SHAWNEE – Oklahoma Baptist (14-9, 6-4 GAC) will open a seven-game schedule this week, starting with two non-conference series with Newman University and Fort Hays State on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Tuesday's date with the Jets will be a doubleheader, beginning at 3:00 p.m. in Wichita, Kansas. The two-game series with the Tigers on Wednesday is slated for a 1:00 p.m. start in Hays, Kansas.
OBU will meet with Newman for the second time in program history, as the Bison claimed the first meeting in 2021 in five innings, 10-2. As for FHSU, it'll be the eighth all-time meeting, with the most recent occurring earlier this season. Oklahoma is 6-1 against the Tigers after blanking the opposition 5-0 in February.
Oklahoma Baptist is coming off a GAC series win, their second of the season, over East Central on Sunday afternoon. The Bison shut out the Tigers in the inaugural game 3-0 before taking the series in the finale, 3-1.
It was the fewest runs the Bison have allowed in a conference series since last season. Additionally, OBU stole six bases, led by freshman Sammie Greene's three. Greene has a team-best of nine on the year, ranking second in the conference.
While Greene was stealing bases, pitcher Kayleigh Jones was stealing at-bats. In two appearances last weekend, Jones struck out 20 batters and produced a 0.50 ERA. She allowed just one run after facing 49 batters en route to a 2-0 record.
Jones has struck out at least 10 batters in eight out of 17 appearances, and totals 123 strikeouts. Besides leading the GAC in the category by a mile, she ranks eighth in Division II.
Samantha Campos leads the Bison with a .333 batting average, totaling a team-best 10 hits while playing efficiently in the catcher's position. Campos ranks third in the conference in total putouts (128) and caught two Tigers stealing in a single game on Sunday.
Jocee Sparks is the team's leader in RBIs (21) and home runs (5), which ranks six and eighth in the league. Sparks smashed a two-run homer in the weekend finale to cement the series win on Sunday.
Additionally, the Bison boast the 17th best fielding percentage (.975) in the country and have committed the least amount of errors (13) in the GAC this season.
Scouting the Jets
Newman enters Tuesday with a 6-10 overall record, including a 1-3 mark in the MIAA. Newman dropped three of four games over the weekend to Washburn and Emporia State, allowed 38 runs in the four-game stretch.
The Jets are headed in the batter's box by Lindsay Mayo, one of two Newman players hitting over .400. Mayo is slugging a team-best .623 and ranks second in hits (23). Gianna Navarro is batting .426 and leads the team with 26 hits.
NU has four others hitting over the .300 mark, as they are batting .333 as a team.
Success hasn't come easy for the Jets in the circle, as they have a team ERA of 6.51. Madison Dewitt has drawn the most time to collect a team-high 23 strikeouts while allowing 30 runs. Junior Megan Walz has appeared in 10 games and has three wins, the most on the team.
Scouting the Tigers
After falling to Oklahoma Baptist 5-0 earlier this season, Fort Hays has won six out of their last 10 games. FHSU seems to have found their rhythm behind the batting power of Loren Beggs and Sara Breckbill. Beggs is hitting .400 while Breckbill leads the team with five home runs.
In the circle, freshman Savanah Egger has tallied four wins in 14 appearances. She has struck out 68 batters and allowed 40 runs this season.
