SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Drury opens Great Lakes Valley Conference play this weekend in a four-game home series against Missouri S&T. The Panthers and Miners will play a doubleheader Saturday starting at 2 p.m. and Sunday at noon at U.S. Baseball Park in Ozark.
 
Drury is 12-6 and enters Saturday's doubleheader as winners of five of their last six games. The Panthers swept Trevecca Nazarene in a three-game series last week. Missouri S&T is 9-9 and have lost three straight after being swept in a three-game set at Saint Joseph's in their last action.
 
P/2B Ryan Colombo leads Drury's offense hitting .400. The senior from Topeka, Kansas has a home run and nine runs batted in. Colombo enters Saturday's game with a seven-game hitting streak and is 14 for 31 (.452) with three doubles and nine runs scored in those seven games. SS Shane Benes leads the team in home runs and RBI's. Benes is hitting .384 and his nine homers have him just two away from tying Drury's single-season record. He has driven in 28 runs in 18 games this season.
 
Colombo also leads the Panthers pitching staff with a 4-0 record and a 1.62 earned run average in five starts. Colombo is expected to start on Saturday along with Garrett Woods who is 2-2 with a 5.40 ERA. Alex Austin is 1-1 with two saves and a 2.40 ERA in nine appearances out of the bullpen. 
 
The 2017 Drury baseball season is sponsored by Aaron Sachs and Associates.
 
Tickets to Drury games at US Baseball Park are $5 with children ages 12 and under admitted free and can be purchased at the stadium gates.
 
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