PITTSBURG — The Pittsburg State University baseball team will open a three-game MIAA series against Washburn University Friday (Apr. 28).

The Gorillas and Ichabods will face one another at 6 p.m. (CDT) Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and Noon Sunday at Al Ortolani Field. Sunday's regular season finale will serve as Senior Day as head coach Bob Fornelli and his staff honors outgoing players Brett Daley, Ben Des Rosiers, Braeden Hinton, Grant Howard, Zach Nagel, Dawson Pomeroy and Zac Shoemaker.

Pitt State will bring a 30-15 overall record (20-10 MIAA) into the weekend series. The Gorillas currently sit in third place in the conference standings, trailing second place Missouri Southern (36-11, 23-7 MIAA) by three games. Pitt State dropped two of three games to Newman last weekend in Pittsburg to slip out of MIAA regular season title contention.

Washburn is 26-19 overall and 19-11 in MIAA play. The Ichabods are alone in fourth place in the MIAA standings, trailing Pitt State by one game. WU posted a 2-1 record in a weekend series against Rogers State most recently.

The Gorillas enter the series batting .315 on the season and scoring 8.9 runs per game. Pitt State's pitching staff currently sports a 6.25 ERA and the squad has a .973 fielding percentage to date. The Gorillas opponents are hitting .268 and scoring 6.7 runs per game. The opposition has an 8.34 ERA and a .965 fielding percentage to date.

Junior catcher Nixon Brannon leads the squad with a .412 batting average. He has 19 doubles, 14 home runs and 64 RBI to his credit. Brannan ranks second in the MIAA in batting average, doubles and RBI and ranks sixth in the league in home runs. He currently ranks fourth in D2 in RBI per game (1.52 pg). Brannan set a school record with a 22-game hitting streak between Mar. 14 and Apr. 21.

Junior infielder Cade Clemons is hitting .350 with 45 runs scored, 12 doubles, three triples, 16 home runs and 45 RBI. The Lee's Summit, Mo., native is third in the MIAA in home runs. He has reached base safely in each of the last 39 games.

Junior outfielder Karson Coffee also is batting .367 with an MIAA leading 20 doubles, nine home runs and 41 RBI. Junior infielder Austin Warkins is hitting .391 with a team-leading 50 runs scored, 15 doubles, six home runs and 34 RBI.

Graduate LHP Zac Shoemaker (8-1, 3.14 ERA), senior LHP Ben Des Rosiers (7-0, 4.34 ERA) and sophomore RHP Tanner Leslie (3-3, 5.72 ERA) are expected to make starts on the mound this weekend.

Shoemaker shares the MIAA lead and is tied for 14th place in Division II in victories. He also ranks 17th nationally in strikeouts (12.57 K/9 IP).