SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Drury baseball concludes its nine-game road swing this weekend with a four-game Great Lakes Valley Conference set against Lincoln at Vivion Field in Jefferson City.
Drury (13-12, 4-4 GLVC) and Lincoln (6-16, 0-8 GLVC) will be meeting for the first time on the baseball diamond this weekend, beginning with the series opener at 4 p.m., Friday (March 27) afternoon. The two clubs will square off in a Noon doubleheader on Saturday, before concluding the series Sunday with a single nine-inning contest.
Fans may follow the action through the GLVC Sports Network (subscription required), where games will be streamed live throughout the regular season. New for the 2025-26 academic year, viewing access to live broadcasts from GLVC regular season and postseason contests will be available via monthly subscription ($30) or annual subscription ($140). Single-event access can also be purchased for $15.
LEADING OFF
- The Panthers are celebrating their 20th season in 2026 and bring an overall program record of 556-422-1 into Friday's contest.
- DU is led by 14th-year head coach Scott Nasby, who has compiled an overall mark of 380-288-1 as the Panthers' all-time winningest coach.
- Drury and Lincoln will be meeting for the first time on the baseball diamond this weekend.
- Drury dropped three of four GLVC contests at No. 25 UIS last weekend and enters play Friday with a 4-4 mark in conference play.
- DU concluded a 14-game stretch in which they played 10 contests against ranked foes Sunday at UIS.
- Individually, INF Jackson Crider is hitting a blistering .538 (14-for-26) in GLVC play, while INF Colin McClure has clubbed three homers in DU's eight conference games to date; Crider also brings an 11-game hit streak into Friday's series opener.
- INF Logan Reidelberger currently shares the GLVC lead with his 11 doubles.
- OF Luke Matschiner ranks second in the conference in runs scored per game (1.65) and walks per game (1.0) and fourth in steals (15).
- OF Connor Bain recorded his 200th career hit Saturday at UIS; the senior ranks among the Panthers' all-time top 10 in hits (201), runs (149), steals (48) and home runs (17).
LAST TIME OUT
- A pair of early two-run home runs and an 11-run second inning powered No. 25 Illinois Springfield to a 23-1 victory over Drury Sunday afternoon, handing the Prairie Stars their third-straight win over the Panthers to close out the two clubs' GLVC series at UIS Baseball Field.
- Parker Heistand turned in a 5-for-5 day at the plate with four runs scored and four RBIs to lead the Stars, while Noah Caceras homered twice and drove in five runs for the home club, which posted the top single-game run total by a Drury foe since March 2022.
- Drury seized a 1-0 advantage in the top of the first inning, capitalizing on doubles by Jackson Crider and Connor Bain to take the early lead.
- But two-run homers by Corey Boyette and Caceres against Drury starting pitcher Trayce Mercer (0-1) in the home half of the inning sparked a UIS offense that went on to tally 23 unanswered runs on 23 hits in the seven-inning victory.
BAIN JOINS 200-HIT CLUB
- Senior OF Connor Bain became just the 10th Drury player to reach the 200-hit milestone last Saturday at UIS.
- Bain, who is hitting a career-best .364 this season, ranks among Drury's all-time top 10 batters in hits (10th), runs scored (9th), steals (t-6th) doubles (t-10th) and home runs (t-9th).
- He cracked the top 10 on DU's career home run chart with his 14th round-tripper as a Panther in DU's Feb. 22 victory at UCO, and currently sits eight homers away from matching the DU program record of 25, held jointly by Luke Burk and Clayton Engel.
- Additionally, Bain has swiped 48 bases to rank sixth on the Panthers' career list, which is 29 shy of Nick Thimesch's program record of 77.
Bain also ranks fifth on DU's career walks (88) chart.
PANTHERS GET OFFENSIVE
- Drury enters the weekend with the No. offense in the GLVC with its .335 team batting average and 290 total hits on the season.
- DU leads the conference in doubles per game (2.48) and ranks third in both scoring (9.0) and slugging percentage (.518).
- The Drury offense caught fire over the course of a four-game win streak (Feb. 22-28) that saw the Panthers outscore the opposition by a combined 54-30 margin.
- The Panthers slugged .667 over the course of their streak, with 24 of their hits going for extra bases.
- DU 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.
- Individually, Jackson Crider brings the No. 4 batting mark (.443) and OBP (.545) in the GLVC into the weekend; he also ranks second in hits (43) and leads the leauge in HBPs (15).
- Miller ranks second in the circuit and ninth in the nation with his four triples, while Luke Matschiner's 1.65 runs scored per game is the No. 8 average in all of Division II baseball.
STARTING STRONG
- Drury's 4-4 start to its GLVC season continues a trend of early success in conference play under head coach Scott Nasby.
- The Panthers have posted a .500 mark or better over the first two weekends of GLVC play in 13 of Nasby's first 14 seasons at the helm.
- DU has won at least five of its first eight GLVC games on seven occasions under Nasby, including five 6-2 starts (2013, 2017, 2018, 2022 and 2025).
LOOKING AHEAD
The Panthers will return to Springfield next weekend for a four-game GLVC series against Maryville, beginning with a 5 p.m., contest Thursday (April 2) evening at Mark Worley Field at Meador Park.
For all the latest information on Drury baseball, visit DruryPanthers.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow the Panthers on X and Instagram.
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