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ROLLA, Mo. – Currently in the midst in a four-way tie for first place in the Great Lakes Valley Conference's West Division, Missouri S&T returns to league action this weekend as it hosts Truman State in a four-game series at the S&T Ballpark.

The Miners and Bulldogs – the defending NCAA Division II Midwest Regional champions – will face off in noon doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday.  S&T comes into the series at 7-5 in the GLVC, tied with Quincy, Rockhurst and William Jewell, while Truman is one game behind that quartet at 6-6.

Both teams split their conference series last weekend, with the Miners (21-11) taking the middle two games in the four-game set with Rockhurst and Truman (14-19) sweeping Sunday's doubleheader at Maryville after dropping Saturday's twinbill.  The teams also come into the series ranked fourth and fifth, respectively, in hitting in the GLVC, as the Miners are batting .312 as a team to Truman's .302 mark.

S&T's Eli Miller (Shelbyville, Ill./Shelbyville) continues to rank among the league leaders at the plate as his .420 average ranks fourth in the conference, while his 16 stolen bases is second in the GLVC.  Meanwhile, Nick Ulrich (St. Louis, Mo./Vianney) is hitting .354 on the season and ranks ninth in the GLVC with 33 runs batted in and Tyler Bodenstab (Independence, Mo./Truman) is batting .353 with 34 runs scored – tied for eighth in the league – and 10 stolen bases.

The Miners have 53 stolen bases as a team, second to Truman's 55 in the conference.

On the hill, Aaron Bedsworth (New Bloomfield, Mo./New Bloomfield) picked up his sixth win of the year by shutting out Rockhurst in Saturday's first game and owns a 6-2 record and 2.81 earned run average.  Bedsworth, who has also struck out a team-high 46 hitters in 51 1/3 innings, is sixth in the GLVC in strikeouts and is tied for second in the league in wins.

Dan Borek (Greenville, Wis./Hortonville) and Keith Coulson (Chesterfield, Mo./Parkway Central) have five wins apiece, with Borek checking into play this weekend with a 4.65 ERA and Coulson with an ERA of 5.04.  The Miners' team earned run average stands at 4.39, the fifth-best mark in the conference.

Nick Agliolo is ninth in the GLVC in hitting with a .398 mark and leads Truman in a number of offensive categories, including hits with 45 and runs scored with 28, while sharing the team lead with three home runs and 25 runs batted in.  Adam Gregorich is hitting .351 and T.J. Wood is at .319 on the season with a league-high 18 stolen bases.

Dave Gambino, a .310 hitter, is tied with Agliolo with three homers and 25 runs driven in, while Mason King has reached base 61 times in 139 plate appearances.

The Bulldogs' pitching staff, however, has recorded a 6.46 earned run average as opponents have hit .319 against them this year.  Truman's staff does have the reigning "Freshman of the Year" in Kent Frantz, who has a 5.93 ERA in eight starts, while Alex Hoffman has posted a 4-1 record while pitching primarily out of the bullpen. Hoffman started Sunday's second game at Maryville and allowed just two runs in eight innings of work.