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Tweet #gogriffsWARM UPS...
Griffon Baseball is heating up at the right time as they have now won eight straight games after sweeping Pittsburg State in a four game series at the Spring Sports Complex over the weekend.  On Friday, the Griffs knocked off the Gorillas by scores of 6-4 and 4-1.  Grant Woods and Josh Lansangan picked up the wins on the mound with David Chew having a huge day at the plate going 4 for 4 in game two.  On Saturday, pitching reigned supreme again as the Griffs beat Pitt 1-0 and 8-3.  Jake Jones got the win in game one to improve 5-2 on the season with Jeremy Monty driving in the games only run with a sacrifice fly.  In the finale, Mark Spreckels pitched seven innings strong with first baseman Hunter Weiss being the hitting star going 4 for 4 while driving in three runs. 

The Griffons are now 23-14 overall and 19-11 in MIAA play and embark on a showdown with first place Central Missouri this weekend.  The baseball series with has been altered due to forecasted rain on Thursday. The series was originally scheduled to be played on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The series will now consist of a doubleheader on Friday at 1 p.m. and a doubleheader on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field.  You can listen to the Friday games live on the Griffon Sports Network ESPN 1550 AM.

The final regular season home series of the season is set for April 25-27 as Fort Hays State will be at the Spring Sports Complex.  Admission is FREE!

As schedules do tend to change at a moments notice, stay tuned to gogriffons.com for the most accurate updates.

KNOW THE OPPONENTS...
Record vs. the Mules since 2001: Overall: 41-10 UCM - Home: 16-4 UCM - Away: 21-5 UCM - Neutral: 4-1 UCM - MIAA Tournament: 4-0 UCM - NCAA Regional: 1-0 MWSU
• The Griffons and the Gorillas have met 51 times since 2001 with UCM leading 41-10. The Mules have dominated play winning two of three last season in St. Joseph. They have won nine of the last 12 games which includes the last two. In Warrensburg the Mules have won their the last five games.  
•This season the Mules are leading the MIAA with a 29-12 overall record and a 26-6 record in MIAA play. They have won seven of their last 10 and 15 of their last 18 games. The Mules are 15-2 at home this season with their only losses coming against Southwest Baptist by a score of 10-6 on February 21, 2014 in MIAA play and 14-2 in non-conference action on April 8 in non-conference action. 
• The Gorillas are led by seventh year head coach Tom Myers.
• On the season UCM is hitting .311 with six guys hitting over .300. Jake Alexander leads the way with a .381 average. He has 45 hits with four doubles and 22 RBI. Tony Sandifer and Brad Wilson are hitting .379 and .370 respectively. They both had a team high 50 hits. Wilson leads the team with nine doubles and five home runs. He also leads the team with 35 RBI, 78 total baseas and a .578 slugging percentage. Trevor Jones hits .361 with a team high three triples. He has also stolen 13 out of 14 bases.
• On the bump they have been very solid as a staff with just a 3.76 ERA. They have also only allowed opponents to hit .241 against them and have struck out 305 batters. Ricky Rivera leads the way with a 6-0 record in nine starts. He has thrown two complete games and leads the team with 54 innings pitched. Kurtis Schuyler and Kyle Gehrs are 5-2 and 5-3 respectively. 

GRIFF NOTES...(About 2014)
As a team the Griffons are on a role winning 15 of their last 19 games which includes their last eight. The took four games this past weekend from Pittsburg State Univeristy. The Griffons won 6-4 and 4-1 on Friday before completing the series sweep with a 1-0 and 8-3 victory on Saturday. As a team the Griffons are hitting .301 with Ryan Degner leading the way with a .373 average. Degner is tied for the team high with 50 hits and leads the team with 11 doubles. He is second with 7 home runs and is third in RBI with 34. He is also a threat when he gets on the bases leading the team with 12.  Trevor LaHonta is third on the team hitting .338 and is tied for the team high with 50 hits. Schrader leadst the team with 11 home runs and 38 RBI. Schracer has hit six home runs in his last 12 games. David Chew is second on the team with a .343 average. He has 46 hits with 16 extra base hits. On the bump the Griffons have been led by seniors Mark Spreckels and Jake Jones. Spreckels has a 3.04 ERA with a 3-0 record. He has made 10 apperances with six strats. He has pitched 26.2 innings with 33 hits and nine earned runs. Jake Jones has a 3.19 ERA with a 5-2 record. He has made 12 apperances with six starts. He has pitched 36.2 innings with 30 striketouts. Mason Queen has 40 strikeouts in 38.2 innings with three saves while Tyler Sanders has made 19 apperances with five saves pitching a team hit 47 innings.  

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 425-321 overall and 293-212 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 293-212 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 197-114 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.  Since the opening of the MWSU Baseball Field the Griffons are 59-24 at home. They were 10-12 in the first year but since they they went 18-5, 18-3 and are 13-4 this season. 

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 will wrap up the regular season with a four game home MIAA series against the Fort Hays State Tigers. The Griffons and the Tigers will play a single game on Friday, April 25 with first pitch scheduled for 6 pm. On Saturday, April 26 the Griffons and the Tigers will play a doubleheader starting at 1 pm and then they will wrap up the series on Sunday, April 27 at 1 pm. The Griffons will also honor six seniors as they play their last regular home season games of their career.