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The Bulldog Baseball team will kick off a 10-game home stand on Friday when they host Northwest Missouri State for a weekend series.

The single nine inning opener will begin at 3:00 p.m. with a doubleheader scheduled for Saturday at 1:00 p.m. and a Sunday nine inning contest beginning at noon.

Truman (4-18; 3-15 MIAA) has split the last two conference doubleheaders heading into the weekend.

They defeated #30 Emporia State 5-4 in extra innings but then lost 8-0 in the nightcap on Sunday while on Tuesday lost 4-2 to the Lincoln Blue Tigers before taking game two 11-5.

A pair of freshmen and a sophomore lead the Bulldogs in hitting. Jarod Hahn has started all 22 games and is leading the team with a .353 average with a pair of doubles and 13 runs scored.

Fellow freshman Zak Larkin is third with a .303 mark with four doubles, five stolen bases and eight runs batted in. Sophomore Daniel Jewett is hitting .329 and leads the squad with nine RBIs.

The staff has received quality starts from all four starters in the rotation.

Tyler Stefan picked up the win in relief against Lincoln on Tuesday and shutout the Bearcats for six and two-thirds last year before giving up the winning run in Northwest’s last at bat. Bret Gerstner leads the staff with a 2.19 ERA in three starts with Logan Siegler second with a 3.86 ERA in five starts and two complete games.

Truman is hitting .255 as a team and has a team ERA of 5.98.

Northwest took two of four from Missouri Southern last weekend and lost in the bottom of the ninth at Rockhurst on Tuesday 4-3.

The Bearcats lead the MIAA in home runs with 25 hit this season, heading into Tuesday’s game in Kansas City with Eric Swain belting a conference leading seven so far in 25 games played.

Eight of the nine starting hitters have averages over .300 with Ryan Abernathy leading the way with a .404 mark.

On the flip side, pitching has been an issue for Northwest as they have a staff ERA of 7.28 with all but one pitcher with a start having an ERA over six runs. Pat Brady, who has made one start in five games, has a 2.89 ERA.

Opponents are hitting .331 against Bearcat pitching with 92 extra base hits and 28 home runs allowed.

Last year it was a pitcher’s series as both teams hit under .200 and only eight total pitchers were used in the four games.

The Bulldogs won three of the four in Maryville with a ERA of 1.14 and two shutouts while Northwest won their only game 1-0 in the bottom of the seventh in game three.

Series Schedule:
The four-game series will begin Friday at 3:00 p.m. with a single nine-inning game.

A pair of seven-inning games will be played on Saturday starting at 1:00 p.m. followed by another nine-inning game on Sunday starting at 12:00 p.m.

For any changes to the scheduled, please check TrumanBulldogs.com or @TrumanAthletics on Twitter.

Courtesy Truman State University