St. Joseph Mustangs baseball player and Lafayette alum Brayden Luikart earns Gold Glove for past season with Missouri Southern

St. Joseph, Mo. (KQTV) - St. Joseph Mustangs baseball player and Lafayette High School alum Brayden Luikart was awarded a Gold Glove for his 2026 season with Missouri Southern.

In Joplin, Luikart was featured on the Gold Glove Team for his play in the outfield. In the field, he notched 139 putouts and three assists on 142 chances with zero errors for a 1.000 fielding percentage. He started in all 53 games in center.

Luikart, a 2026 ABCA/Rawlings NCAA DII All-Region Second Team selection, led the Lions in 2026 offensively with a .377 batting average with 58 runs, 78 hits, 23 doubles, three triples, 11 homers, 46 RBI, 140 total bases, 43 walks, and 15 stolen bases. He slugged .676 with a .496 on-base percentage for 1.172 OPS.
 
He ranked seventh in the MIAA for batting average, fourth for slugging percentage, eighth for on-base percentage, fourth for OPS, fifth for hits, first for doubles and eighth for walks this season.
 
The Lions' leadoff hitter, paced MSSU with 24 multi-hit games. Luikart also had 11 multi-RBI games. He went on a 44-game reached base streak (eight-game hitting streak) in 2026.
 
Luikart was also named to the 2026 All-MIAA First Team, 2026 MIAA Gold Glove Team, 2026 D2CCA Baseball All-Central Region Second Team and 2026 College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team this season.