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Tweet #gogriffsWARM UPS...
It was a great end to the regular season for the Griffon Baseball team as they swept Fort Hays State in a four game series over the weekend at the Spring Sports Complex winning by scores of 12-3, 9-1, 1-0 and 7-4.  With the wins, the Griffs finish 28-17 overall and 24-14 in the MIAA and have secured the #4 seed in the upcoming MIAA Baseball Championship.  The Griffs will host Southwest Baptist in a best of three game series at the Spring Sports Complex at the following times:

Thursday, May 1 - 6 PM
Friday, May 2 - 6 PM
Saturday, May 3 - 1 PM (if necessary)

The winner of the series will advance to the MIAA Baseball Final four May 8-10 at John Q. Hammons Field in Springfield, Missouri.

As per MIAA regulation, there will be a $5.00 admission fee per day with children 6 and under being admitted 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. Southwest Baptist (Since 2001): Overall: 37-7 MWSU - Home: 16-5 MWSU - Away: 19-2 MWSU - Neutral: 2-0 MWSU • MIAA Tournament: First Meeting
• The Griffons and the Bearcats have met 44 times since 2001 with MWSU leading 37-7. The Griffons are 16-5 at home against the Bearcats including a 2-0 victory last season in St. Joseph. The Griffons are 19-2 on the road and 2-0 on a neutral field. The two games on a neutral field came in 2013 when the Griffons won 10-3 and 16-6 in Springfield, Mo. 
• This season the Tigers are 28-22 overall and finished 24-15 in the MIAA helping them to a 5th place finish in the MIAA. The Bearcats won their last four games of the year sweeping the Lincoln Blue Tigers. They have won six of their last 10 games and 14 of their last 20.  
• This season they have played better on the road than at home. They are 13-10 in road games this season and 12-11 in home games. 
• As a team they are hitting .323 with eight everyday players hitting over .300. They have 103 doubles to go along with 10 triples and 41 home run. Landon Young leads the charge with a .374 batting average. He has a team high 73 hits with 53 runs scored, 16 doubles, two triples and seven home runs. He had 38 RBI and 114 total bases. Christian Binger has 62 hits, 12 doubles and 45 RBI while Chance Wolfe has 61 hits, 11 doubles and 35 RBI. Spencer Blacksher has 63 hits with 16 doubles, 14 home runs, 48 RBI and 123 total bases. 
• As a team on the bump they have a 6.48 ERA with Cory Borsh, Tim Collins and Sam Vergara all leading the way with five wins. Borsh has a 4.09 ERA with a 5-2 record in 11 starts. He has thrown 72.2 innings with 34 strikeouts. Collins has thrown four complete games in his 11 starts while Vergara has a 5.59 ERA in 26 appearances. He has 10 saves in 38.2 innings of work.  

GRIFF NOTES...(About 2014)
As a team the Griffons are on a bit of a role winning 20 of their last 26 games with includes winning 13 of their last 16. As a team the Griffons are hitting .304 with Ryan Degner leading the way with a .388 average. Degner leads the team in hits (62), runs scored (41), doubles (13), total bases (103), slugging percentage (644), on-base percentage (.463), and stolen baseas (17). He is second in home runs with 8 and RBI with 42. David Chew is second on the team hitting .348 and leads the team in RBI with 43 while Jake Schrader leads the team with 11 home runs and is second on the team with 42 RBI. On the bump the Griffons have been led by Grant Woods and Jake Jones. Grant Woods has pitched 46.2 innings with seven starts in 12 games. He holds a 5-2 overall record with a 4.24 ERA. Jake Jones has pitched in 14 games with eight starts. He has a 5-3 record with a 3.66 ERA in 46.2 innings pitched. He is second on the team in strikeouts with 40 only trailing Mason Queen who has 44 in 46.1 innings pitched. As a team the Griffons have a 4.54 ERA.

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 12 of his 15 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 430-324 overall and 298-215 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 298-215 under Verduzco since 2000 in MIAA play. Last season was Missouri 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...in 2012 Griffons were 26-12 while in 2006 they went 21-9...this season they are 24-14 in the MIAA...the Griffons have won 20+ MIAA games in 9 of the last 10 games. 

HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE: 
The Griffons are 201-114 under Verduzco since 2001 at home. The Griffons finished the 2013 season with a 18-3 home record which is its best home record dating back to 2001. This season the Griffons are 17-4 in MIAA play with three of those losses coming in one series against Washburn and the other loss coming against Central Oklahoma. 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.  Since the opening of the MWSU Baseball Field the Griffons are 63-24 at home. They were 10-12 in the first year but since they they went 18-5, 18-3 and are 17-4 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 174-142. 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 10-12 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. 

MIAA TOURNAMENT SINCE 2001: 
Since 2001 the Griffons are 7-14 in MIAA Tournament games. They are 2-0 at home which both games were last season against Fort Hays State in the first round of the MIAA Tournament. The Griffons are 5-14 in tournament games on a neutral field. The Griffons won three of their five games last season in Kansas City defeating Central Oklahoma, Pittsburg State and Missouri Southern. 

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:
If the Griffons win the three game series they will then travel to Hammons Field in Springfield, Mo. on May 8-10 to determine the MIAA Tourney champion.