WARM UPS...
#5 Griffon Baseball went 2-2 against top ranked opponents this past week at the Spring Sports Complex.  Last Monday, the Griffs knocked off #4 St. Cloud State by a score of 5-3.  Mason Queen picked up his first win of the season with Bubba Dotson driving in two.  Over the weekend the Griffs were defeated in two out of three games by #8 Central Missouri.  In the opener, Shawn Egge's single in the bottom of the seventh helped the Griffs win in walk-off fashion and gave Brandon Simmons his ninth win of the season.  The final two games of the series were heartbreakers losing by scores of 2-1 & 6-5.  The Griffs are now 32-7 overall and 25-4 in the MIAA and close out the regular season this week.  On Wednesday the Griffons host Washburn in the final regular season home games in a doubleheader at 2 PM and then this weekend the team travels to Joplin for a three game series with Missouri Southern.

KNOW THE OPPONENTS...
Record vs. Washburn since 2001: Overall: 29-12 MWSU - Home: 11-5 MWSU - Away: 17-6 MWSU - Neutral: 1-1
MIAA Tournament: 1-1 All-Time Overall: 57-54 WU
• The Griffons and the Ichabods have met 41 times since the 2001 season with the Griffons leading 29-12.
• The Griffons won all five meetings last season which included a 12-8 victory in the MIAA Tournament on May 11, 2012.
• The Griffons swept a four game series by scores of 3-2, 3-2, 5-2 and 5-4 in St. Joseph last season.
• The Griffons have won the last 10 against the Ichabods and four in a row at home. The Griffons have won 12 of the last 15 games with the Ichabods.
• This season the Ichabods are just 9-29 overall and 8-28 in MIAA action.
• They are hitting just .282 as a team with three players hitting over .300. Riley Price leads the way with a .398 batting average in 37 games...He leads the team with 51 hits. Taylor Harrington has a .353 batting average with 11 doubles, 8 triples and one home run.
• The Ichabods  have 62 doubles and 19 triples on the season.
• On the bump the Bods have a 7.90 ERA.
• Taylor Gentry leads the way for the Ichabods with a 3-1 record. He has a 2.95 ERA in 39.2 innings pitched.

KNOW THE OPPONENTS...
Record vs. Missouri Southern since 2001: Overall: 25-17 MWSU - Home: 14-8 MWSU - Away: 11-8 MWSU - Neutral: 1-0 - MSSU
• The Griffons and the Lions have met 42 times since the 2001 season with the Griffons leading 25-17.
• The Griffons won all four meetings last season and seven of the last eight.
• The Griffons swept a four game series by scores of 5-3, 2-1, 3-0 and 5-2 against the 11th ranked Lions in St. Joseph last season.
• The Griffons have won 22 of the last 29 games which includes seven of the last ten in Joplin, Mo.
• This season the Lions are just 27-16 overall and 21-14 in MIAA action.
• They are hitting .300 as a team with five players hitting over .300. Dallas Burke leads the way with a .347 batting average in 41 games...He has 50 hits with 20 RBI...Michael McCoy and Sam Ryan are hitting .343 and .342 respectively with with McCoy leading the Lions with 60 hits and Ryan leading the charge with 15 doubles.
• The Lions  have 77 doubles and 23 home runs on the season.
• On the bump the Lions have a 4.46 ERA.
• Payton Walker leads the team with a 2.89 ERA in 13 apperances while he and Ryan Bates both have five victories. Brett Abell leads MSSU with 77 strikeouts on the season. 

TID BITS ABOUT MISSOURI WESTERN...
• The Griffons come into the week at 32-7 overall  and 25-4 in MIAA play. MWSU beat No. 9 St. Cloud State 5-3 last Monday before losing the last two games of a three game series with the 8th ranked Central Missouri Mules. All three games were decided by one run.
• The Griffons are batting .363 as a team which leads the MIAA. They are led by Michael Schulze's .437 average. Grant Fink is hitting .414 and leads the team with 12 home runs and also has  43 RBI. Bubba Dotson bats .379 with 10 home runs  and a team-best 48 runs driven in. MWSU has hit  52 home runs as a team and 10 different players  have hit home runs.
• The Griffon pitching staff has an 4.14 team ERA allowing 174 runs, 145 earned, in 315.1 innings. Brandon Simmons leads the team with nine wins and sports a 2.83 ERA in nine starts. He also has three complete games. Logan Hollingsworth is 5-1 with a 2.01 ERA and nine saves in 19 relief appearances. Jerad Hawkins is 5-0 with a 2.27 ERA in 12 appearances including two starts.
• Opponents are batting .279 against Missouri Western pitching.
• The pitching staff has issued 116 walks and struck out 215 in 315.1 innings pitched.
• The Griffons have committed 52 errors in the field and have a .963 team fielding percentage.

GRIFF NOTES...
• Griffon pitcher Brandon Simmons won his 33rd career game last week with a 3-2 victory over Central Missouri. Simmons the MWSU all-time leader taking over for Nick Finn who had 27. He set that record in 1972-75. Simmons broke the MIAA record for wins was held by Josh Reynolds, UCM, 1998-2000.
• Simmons has 209 career strikeouts and now sits in fifth all-time at MWSU and is 9 away from being in 3rd.
• Senior first baseman Spencer Shockley leads the Griffons with 15 doubles and currently holds the MWSU Record for most doubles in a career with 45. Shockley broke that record with a double against Pittsburg State. Javier Martinez was the old record holder with 42 which he set from 1994-97.
• The Griffon bottom of the order has been as productive as the top. Senior center fielder Shawn Egge is hitting .352. He has scored 30 runs with 8 doubles, three home runs and 21 RBI. He had the walk off single in the game one victory against Central Missouri last weekend.
• Micheal Schulze has hit safely in all but three games this season...He had a 21 and eight game hitting streak earlier this seas...he had a 24 game hitting streak in MIAA games before last Saturday when he went 0-for-3 against UCM in game two. Grant Fink had a 20 game hitting streak earlier this season and is currently on a seven game hitting streak. He has hit safely in all but six games.
• The Griffons have had seven players that went on a 10 or more game hitting streak.
• As a team the Griffons had a team best 17 game winning streak earlier this season. They also had a nine game winning streak and have currently won their last four games. This is just the first time since February 18th that the Griffons have lost back-to-back games.
• The Griffons had 32 victories on the season with the all-time wins record being 37 games. They need just three victories to break the record in the Verduzco era of 34 wins. They had 34 wins in 2012 and 2009. They had 37 victories in 1974, 35 victories in 1977 and 36 victories in 1982. This marks just the 14th season in school history with 30 or more victories.

GRIFFON HEAD COACH BUZZ VERDUZCO...
• Charles “Buzz” Verduzco begins his 14th season at the helm of the Missouri Western baseball team in 2013. The Griffons had another solid season finishing second in the MIAA for the first time since 2005. They also made their second consecutive trip to the MIAA Tournament. He led the Griffons to a 34-17 overall record and a 26-12 record in MIAA play. Verduzco coached six All-MIAA player. Brandon Simmons and Spencer Shockley earned first team honors while Nate Ramler, Grant Fink and Nik Jurado were second team selections. Michael Schulze was an honoable mention selection. Verduzco has guided the Griffons to winning season in 11 of his 14 seasons.
• A native of Stockton, California, Verduzco came to Missouri Western from Washington State University where he was an assistant for the Cougar program for over 10 seasons. He served as the Cougars' hitting and outfield coach as well as the primary recruiting coordinator. Verduzco also directed the Cougar baseball camps and was the coordinator of alumni relations for the NCAA Division I program. Verduzco earned a bachelor's degree in Psychology from Washington State in 1985. Verduzco played and coached under legendary coach “Bobo” Brayton at Washington State.
• Buzz is 394-302 overall and 271-200 in MIAA play at Missouri Western.

UP NEXT...
The Griffons will host a three game series in the opening round of the MIAA Tournament on the weekend of May 3-5. The Griffons opponent and game times are still to be determined.