Baseball Preview
Drury Panthers (27-21, 17-11 GLVC) vs. Southwest Baptist Bearcats (15-31, 8-20 GLVC)
May 1-3, 2025
Mark Worley Field at Meador Park
 
Schedule
Thur., May 1- 5 pm
Fri., May 2- Noon (doubleheader), Kids Day
Sast., May 3- Noon (Senior Day)
 
Game Information
Tickets: $5 (children under 12, FREE)
Live Video
Live Stats
 
Drury concludes regular season at home vs. Southwest Baptist
The Drury Panthers end the regular season this weekend when they host Southwest Baptist in a four-game series Thursday, Friday at Saturday at Mark Worley Field at Meador Park. Thursday's game starts at 5 pm. Friday is a doubleheader with game one starting at noon, and the series concludes on Saturday at 1pm.
 
Drury is 27-21, 17-11 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference and enters the final weekend in fifth place in the league. The Panthers have won six of their last eight games and took three of four games at home against McKendree last weekend.
 
Southwest Baptist is 15-31 and 8-20 in the GLVC. The Bearcats lost three of four at home last weekend to Illinois Springfield and have lost 12 of their last 13.
 
Left-hander Cody Bahl is Drury's probable starter on Thursday to start the series. Bahl set a program single-game record with 14 strikeouts as he picked up a win against McKendree last Friday. Centerfielder Connor Bain is coming off a series that saw the junior hit .500, going 7 for 14 at the plate with two home runs and 9 RBIs in four games.
 
The Panthers enter the weekend ranked eighth in the Midwest Region. Seven teams from the region will make the NCAA-II Tournament. Davenport is ranked first in the region, followed by Grand Valley State in second. Four teams from the GLVC are in the top nine, with Lewis in fourth, Indianapolis in sixth, and Illinois Springfield is in seventh.
 
Drury lost three of four to Southwest Baptist last year, but lead the all-time series 20-11 against the Bearcats.
 
The Panthers' magic number to reach in the GLVC Tournament is two. The league tournament returns to Mountain Dew Park in Marion, Illinois, and starts on May 7. The eight-team, double-elimination tournament concludes on May 10.
 
QUICK FACTS
 
Probable Starters
DRURY
LHP Cody Bahl (3-4, 6.23 ERA)
RHP Nick Gales (3-3, 5.74 ERA)
RHP Gage Hayes (6-1, 3.99 ERA)
RHP Markell Dixon (2-4, 7.67 ERA)
 
SOUTHWEST BAPTIST
LHP Roberto Garcia (2-4, 7.30 ERA)
RHP Ryan McClish (5-5, 5.65 ERA)
RHP Cade Langford (0-4, 9.13 ERA)
RHP Jaden Thacker (2-6, 6.13 ERA)
 
Head Coach
Drury - Scott Nasby (13th season, 361-274-1)
SBU- Charles Bradley (3^rd season, 39-107)
 
Stat Leaders
Drury - #34 Jackson Crider (.419, 9 HR, 34 RBI), #1 Luke Matschiner (.315, 1 HR, 20 RBI, 22 SB), #18 Hesston Gray (.302, 5 HR, 38 RBI, 20 2B), #16 Luc Fuller (10 app., 2-0, 5 saves, 0.51 ERA)
 
SBU- #5 Dominic Tellez (.346, 3 HR, 33 RBI), #39 Zeke Skinner (.303, 10 HR, 42 RBI),
 
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