ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T's baseball team will be making its sixth straight appearance in the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament this weekend and will open play in the double elimination event Thursday when it takes on Lindenwood at 4 p.m. in St. Charles, Mo.

The Miners' run of six consecutive tournament appearances is the second-longest active streak in the GLVC and will begin against a team playing in the event for the first time, as the Lions – a second-year member of the conference – won the Blue Division championship and are serving as the host for the four-day event.

Missouri S&T enters the tournament as the fourth seed out of the Green Division and brings records of 21-19 overall and 17-15 in conference play into Thursday's game.  The Miners have won 10 of their last 14 contests and took three of four at Truman State to close the regular season schedule last weekend.  Lindenwood, meanwhile, won its division title with a 25-7 mark and is 29-7 overall on the year after closing the season with a four-game sweep over Missouri-St. Louis.

As the tournament begins, the Miners own the GLVC's third-highest team batting average of .323 for the season and will go up against the conference's second-ranked pitching staff, led by Blake Beckmann who owns a 6-1 record and a 3.02 earned run average.  Beckmann has held opposing hitters to a .238 batting average and has struck out 61 hitters in 50 2/3 innings.

Tyler Cassmeyer has a 5-0 record on the hill with a 3.04 ERA and Kyle Hentis has recorded a 4-2 record with a 3.64 while striking out more than one hitter per inning.  The Lions have three relievers of note in Niko Marshall, who has the staff's best earned run average of 2.12; Justin Taylor, who has a 3.91 ERA with four saves and has held opposing hitters to a .185 batting average; and Brody Roach, who leads the Lions with five saves.

Mitchell Krebs leads the Lindenwood offense with a .412 batting average that ranks fifth in the GLVC and has driven in 25 runs, while Beau Collier has a .360 average and a team-high three home runs.  Kolby Schulte leads the Lions in the runs batted in department with 29, while Alex Canty and Bryce Beckmann have each knocked in 27.

Thursday's game will feature the top two teams in the running game, as the Miners and Lions have each stolen a league-high 85 bases.  S&T's Will Hayes (Terre Haute, IN/South Vigo) is third in the GLVC with 20 stolen bases and Brady Voss (Lake St. Louis, MO/Liberty) is tied for fourth with 17, while the Lions' Collier and Bryce Beckmann – the brother of the Lion pitcher – have swiped 15 bases apiece.

Hayes leads the Miners with a .387 average entering play this week and Michael Ward (Hazelwood, MO/Hazelwood West) is batting .385; they rank ninth and 11^th, respectively, in hitting in the GLVC.  Ward broke the Miners' single season record for home runs during the Truman series and has 12 on the year with 30 runs batted in, trailing only totals of 38 by Garrett Weiner (Alton, IL/Marquette) and 31 by Doug Wood (Liberty, MO/Liberty North).

Andrew Branson (St. James, MO/St. James) comes into the tournament with a .345 average, while Dakota Sill (Lansing, KS/Lansing) is hitting .336 and Wood comes in with a .329 mark.  At least eight spots in the Miner lineup are occupied by players hitting at least .300 on the year.

On the mound, the S&T starting rotation is paced by Cade Meier (Dakota, IL/Dakota) as he comes in with a 5-2 record and 5.30 earned run average.  Meier also leads the staff in strikeouts with 43 in 54 1/3 innings, while Rian Markes (Columbia, MO/Father Tolton) has fanned 41 in 48 1/3 innings.  Dylan Mollett (St. Louis, MO/Oakville) has posted a 4-0 record and has held opposing hitters to a .247 batting average for the season, while David Kephart (Overland Park, KS/Blue Valley Northwest) has a 3.67 earned run average and three saves.

The Miners will play Friday as well against either Quincy or Southern Indiana; a loss would have S&T in the 9 a.m. contest while a win would send it to the winner's side of the bracket and a 4 p.m. contest.  A win on either Thursday or Friday would guarantee Missouri S&T would play on Saturday.