By FHSU Sports Information
The Fort Hays State baseball team wraps up the 2018 regular season this weekend (May 5-7) with a road trip to Joplin, Mo. to take on Missouri Southern. The Tigers and Lions will battle under the lights on Friday beginning at 6 p.m. before a 1 p.m. matinee on Saturday. Sunday’s season finale is set for a noon commencement.
The Tigers head into the weekend 13-34 on the year and 5-28 in conference play, while the Lions are 24-23 overall and 12-21 in MIAA action. MSSU has lost nine of its last 10 games. Both sides have been mathematically eliminated from qualifying for the MIAA Championship.
Fort Hays State is 18-33 all-time against the Green and Gold in a series that began 41 years ago in 1977. Missouri Southern owns a 19-7 edge in games played in the series in Joplin.
The Tigers are led by Addison Kaasch and Alex Weiss, who are both batting .350 or better. Weiss is riding a 15-game hitting streak into the weekend, tied for the longest stretch by a Tiger since 2015. Jordan Wilkerson had three strong games at the plate last weekend, going 4-for-10 with two home runs and one grand slam.
The Lions’ strength is their pitching, ranking second in the MIAA with a 4.41 team ERA and third in the league with 392 strikeouts on the year. Zac Shoemaker is the front-line starter for the Lions, sporting a 3.66 ERA to go along with 62 strikeouts and a .262 opponent batting average. Alex Phillips leads MSSU at the plate, batting .342 with nine home runs and 38 RBI.