ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – The Griffons will take on Southwest Baptist in a four-game series scheduled to start on Thursday afternoon in Bolivar, Missouri. Missouri Western currently ranks fifth in the MIAA standings with the potential to move up to second in the standings before the end of the season.

Previewing the Griffons
Missouri Western is coming off an impressive series against Nebraska-Kearney, beating them three games to one. The Griffons limited the Loper offense to just 19 runs in the series after the team entered averaging 9.5 runs per game.

The Griffons have seven players hitting over .300 on the season with Ryan Degner leading the way, posting a .369 average. Degner has also produced 55 hits along with 36 RBIs this season, leading the team in both categories. The Griffons David Glaude has started all 40 games this season and leads the team with 10 home runs in 132 at-bats. Junior Orencio Fisher has returned from injury and is now 15-18 on stolen bases this season and posts a .308 batting average.

On the mound, the Griffons saw the return of Richard Peoples to the staff. Peoples now has a 5-1 record and four saves on the season. Missouri Western has also continued to get solid production out of Banks Born and A.J. Martinez, earning records of 4-1 and 4-0 respectively. Weston Caindec earned himself pitcher of the week last week. The junior went 2-0 in two starts and pitched 10 innings, allowing just two runs on 11 hits.

Previewing the Bearcats
Southwest Baptist has a 17-21 overall record along with a 10-18 conference record. The Bearcats are on a two game winning streak after beating non-conference opponent Evangel on Tuesday and taking the final game of the series against Lindenwood 9-8.

SBU is led by Austin Wolfe, offensively, hitting .370 and also producing 50 hits and scoring 28 runs. Christian Binger and Spencer Blacksher have started all 38 games for the Bearcats and have combined to score 61 runs and 91 hits this season. Zach Snodgrass is a perfect 20-20 on stolen bases this season.
Michael Proiette has tallied a 5-2 record on the mound this season and has a 3.02 earned run average. He also leads the team with 57 strikeouts and has only walked eight batters. Cole Roark leads the team with 56 innings pitched and has tallied 43 strikeouts this season.

Pitching Workload
The Griffons have three pitchers ranked in the top-15 in the MIAA for innings pitched this season. Banks Born is currently ranked eighth in the conference at 51.2 innings this season. A.J. Martinez and Grant Woods sit 12^th and 14^th, respectively.

Josh Lansangan has contributed 32.1 innings and Weston Caindec has tallied 31.2 innings.

The trio of Born, Martinez, and Woods has combined to pitch 145.1 of 314.1 innings this season.