Baseball Faces Mules Thursday in Regional

OKLAHOMA BAPTIST (31-17) vs. CENTRAL MISSOURI (37-15)

5 PM | Thursday | May 17

Walker Stadium | Magnolia, Arkansas

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SHAWNEE – Oklahoma Baptist takes on Central Missouri in OBU's first appearance in the NCAA Tournament at 5 p.m., Thursday, in Magnolia, Arkansas.
 
Central Missouri is 37-15 on the season and champions of the MIAA.
 
"They're very good," said Bison Coach Bobby Cox. "They and Southern Arkansas have the best depth in pitching."
 
The Bison are 31-17 this season and 28-17 against the Central Region. OBU is led offensively by Brett Berghammer with a .385 batting average and Zane Gelphman, who has 17 home runs and 55 runs batted in. Juan Gonzalez is batting .352 and Jake Gozzo bats .344 to go with 12 home runs. Gelphman's 17 home runs leads the region.
 
Oklahoma Baptist bats .316 as a team and has 67 home runs.
 
OBU's starting pitching staff includes Albertus Barber (6-3, 4.63 earned run average), Caleb Bly (7-1, 3.52), Zach Fowler (8-3, 5.26), Thomas Shroder (1-0, 3.14) and Mychal Yarbor (5-4, 4.62).
 
The Bison staff sports a 4.74 team earned run average and is fifth nationally with 10.2 strikeouts per nine innings.
 
Central Missouri bats .320 as a team, led by Travis Able at .382. Collin Nevil has a team-best 14 home runs with Erik Webb right behind him with 12. Nevil leads the Mules with 51 runs batted in.
 
The Mules have a 4.27 team earned run average. Their usual starters are Luke Lucas (7-1, 4.24), Ben Kelsch (5-1, 4.52), Collin Jones (5-2, 4.62) and Brandon Reid (2-2, 2.64).
 
OBU plays Friday at 8:30 p.m. with a win, taking on Central Oklahoma or St. Cloud State, while a loss to the Mules would put OBU in an elimination game Friday at 1:30 p.m.