SHAWNEE – Oklahoma Baptist starts its NCCAA World Series title defense Wednesday in Mason, Ohio's Prasco Park.
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The Bison are the No. 1 seed in the tournament, entering with a 36-15 record.
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OBU opens Wednesday with games against eighth-seeded Bluefield (28-27) at 2 p.m. (1 p.m., Central) and No. 5 Campbellsville (35-21) at 8 p.m. (7 p.m., Central).
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Thursday's action for the Bison starts at 1 p.m. (noon, Central) against No. 9 Ecclesia (32-20) and at 7 p.m. (6 p.m., Central) against No. 4 Alice Lloyd (13-23)
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OBU bats .303 as a team with 39 home runs and the pitching staff has a 3.29 earned run average and 466 strikeouts in 418 innings.
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Brett Berghammer leads the Bison at .392,
Josh Timms has a team-best 13 home runs and
Zane Gelphman has 56 RBIs.
Jinny Parra has an 8-3 record and a 2.60 ERA and
Carson McPherson has 88 strikeouts in 67.1 innings.
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Bluefield is batting .275 as a team with 35 home runs and a 5.09 team earned run average. The Rams come out of Bluefield, Virginia.
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Campbellsville bats .289 with 29 home runs and a 3.43 ERA. Clay Valenzuela-Reece leads the team with a .332 batting average, Brett Hamilton has 43 RBIs and Romello Carbuccia has a team-best seven home runs. Nick Przybylek tops the team with a 3.55 earned run average. The Tigers are from Campbellsville, Kentucky.
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Ecclesia bats .288 as a team with 19 home runs and a 4.56 earned run average. J.T. Stalnaker has a team-leading .420 batting average. Madison Bates has nine wins and a 3.53 earned run average and Mason Alexander owns a 2.43 ERA. The Royals are out of Springdale, Arkansas.
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Alice Lloyd comes in with a .288 team batting average with a 6.12 ERA. Levi Martin leads the team with a 3.18 earned run average. The Eagles are from Pippa Passes, Kentucky.
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The teams in Pool B are No. 2 Emmanuel (21-32) of Franklin Springs, Georgia; No. 3 Bethesda (24-21) of Anaheim, California, No. 6 Southwestern Christian (37-23) of Bethany, No. 7 Oakland City (17-25) of Oakland City, Indiana, and Hiwassee of Madisonville, Indiana.
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