ROLLA, Mo.  –  In their third GLVC series of the season, the Miners host the Cardinals of William Jewell College this weekend. They enter the series with an 11-10 record which includes a 2-6 record in conference play.
 
The Miners continue to boast some of the best pitching in the conference. Through 21 games they have a 6.23 ERA, which is the third best in the GLVC. S&T's 10 home runs allowed is also the fewest allowed by any team in the conference. They are currently holding opponents to a .294 batting average. After a game at Drury in which he had a 1.29 ERA, David Kephart (Overland Park, KS/Blue Valley Northwest) is now leading S&T's starting pitchers with a 3.32 ERA across his five starts this season. Meanwhile, starting pitcher Dylan Mollett (St. Louis, MO/Oakville) leads the team in strikeouts with 24 in his first five games. The Miners currently have three players in the top 12 for ERA in the conference with Kephart the highest at seventh.
 
At the plate, the Miners are batting .267, with a .388 slugging percentage. Their on-base percentage is 40% though, as they lead the conference in hits by pitch with 47 and an additional 98 walks. Kenneth Sugi (North Vancouver, BC/Carson Graham Secondary) and Sam Monroe (Moline, Ill./Moline) have contributed the most to the walk count with 16 each, often forcing pitchers into difficult throws and getting ahead in the pitch count. Andrew Hedgecorth (Smithville, MO/Smithville) has the highest batting average on the team with .367, getting seven hits in his last six games. The team leader for hits thus far is Garrett Weiner (Alton, IL/Marquette), with 22.
 
About the Opponent:
 
William Jewell enters the weekend 11-7 and 4-4 in conference. They come into the series at S&T with some momentum, having won five of their last six games in the GLVC. Their batting average on the season is .313, which is sixth in the conference. Despite this, they lead the conference in slugging percentage and are second in on-base percentage with .550 and .434, respectively. Pitching has not been the Cardinals' strong suite thus far though, giving up a 7.58 ERA which is the worst in the league. They have also given up the fifth most hits (202) and second most homeruns (28).
 
The Cardinals' team leader in batting average is junior Jordan Phillips with a .368 average. He also has the most hits on the team with 25 and his 30 RBIs are tied for the most in the GLVC. William Jewell's best pitcher so far is junior Breven Yarbro at 13th in the conference with a 4.70 ERA.
 
Series Schedule:
 
Game 1 – Friday at 3 p.m.
Games 2 & 3 – Saturday doubleheader starting at 12 p.m.
Game 4 – Sunday at 1 p.m.