FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 10, 2009

CJ Maffei named MIAA Pitcher of the Week

Kansas City, Mo. - After helping Missouri Southern to a perfect 6-0 start to MIAA play, the best mark since the 1995 season, junior pitcher CJ Maffei has been named the MIAA's Pitcher of the Week as announced by the league office today.

Maffei, a 6-2 left handed pitcher from Parsons, Kan., went 2-0 last week as the Lions swept a two-game series from Missouri Western and all four games from Truman, to sit atop the MIAA standings at 6-0. Maffei is a product of Parsons High School and transferred to Southern from Labette Community College.

In his first outing this week, Maffei pitched a complete-game, six hitter and helped the Lions defeat Missouri Western 4-2. He allowed two runs, one earned, and struck out six, sitting down nine batters in a row at one point in the game.

In his second outing of the week, Maffei combined with Justin Beal for a shutout of Truman in a 10-0 win for the Lions. He pitched seven of the eight innings, striking out eight and allowing just two hits, retiring eight batters in a row at one point.

For the week, Maffei went 2-0 with a 0.64 ERA, 14 strikeouts, just six walks and one earned run. In his last three outings, Maffei has won each game, working seven innings each time, striking out 20 and allowing just three earned runs. This season he leads the Lions with three wins, a 2.90 ERA and 30 strikeouts in 31 innings.

Maffei and the Lions will continue MIAA play this weekend when Southern travels to Nebraska-Omaha to take on the Mavericks in a four-game set on Saturday and Sunday.