ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – The Missouri Western baseball team is back at home this week as they open a three-game series against No. 4 Missouri Southern Thursday inside the Griffon Spring Sports Complex.
 
The series was originally scheduled to be played Friday and Saturday, but was moved up due to the threat of inclement weather.  MWSU will try and stop its six-game losing streak as they're 2-9 overall this season and 1-5 in the MIAA.  The Griffons got swept at Rogers State last weekend in Claremore.
 
Chaz Verduzco leads Missouri Western with a .385 batting average, while Alex Crouch (.357) and Bailey Crump (.300) are also hitting at least .300 this season.  Crump not only leads the Griffons with six home runs, but he's also atop the MIAA.
 
Roy Robles will likely start the opener against the Lions as he has both wins this season for MWSU.  He's 2-1 with a 3.86 ERA this season in his three starts.
 
No. 4 Missouri Southern has the best overall record of any MIAA team at 11-1 and they're tied atop the league standings with Central Missouri at 5-1.  The Lions suffered their first loss of the season last week at Washburn in the middle game of their three-game series.
 
Missouri Western and Missouri Southern met earlier this season in a non-conference game in Joplin.  The Lions rallied to defeat the Griffons in 10 innings, 4-2.
 
The first pitch of game one Thursday is at 12:00 p.m. at Griffon Park.  Game two will follow and then the two teams will wrap up the series Friday at 1:00 p.m.  All three games will be on the MIAA Network and you can also follow along with live stats.