ROLLA, Mo. - The Missouri S&T baseball team returns to the diamond Wednesday afternoon for a non-conference game at Pittsburg State before returning to Great Lakes Valley Conference play this weekend with a four-game series against Truman State at the S&T Ballpark.

Wednesday's game with the Gorillas in Pittsburg, Kan., will begin at 2 p.m., as Friday's single game with Truman at 1 p.m. to open that weekend series. The teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday and a single contest Sunday with noon start times on both days.

The Miners (9-15, 2-10 GLVC) enter this week's slate of games coming off a weekend series against Drury, where S&T lost three of the four matchups with the Panthers. S&T's win in the series came in game three, as the Miners hit three home runs in a 6-2 victory. In the series, Tommy Ruether (Washington, MO/Washington) led S&T with five hits that included a solo homer and Cole Hampton (Edwardsville, IL/Edwardsville) homered twice among his four hits in the series.   

On the mound, Ethan Morrow (Lenexa, KS/Shawnee Mission West) earned his first victory of the season in the game three win as part of a series where S&T used 13 different pitchers.

ABOUT PITTSBURG STATE:
The Gorillas (21-7), who are currently tied for first place in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association, enter the week on an eight-game winning streak after sweeping of Fort Hays State. The Gorillas scored at least nine runs in all three games against the Lions and will travel to Emporia State Tuesday before hosting the Miners the following day.

Pitt State is led in batting by Nixon Brannan as he is batting .431 while leading the team with 44 hits, 12 home runs and 49 runs driven in on the season. Austin Warkins is second in batting as he is batting for an average of .395 while recording 34 hits and Brevon Lee leads the team with 16 stolen bases. 

On the mound, the Gorillas are led by Zac Shoemaker with 43 innings pitched and a 7-0 record while striking out 64 batters and posting an earned run average of 1.26 which ranks first in the MIAA.

Pittsburg State's top relief pitchers are Parker Weddle, Dawson Pomeroy and Andrew Wisner as each pitcher has appeared in at least nine games on the mound. Weddle and Pomeroy have 18 strikeouts apiece.

ABOUT TRUMAN STATE:
The Bulldogs (11-14, 1-7 GLVC) enter this weekend series on a six-game losing streak and coming off a series defeat at the hands of Quincy. TSU"s only conference win of the season was on March 15 where the Bulldogs defeated Rockhurst in eight innings. 

Truman is led in batting by Grant Beck as he is batting .386 and Dean Tal with a .384 mark; Tal leads the team with 33 hits and 25 RBI. On the mound, TSU is led by Zachry Schneider with 38.2 innings pitched and a team-high 30 strikeouts while posting a 5.12 ERA. Another top arm for Truman State is Holden Missey, as he has made six starts and struck out 21 batters while posting a 6.00 ERA.

The top options out of the pen for the Bulldogs are Brian Bruxvoort and Tucker Olson as each reliever has appeared in 13 games. Bruxvoort currently has a 1.76 ERA.