 28 hits, 20 RBIs with a .574 slugging and .494 on-base percentages for a 1.068 OPS. Cal Watkins is hitting .410 with 31 runs scored, 43 hits, nine doubles, 14 RBIs, slugging .543 with a .467 on-base percentage for a 1.010 OPS. Trey Adams is hitting .356 with 24 runs scored, 32 hits and five doubles as Cale Savage rounds out the qualified hitters batting over .300 with a .322 average, 20 runs scored, 29 hits, six doubles, five home runs, 26 RBIs to slug .578.

The pitching staff for Washburn has a 5.46 ERA while averaging 9.3 strikeouts per game and opponents hitting .262. Casey Steward is the ace with a 4.13 ERA in six starts for a 1-0 record, 32.2 innings, 51 strikeouts and opponents hitting .231 against him. Rane Pfeifer has a 3.68 ERA in six starts for a 2-0 record, 29.1 innings, 43 strikeouts and opponents hitting .155 against him. Jack Brimacombe has a 5.01 ERA in six starts for a 1-1 record, 23.1 innings, 25 strikeouts and 25 walks issued with opponents hitting .298 against him. Jayden Payne has made 10 appearances from the bullpen this season for a 2-0 record, 2.84 ERA in 12.2 innings with eight strikeouts and a .300 opposing batting average. Cole Warner leads the bullpen with 21.2 innings from six appearances for a 3-1 record, 3.74 ERA with 17 strikeouts and opponents hitting .205 against him.


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