PITTSBURG — The Pittsburg State University baseball team will travel to Shawnee, Okla., Tuesday (Mar. 19) for a non-conference match-up against Oklahoma Baptist University. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. (CDT) at Bobby Cox Field at Ford Park.

Pitt State is 18-7 on the season heading into the Tuesday contest. The Gorillas dropped two of three games in a weekend MIAA series against No. 9 Missouri Southern State University. OBU is 15-10 overall coming into a Monday match-up against the University of Arkansas-Monticello. The Gorillas and Bison met earlier this year in the season opener for both squads with OBU claiming a 17-5 run-rule victory at Edmond, Okla., on Feb. 1.

As a team, Pitt State is hitting .312 and scoring 8.4 runs per game. The Gorillas have smacked 61 doubles and 44 home runs and stolen 37 bases to date. Pitt State pitchers have a 4.30 ERA registering 178 strikeouts in 207.1 innings pitched. Defensively, the Gorillas have a .980 fielding percentage with just 17 errors in 862 total chances. Pitt State ranks second in the MIAA in ERA and fielding percentage; and the Gorillas rank fourth in the conference in batting average and fifth in the league in runs scored.
 
Graduate infielder Dylan Kurahashi-Choy Foo has a team-leading .367 batting average with 29 hits in 79 at-bats on the young season. Choy Foo, who ranks 15th in the MIAA in batting average, has 10 doubles, five home runs home runs and 23 RBI to his credit.

Senior catcher Nixon Brannan is hitting .353 with eight doubles, seven home runs and 23 RBI on the season, while senior infielder Cade Clemons is batting .300 with 21 runs scored, seven home runs and 23 RBI. Junior outfielder Karson Coffee is batting .293 with 21 runs scored, seven home runs and 29 RBI. Brannan, Clemons and Coffee are tied for sixth place in the MIAA in home runs, while Coffee also ranks 12th in the league in RBI.

Senior right-hander Christian Spitz (4-0, 9.95 ERA) has made two starts on the season, including last week's mid-week contest against Emporia State University.

Junior RHP Cole Askew (0-0, 2.38 ERA, 3 Saves) has made a team-leading 11 relief appearances for the Gorillas, while junior RHP Cadyn Castellanos (4-1, 3.54 ERA) has appeared in nine games. Junior RHP Boston Dowd (3-0, 1.10) also had made seven relief appearances with 15 strikeouts and a 0.61 WHIP in 16.1 innings of work (seven hits, three walks).