The Northwest Missouri State baseball team begins its 2020 campaign Friday, traveling to Durant, Oklahoma to take on Southeastern Oklahoma State in a four-game stint.

Friday, Jan. 31 | Northwest at Southeastern Oklahoma State 
Game 1, 2 p.m. | WATCH | LIVE STATS

Saturday, Feb. 1 | Northwest at Southeastern Oklahoma State
Game 2, 12 p.m. 
Game 3, 2:30 p.m. 

Sunday, Feb. 2 | Northwest at Southeastern Oklahoma State
Game 4, 12 p.m. | WATCH | LIVE STATS

The Bearcats are led into the new year under longtime Northwest skipper Darin Loe, who is entering his 20^th year as head coach. Loe is Northwest's all-time win leader with 519 victories.

The Bearcats enter the season occupying the eighth spot in the Preseason MIAA Coaches Poll (51 points) and return several key starters from 2019.

Senior first baseman Connor Quick returns to the diamond after notching the fifth-best batting average in the conference a year ago (.371). Quick also recorded top-10 marks in slugging percentage (.577), on-base percentage (.447), hits (72), RBIs (49) and triples (4). Quick's performance earned him All-MIAA honors.

Another key returner is junior Matt Gastner. In 41 appearances last season, Gastner earned a .326 batting average while tallying 43 hits, 31 RBIs and scoring 19 runs for Northwest.

On the bump, senior Quintin Van Ackeren leads the charge for Northwest. Van Ackeren accumulated a team-high 59 strikeouts in 81.1 innings pitched in 2019. Van Ackeren got the start in 15 contests and tallied a team-best 5.09 ERA.

During the sole meeting with Southeastern Oklahoma State in 2019, the Bearcats edged out the Savage Storm 12-4.