PITTSBURG — The Pittsburg State University baseball team will travel to Edmond, Okla., to play the University of Central Oklahoma in a three-game MIAA series beginning Friday (Mar. 31).

The Gorillas and Bronchos will face one another at 6 p.m. (CDT) Friday, 3 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday at Wendell Simmons Field.

Pitt State will bring a 21-9 overall record and a 13-4 MIAA mark into the weekend action. The Gorillas dropped a pair of midweek games to Emporia State University, 8-7, Tuesday (Mar. 28) and Missouri University of Science & Technology, 13-7, Wednesday (Mar. 29).

UCO is 21-9 overall and 10-7 in MIAA play. The Bronchos have won three straight games after defeating Northeastern State University, 10-9, in a midweek game Tuesday (Mar. 28).

The Gorillas enter the weekend series batting .314 on the season and scoring 9.0 runs per game. Pitt State's pitching staff currently sports a 5.86 ERA and the squad has a .967 fielding percentage to date. The Gorillas opponents are hitting .264 and scoring 6.5 runs per game. The opposition has an 8.66 ERA and a .967 fielding percentage to date.

The Gorillas rank second in the MIAA in runs scored and third in the conference in batting average.

Junior catcher Nixon Brannon leads the squad with a .422 batting average. He has 12 doubles, 12 home runs and 51 RBI to his credit. Brannan, who was named the Division II National Hitter of the Week Wednesday (Mar. 29) by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers of America (NCBWA), leads the MIAA in home runs and RBI. He currently leads D2 in RBI per game (1.89 pg).

Junior infielder Cade Clemons is hitting .350 with 30 runs scored, nine doubles, two triples, eight home runs and 24 RBI. Junior infielder Austin Warkins also is batting .400 with nine doubles, two home runs and 17 RBI.

Graduate LHP Zac Shoemaker (7-0, 1.26 ERA), sophomore RHP Tanner Leslie (3-1, 3.48 ERA) and junior LHP Ben Des Rosiers (4-0, 4.58 ERA) are expected to make starts on the mound this weekend.

Shoemaker is tied for second in Division II in victories and he's 11th nationally in ERA among pitchers who have thrown 30 or more innings to date. He's also in the top 10 in strikeouts (13.4 K/9 IP) and WHIP (0.81).