SHAWNEE – After a near perfect start to the season, Oklahoma Baptist will head to Alva on Friday to compete in the Northwestern Oklahoma State Ranger Festival. Between Feb. 11-13, the Bison will face Washburn (1-3) twice and New Mexico Highlands (0-2).
Last weekend, the green and gold went 2-1 at UCO's First Pitch Classic. That included a slim, 8-7 loss in 12 innings to Central Oklahoma and two big wins against Pittsburg State and Emporia State by 10-4 and 9-0 tallies, respectively.
Offensively, the Bison put together a strong start. OBU batted .278 and notched eight home runs which ranks fourth in the country currently. Additionally, the team's slugging percentage of .504 is slotted 20th.
Leading the home run pack individually were
Dan Pruitt,
Ramon Gomez and
Alex Schroeder who each tallied two apiece. For Schroeder, he also added six RBI. That's tied for 23rd in DII.
Also of significance: Of the 24 runs batted in over the three games, 16 of those came with two outs. Plus, the team's 8.7 scoring average is just inside the top-25 of DII.
Defensively, OBU got into a real rhythm in the second and third games against Pitt State and Emporia. By week's end, the team had posted an ERA of 2.73, a mark that's in the top-25 in the country. The Bison also notched a team fielding percentage of .974.
Brek Galbreath had the best performance of the starters as he went 6.0 innings, struck out six and didn't allow a run to Emporia.
Garrett Kellogg-Clarke made two appearances and allowed one unearned run while
Tyler Frank got the win against PSU by going seven innings, allowing three runs and striking out a staff-high nine batters.
Here's a look at the Bison's two opponents this week:
Washburn |
2022 Schedule |
MIAA Conference
The Ichabods flew down to south Florida last weekend for the Palm Beach Atlantic Sailfish Invitational and dropped three of four games. Washburn gave up at least six runs in those three defeats.
Sophomore outfielder Connor Scott led the Washburn offense with a .389 average which included seven hits, three doubles, a triple and 12 total bases. Additionally, Scott was the only Ichabod to notch a home run.
The only other players to record a batting average over .300 were Easton Bruce (.375) and Cal Watkins (.313).
On the mound, the Washburn staff accumulated 40 strikeouts. Currently, their 10.6 strikeouts per nine innings ranks 37th in the country. Senior lefty Dalton Huggins was one of the key performers as he struck out eight in 4.1 innings of work and gave up just a single hit.
New Mexico Highlands |
2022 Schedule |
RMAC Conference
Things did not go well for the Cowboys in their first two contests of the season. NMHU lost to Colorado State-Pueblo 18-9 before falling to West Texas A&M 17-2.
Offensively, the Cowboys were led by two players: Joe Kuhn and Brandon Baier. Each batted .500 with two doubles in the two games. Additionally, Eric Papas saw action against CSU-Pueblo and went 2-for-4 with a double and a RBI.
It goes without saying, but the Cowboys' staff struggled. Following the two games, the team ERA was at 13.00. Opponents batted .417 and scored 35 runs, 26 unearned. Furthermore, NMHU hit 12 batters. Only two of the 10 pitchers that reached the mound didn't allow a run as well.
Stay tuned to OBUBison.com for coverage links of this weekend's OBU games.
