GAME INFORMATION
(7) ARKANSAS TECH WONDER BOYS 32-20 (23-10 GAC)		(2) MISSOURI SOUTHERN LIONS 42-15 (25-8 MIAA)
Thursday, May 18 | 6 p.m. Warren Turner Field | Joplin, Mo. LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO

FIRST PITCH
After an agonizing week-long wait, the Arkansas Tech baseball team was officially selected to compete in their third NCAA Central Region Tournament as they earned an at-large berth as the No. 7-seed in the double-elimination tournament.
 
As the No. 7-seed, Tech has drawn No. 2-seed Missouri Southern as their first opponent and will take on the Lions at 6 p.m. on Thursday night on MSSU's home field, Warren Turner Field. Live coverage for the game can be found at: www.ArkansasTechSports.com/coverage.
 
Regardless of the result, Tech will play its second game of the tournament on Friday. A win, however, will put Tech's next game at 6 p.m. that night while a loss will create an elimination game starting at 2 p.m.
 
This will be the first meeting between Tech and Missouri Southern since 2017 when the two teams played a home-and-home mid-week series. That year, the two teams split with each team winning at home. Overall, it will be the 10^th meeting all-time between the two and Tech holds a 6-3 lead.
 

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TALKING TECH                                                       
The Wonder Boys enter their third NCAA Central Tournament as an at-large selection and the No. 7-seed with an overall record of 32-20. Tech has not played a game in over a week and a half after they were eliminated from the Great American Conference Tournament in the Opening Round Series back in the first weekend of May. Oklahoma Baptist was the team to knock Tech out and the Bison later went on to play Southern Arkansas in the championship game of the tournament.
 
Overall, the Wonder Boys enter the regional tournament hitting .315 as a team (547-for-1,738) with 427 runs scored, 106 doubles, 18 triples and 41 home runs. Sam Stephenson currently leads the team in batting average at .399 (67-for-168) and is one of six players that have scored at least 40 runs this season. Three have scored 50 or more runs with Sawyer Duddleston leading the team with 56.
 
Keaton Ranallo has been providing the best power production thus far and is leading the team in home runs with 11. Ranallo also has 19 doubles and two triples to post a .607 slugging percentage, which is tops on the team. Just off Ranallo's pace in home runs is Logan Schwenke with 10. Eight other Wonder Boys have hit home runs this season with Duddleston, Stephenson, Cade McBride, Markos Cabranes, and Nick Jones all having multiple homers.
 
On the RBI front, the Wonder Boys have a total of six players with 30 or more RBIs and four that have surpassed 40 and three that have at least 50. Duddleston and Schwenke are pacing the team with 52 each.
 
On the mound, the Wonder Boys have a team ERA of 6.28 and have struck out 355 batters in 415.1 innings of work.
 
In the opening round series against Oklahoma Baptist, Tech employed a starting rotation of John Gray, Emiliano Mata and Mason Griffin. Gray and Mata have both started 14 games while Griffin, the team's closer, made his first start after closing out the middle game to force the "If Necessary" game three.
 
In terms of the bullpen for the Wonder Boys, Will Horton has made the most relief appearances thus far with 23 and is 3-0 with a 5.74 ERA with 26 strikeouts in 31.1 innings of work. In terms of saves, Griffin has eight of the team's 10 saves for the Wonder Boys. He has appeared in 17 games and has a 3.16 ERA with 27 strikeouts in 25.2 innings of work.
 
Leading the Wonder Boys once more is Dave Dawson. The all-time winningest coach in Tech Baseball history, Dawson enters his 14th year in the dugout for the Wonder Boys. In his previous 13 seasons, Dawson has guided amassed a 380-269 record. He has also had six seasons with 30 or more wins which includes the 2014 season in which he led the team a program-record 44 wins and hosting rights for that year's Central Region Tournament.
 
Overall, Dawson is in his 18th year as a head baseball coach at the collegiate level as he spent four years as head coach at Kansas Wesleyan and totaled 118 wins. Dawson's combined win total at Tech and Kansas Wesleyan stand at 530. He earned the milestone 500^th win in the series opener vs. No. 13-ranked Central Missouri back in February.
 

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SCOUTING MISSOURI SOUTHERN
The Lions enter the Central Region Tournament as one of the two host sites and the No. 2-seed thanks to an overall record of 42-15. Finishing second in the regular season in the MIAA with a 25-8 mark in league play, Missouri Southern won their opening round series of the MIAA Tournament against Newman and then worked their way all the way back to the championship game after losing their first game of the Final Four to Northeastern State.
 
Statistically, the Lions enter the regional tournament hitting .326 as a team (646-for-1,981) with 538 runs scored, 141 doubles, 17 triples and 107 home runs. The leading hitter in terms of average so far is Ethan Clark at .384 (76-for-198). Clark is tied for the second-most doubles on the team with 17. The top power hitter on the team is Nate Mieskowski. He boasts a slugging percentage of .750 thanks to 12 doubles, three triples and 23 home runs. In addition to his 23 home runs leading the team his 77 RBIs also lead the team. Four others have at least 50 RBIs.
 
Overall, Missouri Southern has 11 players who have hit a home run this season with all 11 leaving the yard on multiple occasions. Six of those have registered double-digit home run totals.
 
On the mound, the Lions have a 5.71 team ERA and have struck out 468 batters in 476.1 innings of work.
 
The primary starters this season have been Cole Woods and Cole Gayman with each starting double-digit games. Woods has made the most starts with 15 and is likely the starting pitcher against Tech on Thursday. Recently named the NCBWA Central Region Pitcher of the Year, Woods is 10-3 with 101 strikeouts in 91.2 innings of work and has a 3.44 ERA to lead the team.
 
The top relief arm for the Lions is Laif Hultine. He has appeared in 25 games, all in relief and has six of the team's 11 saves on the season. In 38.2 innings, Hultine has registered 44 strikeouts.
 
Missouri Southern is led by Bryce Darnell, who is in his 16th season as head coach of his alma mater. In his time at Missouri Southern, Darnell has won 476 games and posted a winning record in 13 of those seasons. He has led the Lions to 30 or more wins eight times and 40 or more twice, including this season.