ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T's baseball team concludes a nine-game stretch away from home this week as it will face two of its biggest rivals in Great Lakes Valley Conference play.

The Miners, fresh off winning a road series over Southern Indiana, will face Drury in a 2 p.m. doubleheader Wednesday afternoon at U.S. Ballpark in Ozark, Mo., before heading to Quincy for a three-game weekend series against the first place Hawks.

S&T's series win at Southern Indiana has the Miners in second place behind Quincy in the conference standings at 11-4 in conference play, one game behind the Hawks' 12-3 mark in the GLVC.  But before the Miners face off with Quincy, they will have to take on a Drury team that possesses one of the better offensive teams in the conference.

The Panthers, who are 15-16 overall and 8-7 in conference play, have a .289 team batting average and have five regulars at or above the .300 mark, led by Ethan Owens with a  .356 average.  Nikko Calabro is hitting .323 on the season and Aaron Mann is batting .320 with team highs in home runs with four and runs batted in with 32. 

Drury has scored 227 runs in 31 contests, the third-most in the GLVC, but has allowed 188 as opposing teams have hit .274 against its pitching staff.  Tom Tewes has been the top starter for the Panthers with a 4-2 record and 3.83 earned run average, but Drury used Collin Fraley and Logan Pittman as starters in its mid-week contests over the last two weeks against Rockhurst.

The Panthers have dropped five of their last seven games, but picked up a 13-3 win Monday at Illinois Springfield to avoid a sweep in that weekend set.

S&T, who is 18-8 overall on the year, is hitting .298 as a team heading into Wednesday's twinbill, with Matt Gruse (Neenah, WI/Neenah) leading the team with a .353 batting average.  Matt Knickerbocker (Bayfield, CO/Bayfield), who had a four-hit game in the opening game win over the Screaming Eagles, is batting .344 on the year and Jason Volkmann (Liberty, MO/Liberty) is hitting .338.

Cameron Burk (Nacogdoches, TX/Cushing) has raised his average to .320 on the season and owns a .439 on-base percentage, while Kaleb Reid (Smithville, MO/Smithville) is hitting .307 and Tim Lira (Granger, IN/Penn) is at .299 with team highs in home runs with four and runs batted in with 23.

Luke Marcheschi (Bloomington, IL/Central Catholic) became the first six-game winner in the GLVC Sunday and has an earned run average of 2.08 that ranks second in the GLVC, while Brendan Garza is third in that category at 2.22.  Meanwhile, Dalton Erger (Imperial, MO/Seckman) leads the Miner pitching staff with 40 strikeouts in 46 1/3 innings of work and Conner Forsythe (Farmington, MO/Farmington) is tied for the conference lead with four saves.

Quincy has traditionally been one of the top offensive teams in the GLVC, but has worked its way to first place primarily through its pitching, as the Hawks rank fourth in the conference with a team earned run average of 4.09 (Missouri S&T is second at 3.57).  Riley Martin is 5-0 on the year with a 3.00 ERA and has struck out 33 in 42 innings, while Aaron Stone has a 3.89 ERA and 40 strikeouts.  Nick Stroud leads the staff with 47 strikeouts in 39 2/3 innings.

The Hawks rank second in the conference in home runs with 31, but are hitting just .268 as a team on the year.  Cody Birdsong leads the way with a .299 batting average and eight home runs, while Cole Evans is hitting .279 and TJ Tamaccio is batting .274.  Chandler Purcell has also hit five homers and has knocked in 24.

Quincy won two of three over William Jewell over the weekend to go to 20-6 on the year prior to a Wednesday home doubleheader against Truman State.