SHAWNEE – Oklahoma Baptist softball and head coach
Sam Maples finalized the full 2022 Bison schedule this week.
OBU finished seventh in the GAC after a 21-20 overall record and 16-17 mark in the conference in 2021. Last season, the Bison reached the quarterfinals of the GAC Championship before falling to Harding.
Their 2022 slate will feature three tournaments to open the season and then a jump into league play late in February. There are 18 games scheduled at Bison Softball Park, all conference matchups except for two, and 36 contests played on the road.
The schedule will begin on Feb. 4 at the McGhee Hawkins Invitational in Arkadelphia, Ark. OBU will open the tournament against Emporia State, prior to contests versus Midwestern State, Cameron University and Southwest Baptist.
Week two (Feb. 10-12) sees OBU heading to Lubbock, Texas for the Lubbock Sports Invitational where the Bison will meet host Lubbock Christian, along with four others: Colorado Christian, Colorado School of Mines, Fort Lewis College, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.
Oklahoma Baptist wraps up their tournament tour with a four-game run at the Edmond Regional Festival on Feb. 17-18. The series will include games against Fort Hays State, Oklahoma Christian, Northeastern State and Central Oklahoma.
Great American Conference play begins on Feb. 25-26 in Arkadelphia versus Ouachita Baptist before the Bison conclude their stint on the road with stops at Southwestern Oklahoma State (Mar. 4-5) and Southern Nazarene (Mar. 8).
OBU will return to Bison Softball Park for its 2022 home opener on Mar. 11-12 against East Central. The following week, Oklahoma Baptist will have a couple of midweek non-conference doubleheaders against Newman (Mar. 15) and Fort Hays State (Mar. 16) before a three-game series with Harding on Mar. 18-19.
Southwest Baptist will travel to Shawnee for a midweek non-conference contest with the Bison on Mar. 23 before OBU meets with Arkansas Tech (Mar. 25-26) and Southeastern Oklahoma State (Apr. 1-2).
An eight-game road trip in the second week of April will begin in Alva against Northwestern Oklahoma State (Apr. 8-9) and end in Magnolia against Southern Arkansas (Apr. 15-16). In between those dates, the Bison will travel to Texas for a non-conference doubleheader versus Texas Women's University on Apr. 13.
Oklahoma Baptist will wrap up their regular season with back-to-back home series with Arkansas-Monticello (Apr. 22-23) and Henderson State (Apr. 29-30).
The GAC Tournament is scheduled to take place in Hot Springs, Ark. on May 5-7.
