ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – Griffon Baseball (0-3) is set to make its home debut this weekend at the MWSU Spring Sports Complex, welcoming in Concordia-St. Paul for a four-game series.
The series starts with a Friday doubleheader. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. with the second game to follow at approximately 3 p.m. The third game is set for Saturday at 2 p.m. and the series finale on Sunday at 12 p.m.
The game 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 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 concluded its opening weekend on Sunday, falling 12–5 to Metro State-Denver (3-0) at The Assembly Athletic Complex in Denver, Colorado.
The Griffons struck first in the opening inning when David De Hoyos doubled to left center, driving in
Miguel Cantu and
Luke Parmentier for a 2–0 lead. MSU-Denver responded in the bottom of the first with an RBI single to cut the deficit to one before tying the game in the second on a sacrifice fly.
MoWest regained the lead in the third inning. Hoyos lifted a sac fly to center to score
Jordan Austin, and later,
Luke Shannahan singled to left center to bring home Cantu, giving the Griffons a 4–2 lead. MSU-Denver answered in the bottom of the third with a sacrifice fly to make it 4–3.
MSU-Denver then tied the game in the fourth on an RBI walk and took its first lead at 5-4 with a bases-loaded walk. The Griffons evened the score in the sixth when
Micah Kobuszewski reached on an error, allowing Shannahan to score at 5-5.
MSU-Denver responded immediately in the bottom half of the sixth, scoring four runs to extend the lead to 9–5. They added three more runs in the eighth.
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.
Schedule Preview
Griffon Baseball stays home next weekend for a three-game set against St. Cloud State February 13-15. The first game on the 13th starts at 2 p.m.
Conference play begins on the road for MoWest at No. 16 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 match ups, 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 161-46 (.778).
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.
