PITTSBURG — The Pittsburg State University baseball team will travel to Warrensburg, Mo., to open a three-game MIAA series against No. 3 ranked University of Central Missouri Thursday (Apr. 14). First pitch is set for 3 p.m. (CST) at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field.
 
The Gorillas and Mules also will play a 2 p.m. game Friday (Apr. 15) and a 1 p.m. game Saturday (Apr. 16). Thursday's game will be broadcast live on ESPN 100.7 FM in the Four States and will be available on the KSHQ mobile app and online at www.espn1007.com. Thursday and Friday start times were moved up today due to forecasted cooler evening temperatures.
           
The Gorillas will bring a 23-13 overall record and a 17-7 mark in MIAA play into the weekend series. The Gorillas are alone in second place in the MIAA standings, trailing only UCM.
 
The Mules are 30-4 overall and 23-1 in MIAA play. UCM has won six straight games since suffering its only conference loss to date, 15-4, against Washburn on Apr. 2 at Topeka.
 
For the season, the Gorillas are batting .328 as a team and scoring 9.8 runs per game. Pitt State leads the MIAA in runs scored and ranks second in the conference in batting average. The Gorillas rank seventh in NCAA Division II in runs scored per game (9.66 pg) and 21^st nationally in batting average.
 
Pitt State's pitching staff carries an 6.58 ERA (8^th in the MIAA), while registering 261 strikeouts in 305.0 innings of work. The Gorillas fielders sport a .970 fielding percentage, the second-best defensive percentage in the MIAA to date.
 
The opposition is hitting .279 against the Gorillas thus far and scoring 7.3 runs per game. Opponent pitchers have a 9.54 ERA.
 
UCM is hitting a league-best .330 as a team to date and scoring 9.5 runs per game. The Mules rank second in the MIAA in runs scored. UCM pitchers carry a conference leading 3.61 ERA to date.
 
Senior infielder Garrett McGowan is hitting .389 with 45 runs scored, 11 doubles, 15 home runs and 64 RBI. He leads the MIAA in RBI, ranks in a tie for second place in the conference in home runs, fourth in the league in batting average and tied for fifth in the MIAA in runs scored. McGowan leads NCAA Division II in RBI (64) and ranks in a tie for 10^th place nationally in home runs.
 
Senior outfielder Jordan Maxson is batting .372 with 38 runs scored, 10 doubles, 12 home runs and 39 RBI. He ranks 10^th in the MIAA in batting average and tied for eighth in home runs.
 
Senior infielder Mason Hartman is hitting .379 with 40 runs scored, five triples and 17 RBI. He's also stolen a team-leading 17 bases on the season. Hartman is tied for second in the MIAA in triples and sixth overall in stolen bases.
 
Senior lefthander Tanner Lane (3-4, 5.26 ERA), senior righthander Peyton Ingalls (5-1, 6.10 ERA) and sophomore lefthander Ben Des Rosiers (5-1, 5.11 ERA) all started for the Gorillas in the Rogers State series last week.
 
Following the weekend series, the Gorillas will travel to Rolla, Mo., next Wednesday (Apr. 20) to face Missouri University of Science & Technology in a 2 p.m. non-conference game.