ST. JOSEPH, Mo. - Griffon Baseball (7-9, 2-4 MIAA) goes on the road to face No. 5 Central Missouri (15-2, 6-0 MIAA) in a three-game series, starting with a Saturday doubleheader.
Saturday's DH starts at 1 p.m. with game two to follow at 4 p.m. The series finale comes up Sunday at 2 p.m. from Tompkins Field at Crane Stadium in Warrensburg, Missouri. The games will be available to watch on the MIAA Network with a subscription.
Where We Left Off
Griffon Baseball secured the rubber match of the three-game set last Saturday, defeating Central Oklahoma 12-7 to claim the series victory at MWSU Spring Sports Complex.
MWSU wasted no time setting the tone, sending 10 hitters to the plate in the opening frame. Miguel Cantu ignited the rally with a two-RBI triple to left center, scoring Micah Kobuszewski and Luke Parmentier. Luke Shannahan followed with an RBI single, Jack Mausser roped an RBI double, and Issac Huettl added a run-scoring single. Issac Sobieszczyk capped the inning with an RBI double to give the Griffons a commanding 6-0 lead after one.
Central Oklahoma answered with a run in the second, but Griffon Baseball responded with another offensive surge in the fifth. Shannahan delivered an RBI single to score Cantu, Huettl recorded his second RBI knock of the day, and Sobieszczyk and Parmentier each drove in runs with singles. David De Hoyos added another RBI to stretch the advantage to 11-1.
The Bronchos chipped away late, highlighted by a two-run homer in the sixth. UCO added two more in the seventh and two in the eighth to trim the deficit to 11-7.
MWSU answered in the bottom of the eighth when Ben Waliczek doubled to right field, scoring Shannahan for an insurance run and the final 12-7 margin.
The Griffons finished with 17 hits in a balanced offensive effort and played clean defensively without committing an error.
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
The Griffs are home for a single game against Truman State on Tuesday, March 10 at 3 p.m before conference play continues with home series against Fort Hays State next weekend, a single game vs. No. 15 Emporia State and then a home series vs. Newman later this month. The Griffons will also travel for a series at Northeastern State, with single games at Northwest and at No. 15 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. No. 15 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 168-55 (.753).
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.
