By Ryan Atkinson

ratkinson@joplinglobe.com

The Missouri Southern baseball team — which has won three of its last five games — opens a four-game MIAA series tonight with the Fort Hays State Tigers.

First pitch is set for 6 p.m. at Joe Becker Stadium.

“It’ll be nice to be back at home,” said MSSU coach Bryce Darnell, whose squad has played seven of its last eight games on the road. “The weather is supposed to be nice, so it should be a good weekend.”

In tonight’s opener, the Lions (4-14, 2-2 MIAA) will see one of the league’s toughest pitchers thus far in Eric Gilliland. The 6-foot-1 junior left-hander has produced a 2.30 ERA in his three starts while allowing 18 hits, striking out 20 and walking nine. Two of his outings have been complete games.

“We’ll face an extremely good pitcher,” Darnell said. “Stat-wise he’s about as good as anyone we’ve faced.”

The Lions will counter with Tyler Lipscomb, a senior right-hander from Carthage who pitched a solid eight innings last Friday at Pittsburg State. Lipscomb carries a 6.92 ERA, 19 strikeouts and just four walks into the contest.

Jeff Katchmar, Matthew Mantle, Scotty Roberson and Austin Lawrence are all candidates to start on the mound in the weekend’s three other games.

Roberson is 2-0 and leads the team with a 4.44 ERA. He has fanned 13 and walked eight in his 241/3 innings of work. Mantle has struck out 10 in 171/3 innings while Katchmar and Lawrence have pitched just a combined nine-plus innings.

“We have five guys deserving to start and four of them will get to,” Darnell said. “We’d like to get Katchmar a start and get him some innings.”

The Tigers enter the series with a 4-12 record overall and a 1-3 mark in the MIAA. They won their MIAA opener against Missouri Western before dropping the final three games of the series. The Griffons outscored Fort Hays 32-10 in those three contests.

“They lost three at home and that’s pretty uncharacteristic for them,” Darnell said. “So we know they’ll come in here chomping at the bit. They’ll be prepared, they’re well-coached.”

The Tigers are led at the plate by Chase Schippers, who is hitting .327 with 12 RBI and a team-leading five home runs in 55 at bats. He also leads the team with 22 strikeouts.

Ryan Majerick (.476) and Brett Becker (.400) have higher batting averages that Schippers in limited action.