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Tweet #gogriffsWARM UPS...
Griffon Baseball (30-18 overall) also had a successful start to the postseason as they defeated Southwest Baptist in the opening round series of the MIAA Baseball Championship.  After being defeated in the series opener 6-4, the Griffs came back to win the final two games of the series.  In Friday's 10-5 victory, Ryan Degner and Jake Schrader drove in three runs apiece and Jake Jones picked up the victory on the mound to improve to 6-3 on the year.  In the series clincher, the Griffs won by way of walk-off as David Chew's tenth inning single scored Cody Childs to punch their ticket to the final four winning by a score of 5-4. 

Action continues this Thursday at John Q. Hammons Field in Springfield, Missouri at 11 AM as the Griffs take on 8th seeded Northeastern State who upset #1 Central Missouri in their opening round series.  The Griffons swept four games from NSU in the opening MIAA series of the season back in February.

A link to the tournament bracket is available below. Simply cut & paste into your web browser to view: http://themiaa.com/documents/2014/4/27/2014BaseballBracket.pdf

KNOW THE OPPONENTS...
Series Since 2001: MWSU leads 7-0 - Home: 4-0 - Away: 3-0 - Nuetral Field: 0-0 - MIAA Tournament: 0-0
• This marks the first time that the two teams will meet in the MIAA Tournament. The RiverHawks upset the No. 1 seed Central Missouri Mules this past weekend. 
• The Griffons have won all seven meeting between the two schools which includes winning all four games this season. The Griffons won 6-4, 14-6, 6-5 and 6-2. 
• On the season the RiverHawks are hitting .290 as a team with four players hitting over .300. Cody Robinson leads the way with a .349 batting average. He has 58 hits with 18 doubles and 17 home runs. He also leads the team with 44 RBI and a .765 slugging percentage. Caleb Hill, Ryan Staggs and David Weber are hitting .311, .310 and .300 respectively. Weber has 31 RBI and 70 total bases. 
• On the bump the RiverHawks have a team ERA of 5.48. Northeastern State is led by Ryan Helsley with a 7-3 record and a 3.72 ERA. He has pitched in 13 games with eight starts. He has 54 strikeouts and opponents are hitting just .229 against him. Kyle Shambaugh has a 3.98 ERA and a 2-4 overall record. He has pitched in 13 games with 12 starts. He has pitched 61 innings and given up 63 hits. Seth Hudson has four saves while Zack Hammock and Bryan McClellan have five wins apiece. 

Record vs. Emporia since 2001: Overall: 36-18 ESU - Home: 18-5 ESU - Away: 16-13 ESU - Neutral: 1-0 ESU
MIAA Tournament: 1-0 ESU - NCAA Regional: 1-0 ESU
• The Hornets come into the weekend as the #2 seed and have a 36-16 overall record. They are also 5th in the latest Central Region baseball poll. The Hornets beat the Griffons four out of five times this season which included three of four in MIAA play. The Hornets defeated Washburn in a three game series to make it Springfield.  
• As a team the Hornets are hitting .295 with seven players hitting over .300. Price Jacobs leads the way with a .360 average while Levi Parker and Justin Harris are close behind with a .330 average. Harris leads the way with 65 hits while Dean Long had 55 RBI and 13 home runs. Toby Cornejo has 19 doubles while Harris has stolen 39 bases and Parker has stolen 30. As a team they have stolen 119 of 150 bases. 
• On the bump the Hornets hold a 4.13 ERA with Brenton Higgins leading the way with a 6-1 record in 25 appearances. He has a 1.41 ERA with 12 saves in 44.2 innings pitched. He has 47 strikeouts while Shawn Talkington has a 2.74 ERA and a 7-2 overall record. He has three complete games. Dakota McKaskle also has seven wins while Jarrod Miller has six.  

Record vs. Central Oklahoma: Overall: 7-4 MWSU - Home: 5-2 MWSU - Away: 2-1 UCO - Neutral: 1-0 MWSU
MIAA Tournament: 1-0 MWSU
• The Griffons and the Bronchos have met 11 times since the 2001 with the Griffons winning four of the last five games including a 9-3 victory last season in the MIAA Tournament.  
• The Griffons have won six of the last eight games against the Bronchos. The Bronchos made it to Springfield by defeating Nebraska-Kearney. 
• The Bronchos come into the weekend 36-15 overall and finished 26-14 in the MIAA.
• As a team they hit .353 with two players hitting over .400 and 12 other players hitting over .300. They are led by Phillip Wilson  who is hitting .453 with 82 hits, 14 doubles and 13 home runs. Jake O'Brien is hitting .438 with 56 hits and 13 doubles. Matt Johnson is tied for the team lead with 13 home runs but leads the team with 47 RBI. 
• On the bump they have a 3.79 ERA with Ricky Reeves leading the way with a 2.01 ERA and an 8-1 record. Reeves has started 12 of his 14 games while Jared Sterling is 7-3 with a 2.77 ERA. Wilson leads the team with eight saves in 16 games. 

GRIFF NOTES...(About 2014)
As a team the Griffons are on a bit of a role winning 22 of their last 29 games with includes winning 15 of their last 19. As a team the Griffons are hitting .306 with Ryan Degner leading the way with a .393 average. Degner leads the team in hits (68), runs scored (43), doubles (15), total bases (114), slugging percentage (.659), on-base percentage (.463), and stolen baseas (18). He is second in home runs with 9 and RBI with 45. David Chew is second on the team hitting .360 and is second on the team in RBI with 45 while Jake Schrader leads the team with 11 home runs and is first with 46 RBI. On the bump the Griffons have been led by Grant Woods and Jake Jones. Grant Woods has pitched 52.2 innings with eight starts in 13 games. He holds a 5-2 overall record with a 4.27 ERA. Jake Jones has pitched in 15 games with nine starts. He has a 6-3 record with a 4.15 ERA in 52.0 innings pitched. He is second on the team in strikeouts with 43 only trailing Mason Queen who has 48 in 52.1 innings pitched. As a team the Griffons have a 4.54 ERA. Josh Lansangan has also pitched well with a 4.03 ERA in 51.1 inning. He has 39 strikeouts with one save and a 3-2 record. 

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 432-325 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 116-98 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 6-4 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 203-115 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 19-5 at home 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 9-15 in MIAA Tournament games after winning two of three in the opening series against Southwest Baptist last weekend in St. Joseph. They are 4-1 at home after going 2-0 in 2013 against Fort Hays State and 2-1 against Southwest Baptist last weekend. 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:
The Griffons will have to win the MIAA Tournament in order to extend their season. If they win the MIAA Tournament they will receive the atomatic bid into the Central Regional. Game times and location are still to be determined.