ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – Griffon Baseball (3-4) stays home this weekend for a non-conference series against Central Region opponent St. Cloud State at the MWSU Spring Sports Complex.

The three-game series starts on Friday at 2 p.m. with game two scheduled for Saturday at 1 p.m. and game three Sunday at noon.

The games will be broadcast live on the Griffon Sports Network (Varsity Network App, GoGriffons.com/listen) and available to watch on the MIAA Network with a subscription. Voice of the Griffons Tommy Rezac will provide commentary, with the help of MoWest student-athlete Tucker Holden and KQ2's Dan Byford.

The Griffons have begun its 56^th season of baseball under first-year head coach Michael Keeran – just the fourth different head coach in the 56-year history of the program.

Where We Left Off
Griffon Baseball secured its home-opening series with a 13-10 win over Concordia-St. Paul in a high-scoring game at the MWSU Spring Sports Complex on Sunday.

MoWest set the tone early, jumping ahead in the first inning when David De Hoyos launched a two-run homer to left field. CSP answered in the top of the second with an RBI double to cut the deficit to 2–1, but MWSU remained in front.

MoWest broke the game open with a six-run bottom of the second, turning a tight contest into an 8–1 Griffon lead. Ricky Requejo opened the scoring with an RBI single to right, followed by an RBI triple from Jordan Austin and an RBI double by Micah Kobuszewski. Luke Parmentier added an RBI single, and Luke Shannahan later drove in another run with a base hit to center.
MWSU capped the inning with a run scoring on a wild pitch, plating six runs to seize control of the game.

MoWest answered again in the fourth. De Hoyos doubled home a run, followed by a run scoring on a wild pitch, before Juan Guardado cleared the bases with a two-run double to extend the Griffon advantage to 12-2 after four.

The Golden Bears mounted a comeback attempt in the seventh, scoring six runs in the frame, highlighted by a three-run homer from Chase McQuaid. MoWest responded with a sacrifice fly from Guardado to regain momentum and make it 13-8.

CSP added two more runs in the ninth on a two-run home run, but the Griffon bullpen shut the door to secure the win. Jake Pemble was the winning pitcher, tossing 3.2 innings of scoreless middle relief, striking out five and walking only one.

Season Outlook
Griffon Baseball was picked to finish 10^th out of 13 teams in the MIAA this season, per the preseason coaches' poll. MoWest received 50 total points in the voting, slotted behind Northwest Missouri State in 9^th and ahead of 11^th place Northeastern State.

With just seven total players back from the 2025 team, coach Keeran and his staff signed 28 new players in the offseason – all transfers.

Griffon Baseball is coming off of a 14-33 record in 2025 with a 12-24 mark in MIAA play. MoWest narrowly missed out on a trip to the MIAA Baseball tournament – something the program hasn't qualified for since 2019. The Griffons also seek their first winning season since 2018, and their first NCAA tournament bid since 2017.

New Griffs in Town
Keeran and his staff signed 16 transfers from four-year institutions and 12 from the junior college level. MoWest's signing class ranked in the top three for NCAA Division II portal rankings, according to 64 analytics, while also being ranked inside the top 100 for all four-year schools.

Of the 28 new players, 15 are position players and 13 are pitchers. Twelve of the transfers come from NCAA Division I, 12 from two-year colleges, two from fellow NCAA Division II schools and one from the NAIA level.

Looking Ahead
Conference play begins on the road for MoWest at No. 6 Pittsburg State February 20-22, before the Griffons have MIAA action at home against Central Oklahoma February 27-March 1.

March features a full slate of conference action. The Griffons start March with an MIAA road series at No. 2 Central Missouri, followed by a single non-conference home game against Truman State.

Conference play continues with home series against Fort Hays State, a single game vs. Emporia State and a home series vs. Newman, while the Griffons also travel for a series at Northeastern State, with single games at Northwest and Emporia State.

April features several key matchups, as the Griffons host Washburn, a single game vs. Northwest, non-conference home and away games vs. Rockhurst, a single game vs. Emporia State and a regular season finale series at home vs. Rogers State.
 
MoWest also travels in April for conference series at Missouri Southern and Arkansas–Fort Smith, along with a single game at Northwest.

Keeran's Coaching Corner
Michael Keeran joined MoWest in June 2025 after a successful two-year run as head coach at Northern Oklahoma College (NOC) in Tonkawa, Oklahoma, where he achieved an impressive record of 92-28 (.770) and a national ranking as high as No. 4. In 2025, he was honored as the Region 2 West Division Coach of the Year.

During his time at NOC, Keeran developed over 20 players who advanced to compete at the NCAA Division I level, including several NJCAA Division II All-Americans. His high-octane offense contributed to the Mavericks' ranking in the top 10 nationally in hits (641), RBIs (536) and runs scored (606) in 2025.

Before NOC, Keeran served for one season as recruiting coordinator at NCAA Division I Western Illinois. He was also head coach at Bismarck State College in North Dakota from 2020-22, where the Mystics won conference championships in both '21 and '22, along with a regional title in '22. Under Keeran's guidance, BSC posted an overall record of 69-18 (.793) and were consistently ranked in the Top 25, achieving a high of No. 2 in NJCAA Division 2.

Keeran's career record as a collegiate head coach stands at 163-47 (.776).

From 2018-22, Keeran was a head coach in various summer collegiate baseball leagues, boasting a record of 171-38 (.818). His teams were crowned regular-season champions each year and clinched postseason titles in four out of five seasons (2018, 2019, 2020, 2022). Keeran earned Coach of the Year accolades in the Pioneer Collegiate Baseball League from 2018-20 and was Expedition League Coach of the Year award in 2022.

In 2019, Keeran served as Recruiting Coordinator at NAIA Valley City State University (N.D.), leading the Vikings to a runner-up finish in the conference and their best postseason performance in school history.

In 2018, Keeran was an assistant coach at Grinnell College (IA), helping the Pioneers to a 24-14 record. From 2013-16, Keeran was an assistant at Clear Lake High School in Iowa, where the Lions claimed State Championships in 2013, '15 and '16, compiling an overall record of 129-27 (.827) in that time.