PITTSBURG — The Pittsburg State University baseball team will play host to Northeastern State University in a three-game MIAA series beginning Friday (Mar. 17).
 
The Gorillas and RiverHawks will face one another at 2 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and Noon Sunday at Al Ortolani Field.
 
Pitt State will bring a 15-7 overall record and a 7-3 MIAA mark into the weekend action. The Gorillas took two of three games from Northwest Missouri State University last weekend and added a 9-8 victory over Emporia State University Tuesday (Mar. 14).
 
NSU is 10-11 overall and 4-6 in MIAA play. The RiverHawks dropped two of three games to Washburn University last weekend at Topeka; and NSU fell, 10-7, to the University of Central Oklahoma Tuesday.
 
The Gorillas enter the weekend series batting .315 on the season and scoring 8.9 runs per game. Pitt State's pitching staff currently sports a 6.16 ERA and the squad has a .966 fielding percentage to date. The Gorillas opponents are hitting .268 and scoring 6.9 runs per game. The opposition has an 8.67 ERA and a .972 fielding percentage to date.
 
Junior infielder Cade Clemons leads the squad with a .382 batting average. He has eight doubles, two triples, five home runs and 16 RBI to his credit. Junior catcher Nixon Brannan in hitting .372 with five doubles, eight home runs and a team-leading 33 RBI.. Senior outfielder Karson Carson also is batting .375 with nine doubles, four home runs and 16 RBI.
 
Graduate LHP Zac Shoemaker (5-0, 1.48 ERA), sophomore RHP Tanner Leslie (2-1, 3.00 ERA) and junior LHP Ben Des Rosiers (3-0, 4.34 ERA) are expected to make starts on the mound this weekend.