PITTSBURG -- The Pittsburg State University baseball team will travel to Hays, Kan., to open a three-game MIAA series with Fort Hays State University beginning Thursday (Apr. 2). The Gorillas and Tigers will meet at 5 p.m. (CDT) Thursday at Larks Park with a 3 p.m. contest Friday and an 1 p.m. game Saturday to follow.

Pittsburg State is 26-6 overall and 15-6 in MIAA play. The Gorillas are ranked No. 5 in the most recent National Collegiate Baseball Writers of America (NCBWA) NCAA Division II Top 25 poll released Wednesday (Apr. 1); and Pitt State is ranked No. 9 nationally in the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Top 30 poll released Tuesday (Mar. 31).
 
The Gorillas enter the series seeking to bounce back from a three-game series sweep by Northwest Missouri State University over the Gorillas last weekend. The Bearcats won a pair of extra-inning games, 11-9 in 10 innings and 9-8 in 11 innings, with a 2-1 decision sandwiched in-between.
 
Fort Hays State is 9-22 on the season and 6-15 in MIAA play. The Tigers are seeking to halt a nine-game losing streak in Friday's match-up against the Gorillas. FHSU was swept in a three-game MIAA series against the University of Central Oklahoma last weekend at Edmond, Okla.
 
The Gorillas lead the MIAA in batting average (.360), scoring (11.7 rpg), runs (373), hits (400), RBI (347) and slugging percentage (.559). Pitt State ranks third nationally in scoring (11.7 rpg) and on-base percentage (.477), fourth in the country in batting average and runs, eighth in D2 in hits and ninth overall in slugging percentage.
 
Senior outfielder Dagen Brewer ranks third in the MIAA with a .439 batting average. He has collected 50 hits, with 15 doubles and 13 home runs, scored 45 runs and compiled 59 RBI. Brewer ranks second in D2 in RBI (1.84 pg) and slugging (.930), third in batting average, fifth in home runs and eighth in doubles. The Topeka native was named the Division II Hitter of the Week on Mar. 5 after hitting .857 (12-14) with three doubles, four home runs and 14 RBI in four games. Brewer set an MIAA record for consecutive games hitting streak at 37 games earlier this season.
 
Junior outfielder Eric Bacon is hitting .430 with 52 runs scored, 11 doubles, three triples, five home runs and 52 RBI. He leads the MIAA and ranks second in D2 in runs scored. Bacon also leads the MIAA in hits (58) and ranks fourth in the conference in batting average.
 
Junior infielder Jadyn McNealy (.341, 49 runs, 34 SB) leads D2 in stolen bases and ranks ninth nationally in runs scored. Senior outfielder Isaac Webb is slashing .345/.429/.628 on the season. He has 11 doubles, three triples, five home runs and 42 RBI to date. Junior infielder Landon Bruce also is batting .383 with 21 runs scored, two home runs and 17 RBI. Bruce, who has played in 24 games for the Gorillas, ranks 17^th in the MIAA in batting average.
 
On the mound, graduate righthander Zach Voss is 6-2 on the season. Voss has a 3.61 ERA with 38 strikeouts in 42.1 innings pitched. Redshirt sophomore RHP Elijah Seitz is 4-1 with a 3.92 ERA in nine appearances (five starts) on the season, while senior righthander Preston Giltner is 4-1 with a 5.86 ERA through his first nine starts.
 
Junior righthander Bradyn McClure has a 2-0 record with a 4.13 ERA and four saves in 28.1 innings of relief work over eight appearances, while redshirt junior RHP Cason Long is 2-0 with a 2.50 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 18.0 innings of work. Senior RHP Cooper Crouch (0-1, 2.84) has four saves on the season, while junior RHP Ethan Froud is 1-0 with a 2.16 ERA and one save in nine appearances and redshirt junior Bradley Neill is 1-0 with a 4.41 ERA in 12 appearances. Redshirt junior LHP Ty Blecha is 2-1 with a 3.62 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 32.1 innings of work over nine appearances, including five starts over the last three weeks. Blecha was named the D2 Central Region Pitcher of the Year on Mar. 25 after rolling a three-hit shutout in the Gorillas series clinching shutout win vs. UCO on Mar. 22.