PITTSBURG — The Pittsburg State University baseball team is set to host Missouri Southern State University in a first round series of the 2022 MIAA Baseball Championship presented by Mammoth Sports Construction May 6-8.
 
The Gorillas and Lions will meet in the best two of three games series at 6 p.m. (CDT) Friday and 3 p.m. Saturday at Al Ortolani Field. A third game, if necessary, would start at 1 p.m. Sunday.
 
Single day walk-up tickets for the quarterfinal round series are $5 (children 4 & under are free). Gates open and tickets are available for purchase one hour prior to first pitch each day.
 
Pitt State, the tournament's No. 3 seed, wrapped up the regular season with a 29-19 overall record and a 22-11 mark in MIAA play. The Gorillas finished in a tie for second place in the conference standings with Northeastern State University (34-14, 22-11 MIAA). Sixth-seeded MSSU enters the series 28-21 overall and 17-16 in the MIAA.
 
This will be the 13^th all-time MIAA Tournament appearance for the Gorillas since 1991. Pitt State has compiled a 23-23 record in MIAA Tournament play, capturing the 1999 MIAA Baseball Championship.
 
The Gorillas and Lions have met three times previously in MIAA Tournament action. MSSU won all three prior match-ups, including a 9-0 win most recently on May 9, 2013, at Kansas City, Kan. Overall, the Lions own a 61-46 advantage in the series. Pitt State took two of three games from MSSU earlier this season at Joplin, Mo., with the Gorillas sweeping a doubleheader, 10-4 and 21-8, on Feb. 27 before the Lions took the final game of the series, 14-2, on Feb. 28.
 
For the season, the Gorillas are batting .324 as a team and scoring 9.2 runs per game. Pitt State ranks third in the MIAA in runs scored and batting average.
 
Pitt State's pitching staff carries an 6.29 ERA (8^th in the MIAA), while registering 340 strikeouts in 395.0 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 .277 against the Gorillas thus far and scoring 6.9 runs per game. Opponent pitchers have an 8.88 ERA.
 
MSSU is hitting .311 as a team and scoring 8.3 runs per game. The Lions rank fourth in the MIAA in batting and runs scored. MSSU pitchers carry a 5.97 ERA, seven-best in the conference.
 
Senior infielder Garrett McGowan is hitting a team-leading .410 with 56 runs scored, 19 doubles, 16 home runs and 75 RBI. He leads the MIAA and ranks third in NCAA Division II in RBI, while also ranking third in the conference in batting average, fourth in home runs and seventh in the league in runs scored.
 
The Blue Springs, Mo., native set the school single season RBI record last weekend in the Washburn series. He also needs one more home run to tie the school record of 17 HRs set by Justin Annin in 2001. McGowan also ranks second all-time at Pitt State in career home runs (31) and fifth in career RBI (123).
 
Senior outfielder Jordan Maxson is batting .349 with 42 runs scored, 10 doubles, 14 home runs and 48 RBI. He ranks ninth in the MIAA in home runs, 16^th in the league in RBI and 20^th in the conference in batting average.
 
Senior infielder Mason Hartman is hitting .373 with 51 runs scored, five triples and 23 RBI. He's also stolen a team-leading 23 bases on the season. Hartman is tied for fourth place in the MIAA in stolen bases, ranks ninth in hitting and 13^th in runs scored.
 
Senior righthander Peyton Ingalls (7-1, 5.59 ERA), freshman righthander Paul Panduro (1-5, 8.45 ERA) and senior lefthander Tanner Lane (4-5, 5.32 ERA) all started for the Gorillas in the Washburn series last week.
 
Ingalls has an 18-4 (.810) record in 27 career starts for the Gorillas over the past three seasons (2020-22). His 18 career wins ranks second in Pitt State history, while Ingalls' winning percentage (.818) is currently tied with Derek Smith (9-2, .818, 2003-04) atop Pitt State's career chart. The Parker, Colo., native is currently second in the MIAA in winning percentage (.875) and tied for second in the conference in victories (7).
 
Panduro was named the MIAA Pitcher of the Week after tossing a complete-game no-hitter against Newman two weeks ago. The Scottsbluff, Neb., native allowed just three walks and set a Pitt State single game record with 16 strikeouts in the contest.
 
Lane (Webb City, Mo.) has an 11-10 career pitching record with 18 saves and a 3.91 ERA in 67 all-time appearances (14 starts).
 
The series winner will advance to the MIAA Baseball Championship semifinal round at Edmond, Okla., May 12-15.
 
Other quarterfinal series match-ups has MIAA regular season champion Central Missouri (37-6, 30-3) hosting No. 8 seed Emporia State (21-29, 13-20), No. 2 seed Northeastern State (34-14, 22-11) hosting No. 7 seed Rogers State (26-23, 17-16) and No. 4 seed Central Oklahoma (29-19, 20-13) hosting No. 5 seed Washburn (29-18, 19-14).