Missouri Western Griffons (19-9, 12-6)
at
Northwest Missouri Bearcats (9-20, 8-12)
Bearcat Field, Maryville, Mo.
Games 1 & 2: Friday, April 6 beginning at 1 p.m.
Games 3 & 4: Saturday, April 7 beginning at 1 p.m.
ST. JOSEPH, Mo., - Coming off a 17 game home stand and its second four-game sweep this season, the Missouri Western baseball team (19-9, 12-6) heads north to take on rival Northwest Missouri State (9-20, 8-12). Head coach Buzz Verduzco is closing in on career win number 350, after winning his 347th game on April 1 against Washburn.
The Griffons jumped to third place in the MIAA after sweeping Washburn in a four game series last weekend. The Bearcats sit in ninth place after splitting a four game series at Truman State last weekend. Western will send three of the MIAA's top five pitchers in terms of era (N. Jurado, B. Simmons, E. Ward) to the mound against three of the conference's top 12 hitters (R. Abernathy, E. McGlaufli, E. Swain).
The Griffons will look to improve on a 2-5 record away from the Griffon Spring Sports Complex where the team has gone 17-4. Western has won 14 of its last 17, while the Bearcats have won just five of their last 17 games. The series in Maryville marks the first of four straight series (14 games) on the road for the Griffons.
As a team the Griffons are batting .279 with 16 home runs, 50 doubles and their 11 triples rank second in the MIAA.
Spencer Shockley leads the team with a .333 batting average. Shockley's four round trippers are second on the team to
Nate Ramler, who also leads the team with 21 RBI.
Western's staff era sits at .335, with four pitchers featuring sub-3.00 earned run averages.
Nik Jurado is a perfect 40- and leads the MIAA with 39 strikeouts.
Brandon Simmons is 6-2 and third in the conference with 34 k's.
Ethan Ward is 4-1 with a 2.38 era. Opposing batters are hitting just .279 against the Griffon staff.
