PITTSBURG — The Pittsburg State University baseball team will travel to Wichita to open a three-game MIAA series against Newman University Thursday (Apr. 21). First pitch is set for 4 p.m. (CST) at McCarthy Field.
 
The Gorillas and Jets also will play a 2 p.m. game Friday (Apr. 22) and a Noon game Saturday (Apr. 23). The series was pushed up a day due to the weekend weather forecast.
           
The Gorillas will bring a 23-17 overall record and a 17-10 mark in MIAA play into the weekend series. The Gorillas slid into a three-way tie for second place in the conference standings with Northeastern State University and Washburn University after dropping a three-game series against the University of Central Missouri last week.
 
The Jets are 22-18 overall and 12-15 in MIAA play. Newman is currently eighth in the conference standings. The Jets took two of three games in a weekend series against Missouri Southern State University in their most recent action.
 
For the season, the Gorillas are batting .319 as a team and scoring 9.0 runs per game. Pitt State ranks second in the MIAA in runs scored and third in the conference in batting average.
 
Pitt State's pitching staff carries an 6.80 ERA (9^th in the MIAA), while registering 273 strikeouts in 335.0 innings of work. The Gorillas fielders sport a .970 fielding percentage, the third-best defensive percentage in the MIAA to date.
 
The opposition is hitting .287 against the Gorillas thus far and scoring 7.4 runs per game. Opponent pitchers have an 8.74 ERA.
 
NU is .295 as a team to date and scoring 8.0 runs per game. The Jets rank sixth in the MIAA in runs scored. NU pitchers carry a conference leading 7.27 ERA to date.
 
Senior infielder Garrett McGowan is hitting .405 with 48 runs scored, 13 doubles, 16 home runs and 65 RBI. He leads the MIAA in RBI, ranks second in the conference in home runs, third in the league in batting average and seventh in the MIAA in runs scored. McGowan ranks in a tie for fourth place in NCAA Division II in RBI (65) and a tie for 12^th place nationally in home runs.
 
Senior outfielder Jordan Maxson is batting .355 with 38 runs scored, 10 doubles, 12 home runs and 40 RBI. He ranks 12^th in the MIAA in batting average and tied for ninth in home runs.
 
Senior infielder Mason Hartman is hitting .379 with 40 runs scored, five triples and 18 RBI. He's also stolen a team-leading 18 bases on the season. Hartman is tied for third place in the MIAA in triples and tied for sixth place in stolen bases.
 
Senior lefthander Tanner Lane (3-5, 5.66 ERA), senior righthander Peyton Ingalls (5-1, 5.90 ERA) and sophomore lefthander Ben Des Rosiers (5-2, 6.63 ERA) all started for the Gorillas in the Central Missouri series last week.
 
Following the weekend series, the Gorillas will travel to Bolivar, Mo., next Tuesday (Apr. 26) to face Southwest Baptist University in a 2 p.m. non-conference game.