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TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The Northeastern State baseball team will compete in the first round of the 2015 MIAA Championship first round against No. 15-ranked Missouri Southern State April 30-May 2 in Joplin, Missouri.
 
The RiverHawks (25-22, 17-19 MIAA) earned the No. 8 seed in the tournament, while the Lions (36-11, 26-6 MIAA) won the regular-season championship and are the No. 1 seed in the event. This will be the second-straight week the two teams will clash, as MSSU traveled to Tahlequah in the final weekend of the regular season and took three out of four games against NSU.
 
The best-of-3 series will begin at 6 p.m. April 30, with the second game set for 6 p.m. May 1. If the two teams split the opening games, a decisive rubber match will be held at 1 p.m. May 2. All three games will be played at Turner Field.
 
The winner of the series will advance to the 2015 MIAA Championship finals, which will be contested May 7-9 at CommunityAmerica Ballpark in Kansas City, Kansas.
 
NSU is 14-8 on the road this year, while MSSU owns a 24-5 home record.
 
Seven members of the team are hitting .300 or better this season. Junior Charles Sims leads the way with a .380 average (52-for-137), while sophomore Bryce Davenport is batting .373 (56-for-150). Senior Licio Tamburlini is batting .348 (24-for-69), and junior Gabriel Wurth is batting .347 (58-for-167). Davenport has four homers, 14 doubles, 24 runs scored and 37 RBI. Wurth is the team leader in hits and stolen bases (10). Senior Preston Cash (.323, 52-for-161) is the team leader in doubles (16), runs scored (40), homers (8) and RBI (41). Sophomore Jared Aschbrenner (.246, 29-for-118) ranks sixth 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 6-1 on the mound with a 5.19 earned-run average. He has conceded 31 runs and struck out 38 batters in 50.1 innings pitched. Helsley (7-3) owns a 3.32 ERA in 57 IP, while sitting fourth in the country in strikeouts per nine innings (13.9). Kern (1.46 ERA) is eighth in the entire country with 10 saves.
 
Missouri Southern State is 15-5 in its last 20 games. Chris Hoffman is one of the top hitters in the entire country. He is batting .430 (71-for-165) with 47 runs scored, 12 doubles, three triples, eight homers, 39 RBI and 16 stolen bases. Jesse Rall (.370, 54-for-146) owns 40 runs scored, 11 doubles, 15 homers and 52 RBI. Richie Gorski (.358, 63-for-176) has 41 runs, 11 doubles, two triples, six home runs and 37 RBI.
 
MSSU's pitching staff is the best unit in the entire conference. Payton Walker (7-2) has been dominant all year and owned the No. 1 ERA in the league before last week (2.84 ERA). Cody Hutchinson (9-0, 2.70 ERA) is now third in the league in ERA, and Walker dropped to fourth. Walker has 74 strikeouts and has conceded just 27 runs on 56 hits. Hutchinson has yet to suffer a loss on the mound and recorded a complete-game victory against NSU last week. He has 64 strikeouts and just 65 hits allowed. Tyler Burgess (5-1) has a 5.28 ERA to go along with 73 strikeouts in 61.1 IP. Nick Pettus is the top reliever, owning a 1.25 ERA, a 2-1 record and four saves in 21.2 IP.  
 
Since NSU joined the MIAA prior to the 2013 season, the Lions hold a 9-6 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 26)

Batting Average
6.	Missouri Southern	.315
7.	Northeastern State	.311
Slugging Percentage
6.	Missouri Southern	.497
9.	Northeastern State	.467
On-Base Percentage
3.	Northeastern State	.415
4.	Missouri Southern	.414
Runs Scored
5.	Northeastern State	341
6.	Missouri Southern	335
Hits
8.	Northeastern State	456
9.	Missouri Southern	453
Runs Batted In
5.	Missouri Southern	305
6.	Northeastern State	303
Doubles
4.	Northeastern State	95
7.	Missouri Southern	87
Triples
7.	Missouri Southern	10
12.	Northeastern State	5
Home Runs
5.	Missouri Southern	52
10.	Northeastern State	41
Walks
1.	Missouri Southern	207
3.	Northeastern State	195
Stolen Bases
6.	Missouri Southern	52
9.	Northeastern State	44
Earned Run Average
2.	Missouri Southern	4.37
4.	Northeastern State	4.80
Opposing Batting Average
2.	Missouri Southern	.262
3.	Northeastern State	.276
Batters Struck Out
1.	Missouri Southern	358
2.	Northeastern State	340
Fielding Percentage
1.	Missouri Southern	.973
3.	Northeastern State	.964
2015 MIAA INDIVIDUAL LEADERS (TOP 10)
Batting Average
2.	Chris Hoffman – MSSU	.430
10.	Charles Sims – NSU	.380
Slugging Percentage
2.	Jesse Rall – MSSU	.767
7.	Chris Hoffman – MSSU	.685
On-Base Percentage
2.	Chris Hoffman – MSSU	0.497
Hits
2.	Chris Hoffman – MSSU	71
RBI
5.	Jesse Rall – MSSU	52
Doubles
6.	Preston Cash – NSU	16
Home Runs
3.	Jesse Rall – MSSU	15
Walks
7.	Tee Helslel – MSSU	30
7.	Jon Davis – MSSU	30
Hit By Pitch
6.	Preston Cash – NSU	14
9.	Mitchell Osburn – MSSU	11
Sacrifice Bunts
2.	Jared Aschbrenner – NSU	13
Stolen Bases
6.	Chris Hoffman – MSSU	16
Strikeouts
4.	Cody Begovich – NSU	40
10.	Chris Hoffman – MSSU	38
Earned Run Average
3.	Cody Hutchinson – MSSU	2.70
4.	Payton Walker – MSSU	2.84
5.	Ryan Helsley – NSU	3.32
Opposing Batting Average
4.	Payton Walker – MSSU	.230
6.	Cody Hutchinson – MSSU	.241
7.	Ryan Helsley – NSU	.241
Batters Struck Out
1.	Ryan Helsley – NSU	88
3.	Payton Walker – MSSU	74
4.	Tyler Burgess – MSSU	73
5.	Cody Hutchinson – MSSU	64
Wins
1.	Cody Hutchinson – MSSU	9
3.	Payton Walker – MSSU	7
3.	Ryan Helsley – NSU	7
7.	Kyle Shambaugh – NSU	6
Saves
1.	Jake Kern – NSU	10
9.	Nick Pettus – MSSU	4
9.	Kanon Hoover – MSSU	4
Appearances
1.	Jake Kern – NSU	24
6.	Hayden Walch – NSU	19

 
 
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