Live Stats

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The Northeastern State baseball team is set to close out the regular season hosting No. 16 Missouri Southern State in a four-game MIAA series April 25-26.
 
The RiverHawks (24-19, 16-16 MIAA) and Lions (33-10, 23-5 MIAA) will first meet in a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. April 25 before closing out the series with a doubleheader beginning at noon April 26. The schedule was originally slated for April 24-26 but was moved due to rain in the forecast for April 24. All four games will be contested at Rousey Field, and this will also be Senior Weekend for NSU.
 
Northeastern State currently sits seventh in the MIAA standings, while the Lions sit atop the table and need just one win this weekend to clinch the regular-season conference championship. The top eight teams in the conference will qualify for the MIAA Championship tournament.
 
NSU is 10-11 at home this year, while MSSU owns a 9-5 road record. The RiverHawks are also 1-7 this season against teams currently in the top seven of the MIAA.
 
Northeastern State enters the weekend following a 9-7 midweek victory over Rogers State. The win snapped a five-game losing skid, which included dropping all four games to Central Missouri last weekend. NSU held three-run leads in three of those contests but went on to lose them all.
 
Eight members of the team are hitting .300 or better this season. Junior Charles Sims (46-for-121) and sophomore Bryce Davenport (52-for-137) are both hitting .380, while senior Licio Tamburlini is batting .354 (23-for-65). Davenport has four homers, 12 doubles, 24 runs scored and a team-best 37 RBI. Junior Gabriel Wurth (.349, 53-for-152) is the team leader in hits and stolen bases (10). Senior Preston Cash (.329, 48-for-146) is the team leader in doubles (15) and runs scored (38). Sophomore Jared Aschbrenner (.246, 29-for-118) ranks fourth in the country in sacrifice bunts (13).
 
Northeastern State features three of the top pitchers statistically in the MIAA in senior Kyle Shambaugh, junior Jake Kern and sophomore Ryan Helsley. Shambaugh is 6-0 on the mound with a 5.20 earned-run average. He has conceded 26 runs and struck out 36 batters in 45.0 innings pitched. Helsley (6-3) owns a 3.71 ERA in 51 IP, while sitting fifth in the country in strikeouts per nine innings (13.4). Kern (1.57 ERA) is 10th in the entire country with nine saves.
 
Missouri Southern State is 12-4 in its last 16 games and is coming off a sweep of Lincoln this past weekend.
 
Chris Hoffman is one of the top hitters in the entire country. He is batting .445 (69-for-155) with 46 runs scored, 12 doubles, three triples, eight homers, 38 RBI and 16 stolen bases. Jesse Rall (.366, 49-for-134) owns 37 runs scored, 11 doubles, 13 homers and 46 RBI. Richie Gorski (.356, 57-for-160) has 37 runs, 11 doubles, two triples, six home runs and 36 RBI.
 
MSSU's pitching staff is the best unit in the entire conference. Payton Walker (7-1) has been dominant all year and owns the No. 1 ERA of 2.20 this year. He also has 72 strikeouts and has conceded just 21 runs on 46 hits. Cody Hutchinson (8-0) has yet to suffer a loss on the mound, posting a 2.94 ERA in 64.1 IP. He has 57 strikeouts and 56 hits allowed. Tyler Burgess (4-1) has a 4.88 ERA to go along with 67 strikeouts in 55.1 IP. Nick Pettus is the top reliever, owning a 1.31 ERA, a 2-1 record and three saves in 20.2 IP.  
 
Since NSU joined the MIAA prior to the 2013 season, the Lions hold a narrow 6-5 lead in the series. MSSU won a home-and-home set three games to one in 2013, and the Lions went on to defeat Northeastern State 2-1 in the first round of the playoffs later that year. The RiverHawks went to Joplin last season and took three out of four games.
 
2015 MIAA TEAM RANKS (as of April 19)

Batting Average
5.	Missouri Southern	.319
7.	Northeastern State	.314
Slugging Percentage
5.	Missouri Southern	.508
9.	Northeastern State	.467
On-Base Percentage
2.	Northeastern State	.423
4.	Missouri Southern	.415
Runs Scored
4.	Northeastern State	317
7.	Missouri Southern	306
Hits
6.	Northeastern State	412
7.	Missouri Southern	407
Runs Batted In
6.	Northeastern State	280
7.	Missouri Southern	279
Doubles
4.	Northeastern State	86
6.	Missouri Southern	80
Triples
7.	Missouri Southern	10
12.	Northeastern State	5
Home Runs
6.	Missouri Southern	47
10.	Northeastern State	35
Walks
1.	Northeastern State	185
3.	Missouri Southern	175
Stolen Bases
6.	Missouri Southern	46
7.	Northeastern State	42
Earned Run Average
2.	Missouri Southern	4.31
3.	Northeastern State	4.74
Opposing Batting Average
2.	Missouri Southern	.258
3.	Northeastern State	.278
Batters Struck Out
1.	Missouri Southern	330
2.	Northeastern State	302
Fielding Percentage
1.	Missouri Southern	.970
4.	Northeastern State	.963
2015 MIAA INDIVIDUAL LEADERS (TOP 10)
Batting Average
2.	Chris Hoffman – MSSU	.440
8.	Charles Sims – NSU	.385
10.	Bryce Davenport – NSU	.383
Slugging Percentage
3	Jesse Rall – MSSU	.752
10	Chris Hoffman – MSSU	.693
On-Base Percentage
2	Chris Hoffman – MSSU	.500
7	Charles Sims – NSU	.467
8	Bryce Davenport – NSU	.465
Runs Scored
10	Chris Hoffman – MSSU	45
Hits
3.	Chris Hoffman – MSSU	66
10.	Richie Gorski – MSSU	56
RBI
5.	Jesse Rall – MSSU	45
Doubles
9.	Preston Cash – NSU	14
Home Runs
5.	Jesse Rall – MSSU	12
Walks
8.	Gabriel Wurth – NSU	27
9.	Tee Helslel – MSSU	26
9.	Jon Davis – MSSU	26
Hit By Pitch
6.	Preston Cash – NSU	14
9.	Mitchell Osburn – MSSU	11
Sacrifice Bunts
1.	Jared Aschbrenner – NSU	13
Stolen Bases
6.	Chris Hoffman – MSSU	15
Strikeouts
2.	Cody Begovich – NSU	38
9.	Chris Hoffman – MSSU	33
Earned Run Average
1.	Payton Walker – MSSU	2.20
4.	Cody Hutchinson – MSSU	2.94
9.	Ryan Helsley – NSU	3.71
Opposing Batting Average
2.	Payton Walker – MSSU	.210
6.	Cody Hutchinson – MSSU	.237
9.	Ryan Helsley – NSU	.261
Batters Struck Out
2.	Ryan Helsley – NSU	76
3.	Payton Walker – MSSU	72
4.	Tyler Burgess – MSSU	67
6.	Cody Hutchinson – MSSU	57
Wins
1.	Cody Hutchinson – MSSU	8
3.	Payton Walker – MSSU	7
5.	Ryan Helsley – NSU	6
5.	Kyle Shambaugh – NSU	6
Saves
1.	Jake Kern – NSU	9
10.	Kyle McCulloch – MSSU	3
10.	Nick Pettus – MSSU	3
10.	Kanon Hoover – MSSU	3
Appearances
1.	Jake Kern – NSU	21
10.	Hayden Walch – NSU	16

 
-GoRiverHawksGo.com-