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WARM UPS...Baseball found its bats in Jefferson City this past weekend, outscoring Lincoln by a combined 40-7 during a four-game sweep of the Blue Tigers.
The Griffons won by scores of 4-3, 6-3, 11-1 and 19-1 respectively.
Senior catcher
Jake Schrader had a monster weekend going a combined 10-15 with 4 home runs and 11 RBI.
The Griffons now stand at 19-14 overall and 15-11 in MIAA conference play. They will host a four game series with Pittsburg State beginning Friday night 4:00 p.m with a doubleheader. The series will conclude with a doubleheader Saturday at 1pm.
KNOW THE OPPONENTS...Record vs. the Gorillas since 2001: Overall: 36-11 - Home: 18-2 - Away: 17-9 - Neutral: 1-0 - MIAA Tournament: 1-0
• The Griffons and the Gorillas have met 47 times since 2001 with MWSU leading 36-11. The Griffons have won nine straight and 10 straight in Pittsburg, Kan. before falling in the regular season 5-0. The Griffons have won 9 of the last 10. The Griffons have also won 18 of the last 20 games against PSU.
• This season the Gorillas are 15-22 overall and 10-18 in MIAA falling in nine straight MIAA games. They snapped their nine game losing streak on Wednesday with a doubleheader sweep over Missouri St. Louis
• The Gorillas are led by second year head coach Matt Murray.
• On the season PSU is hitting .288 with six guys hitting over .300. Nathan Arnold is also hitting .413 with 26 hits and 11 RBI. Brad Foss is hitting .381 with a team high 51 hits and 12 doubles. As a team they have hit 15 home runs with Kyle Dickens hitting six.
• On the bump they have a 5.73 ERA with Ryan McKay leading the way with a 3.18 ERA. He has made 15 apperances with five saves and a 2-3 record. Tyler Thompson has the most victories for the Gorillas with a 4-4 record and a 4.50 ERA in eight starts.
GRIFF NOTES...(About 2014)As a team the Griffons are on a little bit of a role winning 11 of their last 15 games which includes winning all four of their games last week against the Lincoln Blue Tigers in Jefferson City, Mo. As a team the Griffons are hitting .302 with
Ryan Degner leading the way with a .377 average. Degner is second on the team in hits with 46, home runs with 7 and RBI with 33. He is first on the team with 11 doubles and stolen bases with 10.
Trevor LaHonta is second on the team hitting .343 and leads the team in hits with 47 while
Jake Schrader leadst the team with 11 home runs and 37 RBI. Schracer has hit six home runs in his last eight games. On the bump the Griffons have been led by
Tyler Sanders and
Jake Jones. Sanders has thrown a team high 43.0 innings giving up just 15 earned runs while striking out 27. He has a 3-2 record with four saves. He has a 3.14 ERA allowing opponents to hit just .247 off of him.
Jake Jones has a 3.77 ERA with a 4-2 record. He has made 11 appearances with five starts. He has struckout 26 batters in 31.0 innings of work.
Mason Queen leads the Griffons in Ks with 37.
GRIFFON HEAD COACH BUZZ VERDUZCO...• Charles "Buzz" Verduzco begins his 15th season at the helm of the Missouri Western baseball team in 2014. The Griffons had another solid season finishing First in the MIAA for the first time in school history. They also made their third consecutive trip to the MIAA Tournament and second ever trip the NCAA Division II Tournament. Verduzco was named MIAA Coach of the Year for the first time in his career and also had Player of the Year (
Michael Schulze) and Pitcher of the Year (
Brandon Simmons) for the first time in history. 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 421-321 overall and 289-212 in MIAA play at Missouri Western.
• Verduzco won his 400th game on against the Central Oklahoma Bronchos on Central Oklahoma on May 9, 2013 by a score of 9-3 in the MIAA Tournament.
NON-CONFERENCE GAMES UNDER VERDUZCO:Under Verduzco the Griffons are 114-97 in non-conference games. The Griffons best non-conference record under Verduzco came in 2004 when they were 16-4 out of MIAA play. Griffons were 12-7 in non-conference games a season ago. They are 4-3 so far this season in non-conference game.s
MIAA GAMES UNDER VERDUZCO:MWSU is 289-212 under Verduzco since 2000 in MIAA play. Last season was Western's best season in school history as they won the MIAA Regular Season Title for the first time ever with a 28-5 overall record...Last season was the Griffons were 26-12 while in 2006 they went 21-9.
HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE: The Griffons are 193-114 under Verduzco since 2001 at home. The Griffons finished this season with a 18-3 home record which is its best home record dating back to 2001. MWSU has had only two losing seasons at home since 2001. They were 11-18 in 2010 and 10-12 in 2011. In 2012 the Griffons were 18-5 while in 2013 the Griffons were 18-3.
ON THE ROAD:Missouri Western has done well on the road in the last few years being .500 or better in 10 of Verduzco's 14 seasons. Last season they were 15-5 and last season MWSU finished 15-10. Overall since 2001 they are 173-139. MWSU's best season on the road came this season. In 2013 they were 15-10 and in 2004 when they were 12-8. This season the Griffons are 9-9 on the road.
ON A NEUTRAL FIELD: Since 2001 the Griffons are 34-33 when playing on a nutral field. They were 7-4 a season ago and 5-1 in 2001. They have had seven seasons when they had a .500 record or better on a neutral field. This season they are 1-1 splitting with Southwest Minnesota State.
IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT:The Griffons are 1-4 all-time in the NCAA Tournament with their first appearance coming in 2006 in Emporia, Kan. The Griffons fell in their first game 16-5 against host Emporia State on May 18, 2006. The then rebounded for a 16-8 victory over the Central Missouri Mules on May 19, 2006 and then fell on May 20, 2006 against the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks by a score of 10-3. The Griffons ended that season with a 31-25 overall record. Last season the Griffons fell to #10 Southern Arkansas 6-1 on May 16, 2013 and then fell to #5 and host school MSU-Mankato by a score of 4-1 in 10 innings.
UP NEXT:The Griffons continue road MIAA play with a series against the 22nd ranked Central Missouri Mules on April 17-19 in Warrensburg, Mo. The two teams play one nine inning game on Thursday, April 17 with first pitch scheduled for 6 pm. On Friday, April 18 the two teams play a double header starting at 1 pm and will conclude the series on Saturday, April 19 with a single nine inning contest starting at 1 pm.
