SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Drury baseball brings its four-game win streak into a Tuesday (March 3) non-conference road matchup with Missouri Southern, slated for a 3 p.m. first pitch at Warren Turner Field in Joplin.
The Panthers are off to an 8-2 start this season after sweeping their three games this past weekend at the Drury Invitational. Drury is ranked No. 23 in this week's D2 Baseball Poll, after entering the national rankings at No. 17 in the ABCA Coaches Poll two weeks ago.
Drury has hit .442 and slugged .667 as a team to outscore the opposition by a 54-30 margin over its four-game win streak.
Missouri Southern (8-7) is coming off a three-game MIAA Conference series sweep of Northeastern State this past weekend. The Lions are 5-2 at home and 3-1 in their previous four meetings with GLVC foes this season.
Fans may follow the action through The MIAA Network (subscription required).
LEADING OFF:
- Drury will celebrate its 20th season of varsity competition since the program's reinstatement in 2007.
- The Panthers bring an overall program record of 551-412-1 into Tuesday's game.
- DU is led by 14th-year head coach Scott Nasby, who has compiled an overall mark of 375-278-1 as the Panthers' all-time winningest coach.
- The Panthers are off to an 8-2 start this season after sweeping their three games this past weekend at the Drury Invitational.
- Drury is ranked No. 23 in this week's D2 Baseball Poll, after entering the national rankings at No. 17 in the ABCA Coaches Poll two weeks ago.
- Drury has hit .442 and slugged .667 as a team to outscore the opposition by a 54-30 margin over its four-game win streak.
- The Panthers own a 10-8 series edge over the Lions, including two-straight wins to close out last spring's three-game season series with MSSU.
- INF Jackson Crider was named GLVC Player of the Week on Monday after hitting .583 (7-for-12) with a home run and eight RBIs while logging multiple hits in all three Drury wins last week.
- OF Greydon Miller went 6-for-10 with four extra-base hits in two games over the weekend and has been DU's leading hitter during its current win streak, batting a blistering .563 (9-for-16) with seven RBIs.
SERIES HISTORY
- The Panthers bring a 10-8 series edge vs. Missouri Southern into Tuesday's game.
- Drury has won the last two meetings in the series, both of which came last season with a 7-4 win in Joplin (March 12) and 9-3 victory in Springfield (Feb. 14).
- The Panthers are 5-4 all-time vs. the Lions in Joplin, where DU has won two straight against Missouri Southern over the last two seasons.
- Drury is 3-2 against the MIAA this season, with wins over Central Missouri, Central Oklahoma and Washburn to its credit.
LAST TIME OUT
- Thanks to another big day at the plate, Drury captured wins over Washburn and Missouri S&T to complete a three-game sweep of the Drury Invitational Saturday at Mark Worley Field.
- Drury scored a combined total of 29 runs on 29 hits in its two victories that stretched the Panthers' win streak to four games.
- Greydon Miller led DU with a pair of three-hit games, finishing the day 6-of-10 with six runs batted-in and five runs scored, while Jackson Crider added five hits and four RBIs in just eight official at-bats Saturday.
- The duo of Crider and Miller completed a dominant weekend at the plate, combining to go 13-for-22 with 14 RBIs in the Panthers' three wins.
- As a team, the Panthers outscored their three foes by a combined 42-23 margin while batting .438 as a club.
CRIDER NAMED GLVC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
- INF Jackson Crider powered a potent Drury offense that swept the Drury Invitational field with three straight double-digit run totals, earning the DU sophomore this week's Athletics Solutions GLVC Player of the Week honor.
- Crider hit .583 (7-for-12) with a home run and eight RBIs, logging multiple hits in all three contests; he slugged .889 with an OPS of 1.556 for the week, as DU racked up 42 runs on 46 hits while hitting .438 as a team.
- The San Antonio, Texas product went a combined 5-for-7 (.714) with a key three-run home run and six total RBIs in wins over fellow GLVC foes Indianapolis and Missouri S&T.
- Crider belted his first home run of the season and drove in four runs to help the Panthers topple preseason GLVC favorite UIndy on Friday, then added a three-hit effort in a 17-6 run-rule victory over Missouri S&T the following evening; he also logged a two-hit day in DU's win over Washburn.
PANTHERS GET OFFENSIVE
- The Drury offense has caught fire over the course of a four-game win streak that has seen the Panthers outscore the opposition by a combined 54-30 margin.
- Drury has batted a blistering .442 as a team, with eight different regulars hitting .421 or better during the same stretch, led by Greydon Miller's .563 average.
- The Panthers have posted double-digit hit totals in all four contests, totaling 69 hits, or an average of 17.3 hits per game.
- DU has slugged .667 over the course of its streak, with 24 of its hits going for extra bases.
- As a result of its hot streak at the plate, Drury currently leads the GLVC in team batting (.374), while ranking second in slugging (.528) and third in on-base percentage (.456).
Individually, Connor Bain leads the GLVC in hits per game (2.0), while Luke Matschiner paces all conference hitters in runs scored per game (2.14).
LOOKING AHEAD
Drury will return to Mark Worley Field at Meador Park this weekend to open a four-game non-conference series with Augustana, beginning with a 3 p.m. contest Friday (March 6).
Fans may purchase 2026 season tickets or single-game seats through DruryPanthers.com.
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