The Northwest Missouri State University baseball team will face a busy week of action with five games on the slate beginning Tuesday at home against Washburn.
 
Northwest (8-26 overall, 6-17 MIAA) will play single home games on Tuesday vs. Washburn at 3 p.m., followed by another single contest on Wednesday vs. Quincy at 3 p.m.
 
The Bearcats will then travel to Edmond, Okla., to take on the University of Central Oklahoma Bronchos in a three-game set beginning Friday at 6 p.m. Saturday's game vs. UCO will be at 3 p.m. with the final game of the series on Sunday at 1 p.m.
 
Tuesday, April 11
Washburn at Northwest Missouri State, 3 p.m. | WATCH (MIAA NETWORK) | LIVE STATS
 
Wednesday, April 12
Quincy at Northwest Missouri State, 3 p.m. | WATCH (MIAA NETWORK) | LIVE STATS
 
Friday, March 14
Northwest Missouri State at Central Oklahoma, 6 p.m. | WATCH (MIAA NETWORK) | LIVE STATS
 
Saturday, April 15
Northwest Missouri State at Central Oklahoma, 3 p.m. | WATCH (MIAA NETWORK) | LIVE STATS
 
Sunday, April16
Northwest Missouri State at Central Oklahoma, 1 p.m. | WATCH (MIAA NETWORK) | LIVE STATS
 
The Northwest pitching staff ranks No. 10 in the nation in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.78).
 
1. Minnesota State      4.08
2. Seton Hill                3.66
3. Northwood              3.43
4. Wingate                   3.28
5. Cal St. Dom. Hills  3.08
6. Wayne State (MI)   3.02
7. Augustana               2.88
8. East Stroudsburg    2.84
9. Tampa                     2.79
10. Northwest Mo. St. 2.78
 
The Bearcat pitching staff ranks No. 11 in the nation in fewest walks per nine innings (3.18).
 
1. Minnesota St.          2.33
2. Wayne St. (MI)       2.37
3. Cal St. Dom. Hills  2.55
4. Colorado Mines      2.61
5. Northwood              2.67
6. Seton Hill                2.69
7. Saint Leo                 2.75
8. West Chester           3.03
9. Tampa                     3.05
10. Columbus St.        3.12
11. Northwest Mo. St. 3.18
 
Senior Max Spitzmiller leads the MIAA in innings pitched (65.0). Spitzmiller has walked 12 batters, while striking out a team-best 58 hitters. Among NCAA Div. II active pitchers, he is the leader in games started (52) and innings pitched (318 1/3). Spitzmiller ranks No. 3 in strikeouts among active D-II pitchers (282). Among active pitchers in all NCAA Divisions, Spitzmiller ranks No. 2 in games started (52) and No. 2 in innings pitched (318 1/3).
 
Spitzmiller is tied for third in the nation with 11 starts this season.
 
Spitzmiller holds the Northwest school record for innings pitched in a career. He has tossed 318 1/3 innings, which surpassed the hold mark of 309 2/3 innings pitched by Joseph Hietpas (2015-18).
 
NORTHWEST CAREER INNINGS PITCHED
1. - Max Spitzmiller, 2018-pres. – 318.1
2. - Joseph Hietpas, 2015-18 - 309.2
3. - Brad Roberts, 2015-18 - 294.1
4. - Anthony Caenepeel, 2015-17 - 278.0
5. - Tom Franke, 1977-80 - 255.0
6. - Chase Anderson, 2010-13 - 225.2
7. - Bret Harvel, 2007-09 - 215.0
8. - Dale Kisker, 1979-81 - 201.0
9. - Nikko Pablo, 2014-17 - 193.0
10. - Tom Funk, 1981-83 - 190.1

Spitzmiller ranks No. 2 on Northwest's all-time strikeout chart with 282 batters punched out. Spitzmiller has tallied six 11-strikeout games in his Bearcat career. He has posted eight 10-plus strikeout performances for Northwest.
 
NORTHWEST CAREER STRIKEOUTS
1. - Joseph Hietpas, 2015-18 - 324
2. - Max Spitzmiller, 2018-pres. – 282
3. - Anthony Caenepeel, 2015-17 - 267
4. - Brad Roberts, 2015-18 - 256
5. - Scott Kurtz, 1966-69 - 223
6. - Tom Franke, 1977-80 - 187
7. - Bret Harvel, 2007-09 - 163
8. - Alex Slocum, 2019-pres. – 156
9. - Tom Franke, 1978-80 - 153
10. - Nikko Pablo, 2014-17 - 152

Spitzmiller ranks No. 8 on Northwest's all-time pitching appearances list with 57 games pitched. He also ranks tied for No. 5 in career complete games with nine.
 
NORTHWEST CAREER PITCHING APPEARANCES
1. - Jacob Wagner, 2015-18 - 87
2. - Nikko Pablo, 2014-17 - 82
3. - Carson Smith, 2012-16 – 68
4. - Alex Slocum, 2019-pres. - 66
5. - Brad Roberts, 2015-18 - 61
6. - Joseph Hietpas, 2015-18 - 60
7. - Austin Battaglia, 2015-17 - 58
8. - Max Spitzmiller, 2018-pres. – 57
9. - Brian Greunke ,1987-90 - 56
10. - Chase Anderson, 2010-13 - 54
 
NORTHWEST CAREER COMPLETE GAMES
1. - Tom Franke, 1977-80 - 25
2. - Dale Kisker, 1979-82 - 21
3. - Tom Funk ,1978-80 - 18
4. - Bob Lord, 1978-81 - 11
5. - David Pfeiffer, 1978-79 - 9
Steve Nelson, 1986, 88-89 - 9
Max Spitzmiller, 2018-pres. - 9
8. - Brian Lamers, 2006-07 - 8
Joe Russel, 2000-01 - 8
Kyle Janssen, 1997-2000 - 8
Terry Marquardt, 1984-85 - 8
Bob Hoeg, 1981-82 - 8
Bret Harvel, 2007-09 - 8
Anthony Caenepeel, 2015-17 – 8
 
Senior Alex Slocum leads the Bearcats in earned run average (4.88). Slocum has made 10 starts and has pitched 55 1/3 innings. He has struck out 53 batters, while allowing only 11 walks. On March 27 at NSU, Slocum went the distance as he struck out a career-high tying eight. It is the third time in his career that Slocum has struck out eight batters. Slocum scattered four hits and two runs (one earned) in his second career complete game.
 
Slocum ranks No. 4 in program history in pitching appearances by a Bearcat with 66. Slocum's 66 appearances rank No. 9 among active NCAA Div. II baseball pitchers. Slocum ranks No. 8 in in the Bearcat record book with 156 career strikeouts in 183 1/3 innings of work at Northwest.
 
Sophomore Cole Slibowski leads the Bearcats in batting average (.352) and stolen bases (8). He ranks No. 20 in the MIAA in batting average. Slibowski has reached base safely in 25 consecutive games entering Tuesday's game against Washburn. He has posted nine multi-hit games this season, which ranks second on the squad.
 
Senior Ryan Koski is slashing .330/.432/.652 with team-highs in home runs (9), runs (27), hits (38), doubles (8) and RBI (41). Koski leads the team with 11 multi-hit contests this season. He has also tallied 10 multi-RBI games.
 
Koski knocked in a career-high seven runs in a 12-2 victory over Northeastern State on March 27. He clobbered a grand slam and tallied a three-run double in the seven-inning triumph over the RiverHawks. Koski's seven RBI effort is the most by a Bearcat since Chris Benham drove in eight vs. Minnesota-Crookston on March 11, 2007. Three other Bearcats have driven in seven runs since Benham's eight RBI game - Britt Westman (7 RBI vs. Truman State - 4/26/06), Eric Swain (7 RBI vs. Southwest Baptist - 4/5/13) and Donovan Warren (7 RBI vs. Newman - 4/2/22). Koski's 7-RBI game is tied for the second-most in a game this year in the MIAA. Koski drove in six runs in a 20-5 win at Newman on April 1.
 
Koski ranks No. 9 in Bearcat history with 109 career RBI.
 
NORTHWEST CAREER RUNS BATTED IN
1. - Britt Westman, 2005-08 - 200
2. - John Sipes, 2000-03 - 161
3. - Adam Bailey, 1998-2001 - 147
4. - Ryley Westman, 2004-07 - 139
5. - Zac Ruff, 2000-02 - 132
6. - Steven Garber, 2012-15 - 129
7. - Kyle Gallagher, 2003-05 - 119
8. - Bob Gonsoulin, 1978-81 - 117
9 - Ryan Koski, 2019-pres. - 109
10. - John White, 2004-07 - 107
Eric McGlauflin, 2011-14 - 107
 
Koski ranks No. 7 in the MIAA in on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) at 1.125. He ranks No. 9 in the MIAA in slugging percentage (.676). He is tied for 12th in the league in home runs (8).
 
Koski hit his team-leading ninth home run of the season against Missouri Western. Koski has collected 18 career home runs. Koski's 18 homers ties him for No. 8 on Northwest's all-time home run list with Chuck Lynn (1982-83).
 
NORTHWEST CAREER HOME RUNS
1. - Adam Bailey, 1998-2001 - 40
2. - Britt Westman, 2005-08 - 36
3. - Brandon Kirsch, 2007-10 - 35
John Sipes, 2000-03 - 35
5. - Scott Spurgeon, 1987-88 - 30
6. - Kyle Gallagher, 2003-05 - 26
7. - Zac Ruff, 2000-02 - 22
8. - Peter Carlson, 2019-21 - 20
9. - Chuck Lynn, 1982-83 - 18
Ryan Koski, 2019-pres. – 18
 
Koski has drawn 88 career walks, which ranks No. 34 among active NCAA Div. II players. His 88 walks rank No. 3 on Northwest's all-time walks chart. Koski has drawn a team-best 19 base-on-balls this season. Koski earned 37 walks in 2022, which ranks as the third-best single-season total in program history.
 
NORTHWEST CAREER WALKS
1. - Jay Hrdlicka, 2016-19 - 100
2. - Steven Garber, 2012-15 - 92
3. - Britt Westman, 2005-08 - 89
4. - Ryan Koski, 2019-pres. - 88
5. - Garrett Fort, 2014-17 - 86
6. - Cameron Bedard, 2010-13 - 83
7. - John Sipes, 2000-03 - 81
8. - Nick Gotta, 2015-16 - 78
9. - John White, 2004-07 - 76
10. - John Bothof, 2000-03 - 72

Freshman Parker Griffith made his season debut March 27 and has recorded a hit in six of his first eight collegiate games. Griffith is batting .300 with a .500 slugging percentage. He has four extra base hits including a home run. He has driven in five runs and scored five times.
 
Caden Diel is riding an eight-game hitting streak. Diel is hitting .276 with 16 hits in 58 at bats.
 
Alex Bowers is in the midst of a six-game hitting streak. Bowers is hitting .260 with 25 hits this season.
 
Bearcat head coach Darin Loe has collected 722 career wins in 27 years as a head coach. He is Northwest's all-time coaching wins leader with 566 victories. He is one of 24 active NCAA Div. II head coach with 700 or more victories. He is one of two active MIAA coaches with more than 700 wins (Pittsburg State's Bob Fornelli – 1,037 wins).