ROLLA, Mo. – After an unexpected weekend off over Easter, the Missouri S&T baseball team will return to the diamond this week for their final five games of the season from the Ballpark at S&T when they welcome Pittsburg State and Illinois Springfield to the friendly confines beginning Tuesday afternoon.
 
The Miners (16-15, 5-7 GLVC) open a vital stretch of games starting this weekend and currently sit fourth in the GLVC's Blue Division along with Truman State after the Bulldogs split with Southern Indiana last weekend.
 
Doug Wood (Liberty, MO/Liberty North) enters the week as the fourth-leading hitter in the GLVC this season, sporting a .418 average with seven doubles, six home runs and 27 RBI. Chase Burgess (Overland Park, KS/Blue Valley West) checks in with a .400 average with four doubles and 18 RBI while Dakota Sill (Lansing, KS/Lansing), who ranks second in the league with 19 stolen bases, is hitting .355 with a team-high 10 doubles and is tied for the team lead with 33 runs scored. Garrett Weiner (Alton, IL/Marquette) leads the team with seven long balls this season and has driven in 27 and is tied with Sill with 33 runs scored. Brady Voss (Lake St. Louis, MO/Liberty), team leader in RBI with 28, has gone deep five times and also has five doubles and is 10-14 on stolen bases, while Andrew Branson (St. James, MO/St. James) is back over the .300 mark at .303 with nine extra bases hits and 24 RBI.
 
On the mound, S&T's rotation has been anchored by Cade Meier (Dakota, IL/Dakota), who is 3-1 with a complete game and 22 strikeouts in 29 1/3 innings and a 3.99 ERA, and Dylan Mollett (St. Louis, MO/Oakville), who is also 3-1 in seven starts with a 4.70 ERA and a team-high 34 strikeouts in 30 2/3 innings. Freshman Ethan Morrow (Lenexa, KS/Shawnee Mission West) is 1-1 in six starts this season and is second on the team with 29 2/3 innings and has struck out 25 while sporting a 6.98 ERA. Nate Wodka (Allen, TX/Allen) has settled into the fourth spot in the rotation and has struck out 19 in 18 2/3 innings. Elijah Gross (Lee's Summit, MO/Lee's Summit West) and Chasen Anderson (Moscow Mills, MO/Troy Buchanan) lead the team with 11 appearances to anchor the bullpen, with the former entering the week with a 2-1 record and two saves to go with 20 strikeouts in 23 innings and a 5.48 ERA and the latter leading the team with three saves and striking out 17 in 13 1/3 innings. David Kephart (Overland Park, KS/Blue Valley Northwest) (0-2, 6.48 ERA, 8.1 IP) is coming off three shutout innings of relief against Maryville last week while Ben Belgrave (Cary, IL/Cary-Grove) (1-1, 6.75 ERA, 17 K, 17.1 IP) worked 6 2/3 scoreless frames in relief in his last outing against UIndy. Dylan Dunbar (West Plains, MO/West Plains) has made 10 appearances this season and has 12 strikeouts in 14 1/3 innings with a save while Jacob Cook (Chicago, IL/Minooka Community) (2-2, 11.2 IP, 8 K) has allowed only two earned runs in his last 6 1/3 innings of relief.
 
The Gorillas (23-16, 17-10 MIAA) have lost four in a row, starting with Emporia State last Tuesday before being swept by Central Missouri in Warrensburg over the weekend after winning three of four games before the current slide.
 
PSU has seven players who have started at least 18 games batting over the .300 mark this season, led by Garrett McGowan who is hitting .394 and leads the team in multiple offensive categories, including runs (47), doubles (12), home runs (16) runs batted in (65) and is slugging .781. McGowan is one of three players with double-digit home runs, joined by Jordan Maxson who is hitting .366 with 12 home runs and 39 RBI with 10 doubles and Kaden Fowler, who also has 12 home runs and 36 RBI with nine doubles and is hitting .322. Mason Hartman's .375 batting average is second on the team and is second with four runs scored while leading the team with 18 stolen bases. Caleb Carr (.340 AVG, 5 2B, 6 HR, 33 RBI), Cruz Aranda (.336 AVG, 9 2B, 4 HR, 29 RBI) and Brett Daley (.304 AVG, 6 HR, 21 RBI) round out the group.
 
On the mound, a trio of relievers have made at least 17 appearances, with Zach Nagel leading the team with 21 appearances for 31 2/3 innings and has a 3-1 record with a save while striking out 31 and posting a 5.40 ERA. Jordan Mendenhall leads the team with four saves and has a 2-1 record and a 5.59 ERA with 25 strikeouts in 19 1/3 innings. Bennett Scherer has made 17 appearances and is 2-0 with an 8.22 ERA with 13 strikeouts in 15 1/3 innings. Tanner Lane has made eight starts in 15 appearances and it 3-5 with a 5.66 ERA and struck out 40 in 55 2/3 innings while Ben Des Rosiers (16 APP, 3 GS, 5-2, 6.63 ERA, 29 K, 38 IP) and Brett Wiemers (12 APP, 3 GS, 1-0, 8.22 ERA, 13 K, 15.1 IP) have also seen extended action during midweeks this season.
 
The Blue Division-leading Prairie Stars (29-6, 9-3 GLVC), who checked in at #13 in last week's NCBWA Top 25 poll, have won 11 straight games during a stretch that has seen them sweep their last two GLVC opponents in Southern Indiana and most recently Lewis.
 
Zion Pettigrew, who ranks fifth in the GLVC with a .417 batting average, leads UIS at the plate with 17 home runs and 55 RBI and has scored 49 times while also adding nine doubles and slugging .890. Brandon Bannon is hitting .391 with nine doubles, two triples, seven home runs and 35 while Brad Asher checks in at .382 with eight doubles, a team-leading five triples is a perfect 11-11 on stolen bases to lead the way. Kal Youngquist (.339 AVG, 10 2B, 6 HR, 47 RBI) and Brant Vanaman (.302 AVG, 10 2B, 10 HR, 40 RBI) are tied for the team lead in doubles while Bobby Barnard (.357 AVG, 6 XBH, 20 RBI) and Austin Alderman (.333, 6 2B, 9 HR, 35 RBI) round out a group of seven regulars hitting over .300.
 
On the mound, Colton Hale leads the rotation and is 6-1 with a 4.30 ERA and has 56 strikeouts against 17 walks in 46 innings. Blake Begner enters the weekend with a 4-0 record and a 4.95 ERA and has struck out 50 in 36 1/3 innings. Quinn Gudaitis is 5-2 and has posted a 5.20 ERA in 36 1/3 innings and leads the staff with 61 strikeouts and has held opponents to a .223 average. The fourth rotation spot has been filled by several players this season, as Seth Masters (9 APP, 3 GS, 2-1, 2.05 ERA, 27 K, 22 IP) and Clarke Davenport (8 APP, 3 GS, 0-1, 31 K, 16.2 IP) have made multiple starts. The UIS bullpen has several arms with double-digit appearances this season, with Ian Delleman leading the group with a 2-0 record and a save, 2.31 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 11 appearances for 11 2/3 innings. Matt Blaney's 14 appearances lead the team as he is 3-0 with a save and 25 strikeouts in 17 1/3 innings, while Cameron Zunkel (3-0, 8 APP, 2.84 ERA, 12.2 IP), Cameron Leff (0-0, 8 APP, 3.12 ERA, 8.2 IP), Luke Fitton (0-0, 9 APP, 4.05 ERA 15 K, 13.1 IP) and Brendan Anderson (12 APP, 1-0, 4.50 ERA, 16 K, 16 IP) and Mason Coon (11 APP, 1-0, 6.75 ERA, 30 K, 17.1 IP) make up a large part of the bullpen.
 
All-time, S&T is 13-38 against the Gorillas but the teams haven't played since 2016, when the Miners won 12-2 in a run-rule in Pittsburg. Against the Prairie Stars, the Miners lead the series 16-12 after UIS swept a four-game series in Springfield last season. S&T's last win in the series came in the 2018 GLVC Tournament. This weekend against Illinois Springfield, the Miners will recognize the eight seniors on this year's team who will be playing their final home games at the Ballpark at S&T.