KIRKSVILLE, MO  --  Missouri S&T Baseball will have their first Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) series on the road this weekend, playing the Truman State Bulldogs in a four-game series that stretches from Friday to Sunday.
 
About the Miners
The Miners are even in GLVC play this season, splitting the conference opener series vs Quincy. They won the last two games of that series, sweeping Saturday's doubleheader by scores of 5-1 and 6-5.

S&T is batting .283 currently, recording 180 hits this year. Bricen Smith (Perry, GA/Mount de Sales Academy) is the team's leader in batting average, hitting .422 with a .547 slugging percentage. Smith also leads the team in stolen bases, taking eight on his first ten attempts. Garrett Meyer (Jacksonville, IL/Jacksonville) leads the Miners in both home runs and RBIs, recording 5 and 20 this season.

Bates threw a gem against Quincy last weekend, going a complete 7-innings and recording a 0.00 ERA while striking out six and only allowing four hits. Bates has the lowest ERA out of all the Miners' starting pitchers this season, holding a 5.52 ERA with Jake Schisler (Quincy, IL/Quincy Notre Dame) close behind at 5.55.
 
About the Bulldogs
Truman State has gotten off to a rough start in conference play, losing seven of their first eight GLVC games with entering this weekend's series with a 7-14 overall record. After dropping their first six conference games, the finally broke the skid on Saturday, defeating Missouri-St. Louis 6-4 before falling to the Tritons in the final game of the series.

Truman is hitting .274 and are led by GLVC-leader Nick Steurer who holds a .462 batting average. Steurer is also tied for the most doubles in the conference with ten. The team ranks 22nd in the nation for solen bases per game, averaging 2.62 and led by Colin Mueth who has 12.

Steurer has contributed on the mound as well as at the plate, picking up two saves in four appearances. Caden Carroll is the team's leader in ERA at 4.43, holding opponents to a .273 batting average. Carroll and teammate Nick Phillips have combined to strikeout 52 batters this season, with 31 of those coming from Phillips.
 
What's Next
The Miners return home for a midweek against Harding on Tuesday and another GLVC series, against Rockhurst, over the weekend.

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