Missouri Southern women to play Augustana in opening round of NCAA Tournament

(From Missouri Southern Sports)

The 18th ranked Missouri Southern women's basketball team is set for its fifth trip to the NCAA Tournament in program history where they will face off with NSIC foe Augustana in the first round. 

This will be the first meeting between the two schools and marks the second year in a row that the Lions will begin the NCAA Tournament against a NSIC program.

 Tip off from Romano Gymnasium is set for 12:00pm on Friday Mar. 10th in Duluth, Minn and will feature live stats, radio play-by-play and a free live stream that can be found in the live coverage link.

Game Information
Date: Friday, Mar. 10th
Time: 12:00pm
Location: Duluth, Minn.
Site: Romano Gymnasium
Teams: #18/RV Missouri Southern (27-6, 16-6 MIAA) vs. (RV) Augustan (25-5, 17-4)
Series History: First ever meeting

Media Coverage
Radio: Mike McClure - Play by play - 101-7 the Vault - 101.7 FM
Video/Stats: https://www.mssulions.com/coverage
Facebook: facebook.com/mososports
Twitter: @mososports; @MssuWbb

Southern baseball to play host to number five Central Oklahoma

(From Missouri Southern Sports)

The Missouri Southern baseball program is set to host No. 5 Central Oklahoma in a three day conference series from Warren Turner Field from Friday Mar. 10th - Sunday Mar. 12th.

The Lions (13-6, 4-2 MIAA) and Bronchos (15-3, 5-1 MIAA) will begin action on Friday at 6:00pm before playing on Saturday and Sunday at 1:00pm with all games being played at Warren Turner Field.

Southern as a team is hitting .324 with 45 home runs and 49 doubles while averaging 11.7 hits and 9.7 runs per game and as a pitching staff has a 6.44 ERA while averaging 8.0 strikeouts per game and opponents hitting .292. Individually the Lions have six batters batting over .300 with at least two plate appearances a game and plying in 75% of total games played, Nate Mieszkowski leads the team with a .429 average, 26 runs, 36 hits, six doubles while having seven home runs, 24 RBIs, a .774 slugging percentage and .490 on-base percentage while swiping five bases. Matt Miller is hitting .392 with 22 runs scored, 29 hits, four doubles, nine home runs, 26 RBIs while slugging .811 with a .465 on-base percentage. Garrett Rice is hitting .39 with 25 runs scored, 32 hits, five doubles, seven home runs, 23 RBIs while slugging .732 with a .464 on-base percentage. Henry Kusiak (.325), Will Doherty (.324) and Tyler Ferguson (.303) round out the hitters meeting requirements and batting above .300.

On the mound Cole Woods is 3-1 from five starts for 26.2 innings, striking out 30 and walking eight with opponents hitting .260 against him. Owen Schneider is 1-1 from five starts with 20.0 innings, striking out 19 and opponents hitting .263. Trent Harris is 1-0 in four starts with 13.1 innings and 13 strikeouts, Cale McCallister is 3-0 with six appearances, three being starts for 16.1 innings, Cole Gayman has two starts from five appearances with 17.1 innings and 15 strikeouts with opponents hitting .268 against him. Laif Hultine has featured 10 times out of the bullpen with 9.2 innings for eight strikeouts and opponents hitting .194 against him. Kyle Moore leads the bullpen with 17.2 innings and 20 strikeouts from seven appearances.

UCO as a team is hitting .312 with 12 home runs and 44 doubles while averaging 9.9 hits and 8.1 runs per game and as a pitching staff has a 3.77 ERA while averaging 8.5 strikeouts per game and opponents hitting .228. 

Individually the Bronchos have four batters batting over .300 with at least two plate appearances a game and plying in 75% of total games played, Jaden Parson leads the team with a .390 average with 16 runs scored, 23 hits, three doubles, 10 RBIs and is 6-for-8 for stolen bases. Kaleb Glass has a .361 average with 18 runs scored, 22 hits, two triples, 13 RBIs and is 9-for-9 for stolen bases. Orlando Gonzalez has a .314 average with 16 runs scored, 22 hits, four doubles, three home runs, eight RBIs and is 6-for-10 for stolen bases. 

Cameron Uselton has a .311 average with 16 runs, 19 hits, six doubles, 18 RBIs and is 3-for-4 for stolen bases. Seth Gray hitting .274 is the power bat with five homers, three triples, 25 RBIs, slugging .694 and is 5-for-8 for stolen bases. The speed demon is Aiden Proctor going 17-for-19 on stolen base attempts this season while hitting .436 this season from 11 games.

Chris Spry leads the pitching staff with 22.1 innings and 20 strikeouts for a 3-0 record from four starts with a 3.63 ERA and opponents hitting .205 against him. James Wambold has a 1-1 record from four starts with 18.0 innings for 11 strikeouts and opponents hitting .242 against him. Diego Sominguez and Marcos Lopez have both started four games with Lopez pitching 14.2 innings with 18 strikeouts and opponents hitting .283 against him. Jeb Jenkins, Aiden Bagwell, Jacob Bailey and Valek Cisneros have made eight appearances out of the bullpen each this season with Jenkins throwing 17.2 innings and 19 strikeouts and opponents batting .131. Bailey leads the staff with five saves from 14.0 innings with 18 strikeouts and opponents hitting .163 against him. Cisneros has two saves from 8.1 inning with opponents hitting .172 against him.

MSSU Lions ready for NCAA Indoor Championships

(From Missouri Southern Sports)

The Missouri Southern track and field programs will be in Virginia Beach, Va. for the 2023 NCAA Division II Indoor Championships on Friday Mar. 10th & Saturday Mar. 11th. Southern will have 16 individuals competing in 12 events overall over the two day meet held at the Virginia Beach Sports Center.

Start times for Friday will be 1:30pm for the women's weight throw, 2:45pm for the women's 60m hurdles preliminaries, 3:00pm for the men's 60m hurdles preliminaries, 4:10 for the women's 400m preliminaries, 4:30pm for the men's weight throw, 5:10pm for the women's 200m dash preliminaries and 6:50pm for the men's distance medley relay.

Start times for Saturday will be 2:45pm for the women's shot put, 3:40pm for the women's 60m hurdles finals, 3:50pm for the men's 60m hurdles finals, 4:05pm for the men's triple jump, 4:45pm for the men's shot put, 5:05pm for the men's high jump, 5:30pm for the women's 200m dash final and 6:10pm for the men's 3000m run.

Coming into the meet the men are ranked sixth as a team with 10 All-Region performers in Riley Simpson, Kelton Sorrell, Gabe McClain and Ryan Riddle (Distance Medley Relay), Peyton Barton and Connor Boyd (Weight Throw), Jordan Garr and Cedric Pearson (Shot Put), Taris Jackson (Triple Jump), Brendan Jewell (High Jump) and Riddle (Mile and 3000m).

Competing in the Indoor Championship for the men will be 11 individuals and one relay team, the individuals are Malachi Pipkin in the 60m hurdles, Barton and Boyd in the weight throw, Garr and Pearson in the shot put, Jackson in the triple jump, Jewell in the high jump, Sorrell, Simpson, McClain and Riddle in the distance medley relay with Riddle also competing in the 3000m run.

Among Division II ranks this season the men had 10 top-15 marks led by Barton in the weight throw with a throw of 22.05m the best in the division and a school record. Riddle has the third best time in the division in the 3000m run at 7:55.82 and the fourth best mile at 3:59.25 in the division with both times being school records. The DMR team of Simpson, Sorrell, McClain and Riddle has the sixth best time in the division at 9:42.84. 

Garr in the shot put has the seventh best throw in the division at 18.03m the ninth best in school history, Jewell in the high jump has the eighth best mark in the division at 2.14m the fifth best mark in school history, Boyd in the weight throw has the eighth best mark in the division with a throw of 20.33m, Jackson in the triple jump has the 12th best mark in the division at 15.18m, Pipkin in the 60m hurdles has the 13th best time in the division at 7.96 which is a school record and Pearson in the shot put has the 14th best throw in the division at 17.52m.

Coming into the meet the women are ranked 15th as a team with four All-Region performers in Mallory Huber (Weight Throw), Chardae Overstreet (400m), Samariae Bonds (Shot Put and Weight Throw) and Kiara Smith (60m hurdles and 200m).

Competing in the Indoor Championship for the women will be five individuals, LaNea Wallace and Chardae Overstreet in the 400m dash, Mallory Huber in the weight throw, Samariae Bonds in the shot put and weight throw and Kiara Smith in the 60m hurdles and 200m dash.

Among Division II ranks this season the women have seven top-20 marks led by Smith in the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.20 the second fastest in the division and a school record. Smith is also ninth in the division in the 200m dash with a time of 23.99 the fourth fastest time in school history, Bonds in the shot put is 10th in the division with a throw of 14.77m, Huber in the weight throw is 12th in the division with a throw of 18.92m which is a school record, Overstreet in the 400m dash is 15th in the division with a time of 55.06 the second best in school history, Bonds in the weight throw is 17th in the division with a throw of 18.36m the seventh best in school history and Wallace in the 400m dash is 20th with a time of 55.56 the fourth best in school history.