PITTSBURG — The Pittsburg State University baseball team is set to compete 2026 MIAA Baseball Championship, which gets under way Wednesday (May 6) at Edmond, Okla., on the University of Central Oklahoma campus.

The Gorillas, the MIAA Regular Season Champion and the No. 1 seed in the tournament, will open play in the tournament quarterfinals Thursday (May 7) at approximately 1 p.m. at Wendell Simmons Field. Pitt State will face the lowest advancing seed between a pair of first round match-ups Wednesday that feature No. 7 seed Missouri Western State University vs. No. 10 seed Fort Hays State University and No. 8 seed Washburn University vs. No. 9 seed Central Oklahoma.

With a victory Thursday, the Gorillas will advance to the tournament semifinals Friday (May 8) against the winner of a quarterfinal match-up between No. 4 Northwest Missouri State University and No. 5 University of Central Missouri. A loss Thursday would eliminate Pitt State from the single-elimination tournament.
 
2026 MIAA Baseball Championship Bracket

Wednesday, May 6
Game 1 – No. 7 MWSU (26-23) vs. No. 10 FHSU (17-33), 1 p.m.
Game 2 – No. 8 WU (21-29) vs. No. 9 UCO (26-24), 4 p.m.

Thursday, May 7
Game 3 – No. 4 NWMSU (35-15) vs. No. 5 UCM (35-14), 10 a.m.
Game 4 – Lowest Advancing Seed vs. No. 1 PSU (40-9), 1 p.m.
Game 5 – Highest Advancing Seed vs. No. 2 RSU (38-12), 4 p.m.
Game 6 – No. 3 MSSU (33-16) vs. No. 6 ESU (36-16), 7 p.m.

Friday, May 8
Game 7 – Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 1 p.m.
Game 8 – Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 4 p.m.

Saturday, May 19
Game 9 – MIAA Championship, 1 p.m.
 
The Record
Pitt State enters the tournament action with a 40-9 overall record. The Gorillas captured the program's first ever MIAA Regular Season Championship and earned the No. 1 seed by posting a 27-9 mark in MIAA play this spring.
 
Pitt State is ranked No. 4 in the most recent National Collegiate Baseball Writers of America (NCBWA) NCAA Division II Top 25 poll and No. 5 in the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Division II Top 30 poll. The Gorillas closed out the regular season by winning 12 of their final 13 games. Pitt State has posted the program's second 40-win campaign; and the Gorillas are pursuing last season's 42-12 benchmark overall record.
 
PSU in the MIAA Tournament
Pitt State is making its 16th all-time appearance in the MIAA Postseason Tournament. The Gorillas have compiled a 29-33 record in MIAA Tournament play, capturing the 1999 MIAA Baseball Championship with an unblemished 5-0 record. Pitt State reached the 2021 MIAA Championship Game at Joplin, Mo., falling to UCM, 11-2, in the title game.
 
Head Coach Brock Buckingham
Brock Buckingham has compiled a 40-9 record in his first season as head coach for the Gorillas. Buckingham became just the sixth head coach in the 47-year history of the Pitt State program on May 27, 2025. He replaced Bob Fornelli, who posted a 215-116 record in seven seasons (2019-2025) leading the Gorillas and an 1,120-495 overall mark in 29 years as a collegiate coach.
 
Buckingham came to Pitt State from Cowley College in Arkansas City, Kan., where he served as an assistant coach for 17 seasons (2005-06, 2011-25), including the previous six years as associate head coach for head coach Darren Burroughs. During his tenure, Buckingham helped the perennial powerhouse Tigers amass 720 victories, capture nine Jayhawk Conference East Division titles and qualify for the JUCO World Series five times. Cowley placed third overall in 2017 and finished as the national runner-up in 2022. The Tigers wrapped up the 2025 season with a 45-12 record.
 
Scouting the Gorillas
The Gorillas lead the MIAA in batting average (.354), scoring (11.5 rpg), runs (562), hits (599), RBI (517), slugging percentage (.566) and on-base percentage (.478). Pitt State leads NCAA Division II in on-base percentage, ranks second nationally in scoring, third in batting average, fourth in runs, sixth in slugging percentage, 11th in hits, 14^th in stolen bases (138) and 13^th in D2 in fielding percentage (.975).
 
Senior outfielder Dagen Brewer leads the MIAA in all three triple crown categories, batting .429 with 23 home runs and 92 RBI. He also leads the conference in slugging percentage (.958), on-base percentage (.571) and bases on balls (56).
 
Brewer has collected 72 hits, 18 doubles and 23 home runs, scored 73 runs and compiled a school record 92 RBI. He leads D2 in RBI (1.88 pg), ranks second nationally in slugging and home runs. Brewer needs six RBI to set a new MIAA single season record in the category and he's 13 RBI short of passing the all-time D2 record (104 by Jarrod McAlvain of Central Okla. in 1997).
 
The Topeka native has twice been named NCAA Division II National Hitter of the Week this season. Brewer tied MIAA records with four HRs and 10 RBI in the Gorillas' 21-7 win over FHSU on Apr. 3. He set an MIAA record for consecutive games hitting streak at 37 games earlier this season. An NCAA Division II All-America selection at first base as a junior last year, Brewer was voted the 2026 MIAA Player of the Year Tuesday (May 5).
 
Junior outfielder Eric Bacon is hitting .408 with 76 runs scored, 14 doubles, four triples, six home runs and 64 RBI. He leads the MIAA and ranks six in D2 in runs scored. Bacon also ranks second in the MIAA in hits (84) and ranks fifth in the conference in batting average. The Emory, Texas native was a first-team All-MIAA selection and an MIAA Gold Glove recipient.
 
Junior infielder Jadyn McNealy (.310, 58 runs, 44 SB) leads the MIAA and ranks third in D2 in stolen bases despite missing seven games due to injury. He set the PSU single season record with his 40^th stolen base vs. Rogers State on Apr. 26. The Tulsa native also garnered first-team All-MIAA accolades.
 
Senior catcher Grant Nottlemann also is batting .378 with 47 runs scored, nine doubles, five home runs and 49 RBI. Nottlemann (Lincoln, Neb.) ranks 10^th in the MIAA in batting average. Behind the plate, he has a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage in 205 total chances and he's thrown out eight of 15 would be base stealers on the year. Nottlemann was a first-team All-MIAA pick and an MIAA Gold Glove honoree.
 
Senior outfielder Isaac Webb is slashing .370/.446/.674 on the season. He has 52 runs scored, 15 doubles, five triples, 10 home runs, 72 RBI and 33 stolen bases to date. Webb (Collinsville, Okla.) became just the second Pitt State player in program history to hit for the cycle on Apr. 3. A second-team All-MIAA selection, Webb ranks second in the MIAA and sixth in D2 in RBI (1.57 pg), second in the league in stolen bases and sixth in the conference in slugging percentage.
 
On the mound, graduate righthander Zach Voss is 10-2 on the season. Voss has a 3.59 ERA with 48 strikeouts in 62.2 innings pitched. The Iberia, Mo., native ranks second in the MIAA and 11^th in D2 in victories. MIAA coaches named him to the second-team All-MIAA squad.
 
Junior righthander Bradyn McClure has a 4-0 record with a 3.91 ERA and four saves in 53.0 innings over 13 appearances (four starts). The Wichita native has posted a 2-0 record with a 3.99 ERA with four saves in nine relief outings this season; and McClure has registered a 2-0 record with a 3.80 ERA in his four starts. McClure was tabbed a third-team All-MIAA honoree.
 
Redshirt junior LHP Ty Blecha is 3-2 with a 5.00 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 45 innings of work over 13 appearances, including nine starts. 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.
 
Redshirt sophomore RHP Elijah Seitz is 4-1 with a 5.32 ERA in 13 appearances (six starts) on the season, while senior righthander Preston Giltner is 5-2 with a 5.36 ERA in 14 appearances (10 starts). Redshirt junior RHP Cason Long is 3-0 with a 3.13 ERA and 40 strikeouts in 31.2 innings of work.
 
Senior RHP Cooper Crouch (0-2, 4.15) has four saves in 16 appearances on the season, while junior RHP Ethan Froud is 1-0 with a 3.75 ERA and one save in 12 relief outings and redshirt junior RHP Bradley Neill is 1-0 with a 5.01 ERA in 17 appearances. Senior righthander Ryan Leiker sports a 1-0 record with a 3.37 ERA in 12 relief outings.