TAHLEQUAH – Northeastern State faces the MIAA's third-place team in Central Oklahoma for the third time this season and for the second time in Edmond, Okla. Tuesday before hosting second-place Missouri Southern Friday through Sunday at Thomas C. Rousey Field in Tahlequah.

The RiverHawks continued their recent stretch of winning in league action, claiming their fourth consecutive MIAA series last week against Rogers State.

The Setup
- Northeastern State baseball is guided by head coach Sunny Golloway. Golloway was hired last summer after spending a season in the same position at East Central. He brings decades of experience at the Division I level to Tahlequah, also leading teams at Oral Roberts (1996-2003), Oklahoma (2005-13) and Auburn (2014-15). Golloway-led teams have appeared in 15 NCAA Regionals and four Super Regionals, while he led the Sooners to an appearance in the 2010 College World Series.
- NSU entered the season two removed from one of their best in program history, where the RiverHawks won 38 games and made the Central Regional in 2022. The RiverHawks were only a couple wins shy of returning last season, as one of the last three teams remaining in the MIAA tournament as part of a 25-win effort in 2023.
- The team continues their 33-game MIAA schedule with this week's matchups, with the midweek encounter with UCO marking their final Tuesday road game of the regular season. 

Around the Diamond
- After last week's results across the conference, the RiverHawks moved up slightly in the MIAA standings to hold a share of a three-way tie for sixth with Rogers State and Missouri Western at 10-13 in association ball. They sit three games back from the next teams up the ladder in Pittsburg State and Washburn at 13-10, while they are one game above the postseason cut-line, which presently sees Fort Hays State and Northwest Missouri as the first teams out with 9-14 records.
- With a five-hit performance on Friday night in Claremore, Tyson Fourkiller provided the first such effort from the batter's box for an individual in the program since 2016. The junior went on to tally four more hits over the series, adding to a phemonenal campaign where the Stilwell native is tied for the MIAA's top batting average with a .417 clip.
- Jessie Moreno III nearly doubled his season total in strikeouts in his most recent performance against Rogers State last Saturday. Tossing 5.2 scoreless innings, Moreno sent back seven RSU hitters via strikeout, while only surrendering three hits. 
- Gage Williams and Isaiah Keller were the team's top power sluggers last weekend, notably homering twice each in the series finale against the Hillcats in Claremore on Sunday.
- The RiverHawks enter with lots of momentum on the offensive end, having recorded at least ten hits in five of their last six games and at least ten runs in four of their last six.

Northeastern State at Central Oklahoma (Apr. 9 at 3 p.m.) // Live Coverage // Listen

About Central Oklahoma (29-9, 15-8 MIAA)
- The Bronchos carry one of the best home records in Division II baseball, winning 20 of 22 home matchups across the year so far. 
- The team enters after dropping two of three to then-#9 Missouri Southern in Joplin last week.
- John Martin is in his ninth season leading baseball at the University of Central Oklahoma, where he's won over 250 games, highlighted by five seasons of 30+ victories and the program's first MIAA Championship in 2018. Martin previously held the same role at Coffeyville Community College (2012-15) and has previous playing and assistant coaching experience with Emporia State, where his efforts across his collegiate playing career led him to being a 24th-round selection by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2006.
- The Bronchos sit tenth in batting average (.280) and ninth in scoring (242) and home runs (35) in the MIAA, though their pitching staff has been dominant, holding the second-lowest ERA in the league (4.80).

Series Notes
- Central Oklahoma leads the all-time series 72-26.
- The Bronchos won all three 2023 encounters and the first two meetings of 2024. 
- After two initial contests in 1951 and 1952, the teams did not meet until 1997, though they've faced each other on an annual basis since.

Northeastern State vs. Missouri Southern (Apr. 12-13 at 6 p.m., Apr. 14 at 1 p.m.) // Live Coverage

About Missouri Southern (30-9, 17-6 MIAA)
- The Lions, ranked ninth in the most recent NCBWA Top 25 poll, are due to move up in this week's edition after winning a series against then-#19 Central Oklahoma last week.
- MSSU travels to Claremore for a Tuesday battle with Rogers State before going to Tahlequah at the end of this week.
- Bryce Darnell is in his 17th season leading Missouri Southern's baseball program. Darnell has won 489 games at the helm, ranking in the top ten all-time among MIAA head baseball coaches, with his most recent full season of work seeing the Lions win 45 in 2023, their second-most since 1991.
- The Lions own the league's lowest ERA (4.62) and hold the most strikeouts (343), with Cole Gayman (7-1, 2.26 ERA, 65 SO) positioned as one of the conference's premier aces. The offense ranks fourth in batting average (.306) and home runs (57), led by Henry Kusiak, who is in the MIAA's top five with 12 homers. 

Series Notes
- MSSU holds the advantage in the all-time series (37-31-1).
- The Lions won three of five in 2023 against the RiverHawks.
- Northeastern won nine of the first 14 games in the series, but hold a 22-33 record since 2001 against Missouri Southern.
 
Coming Up
Northeastern State hosts Northwestern Oklahoma in their penultimate non-conference meeting of the regular season on Apr. 16 before facing Northwest Missouri on the road next weekend.