SHAWNEE – Oklahoma Baptist (11-13, 7-8 GAC) has an important series with Arkansas Tech this weekend at Bobby Cox Field at Ford Park. The teams will play a single game tomorrow at 6 p.m. before a noon doubleheader on Saturday. Friday night's game will mark the first time since March 24, 2018 that the Bison and Wonder Boys will have played in Shawnee.
ATU (15-8, 9-6 GAC) sits in fifth place in the GAC while the Bison are in a tie for seventh with 15 league games remaining. At the end of the regular season, the top eight will advance to the GAC Tournament which will be held in Hot Springs, Arkansas from May 7-10.
The green and gold are coming off a series against Harding in which the Bisons took all three games in close fashion. OBU's high-octane offense was slowed down with HU limiting the Bison to two home runs. That was the fewest combined bombs in a GAC series this season.
To date, here's where the Bison stack up in the NCAA statistical rankings:
· T2nd in home runs (51)
· 10th in slugging percentage (.571)
· 22nd in scoring (9.2)
· 24th in runs (221)
· t44th in hits (258)
As has been noted this spring, the Bison have several players that are legitimate threats in the batter's box. They include:
·
Dan Pruitt: tied for 4th with 12 homers; 10th in slugging (.890) and 27th in RBI (31)
·
Alex Schroeder: tied for 18th in RBI (34) and 13th in homers (10)
·
Isiah Lissade: his 39 hits are the most in the GAC and rank 34th nationally
·
Walker Keller: his 9 doubles are two off the GAC lead and tied for sixth
·
Kade Self: in 16 games played, has a .452 batting average and .935 slugging mark
On the mound, OBU's staff had a more than decent showing at Harding. In the three games, the staff posted a 4.37 ERA, struck out 23 in 22.2 innings and limited batters to a .267 average. With those marks, the Bison saw some movement in the statistical rankings.
· With 10.8 strikeouts per nine innings, OBU ranks 16th in the country.
· Lead the GAC with 238 strikeouts
·
Bo Dallas: his 3.49 ERA is sixth-best in the GAC while his 39 Ks are tied for eighth with teammate
Brek Galbreath
·
Garrett Kellogg-Clarke: his two saves are tied for seventh; has 27 Ks in 19.1 innings pitched
·
Will Duncan: in three appearances (7.0 IP), has eight strikeouts, two walks and has limited opponents to a .192 batting average
The Wonder Boys have won five straight heading into this weekend's matchup with OBU. Their last win: a 12-6 triumph over No. 16-ranked Henderson State on March 23. In recent memory, ATU has struggled with the Bison, falling in eight of the last 10 games.
Arkansas Tech boasts top-four GAC marks in both batting average (.309) and earned run average (5.32) this season. Helping lead the charge are a few players:
· Yadier Medina: 5th in the GAC with a .425 average and has eight doubles, a team-high
· Josh Detweiler: tied for ninth with seven homers
· Evan Hafley: team-leader with 22 RBI
On the pitching front, the Wonder Boys have a solid staff. To date, ATU's pitching has the fourth-best opponent batting average (.262) and third-most strikeouts looking (63). Here are their key pitchers:
· Patrick Miner: Seventh-best GAC ERA (3.73) and third-most strikeouts (48)
· John Walsh: In nine appearances, has posted a 3.50 ERA and .183 opponent batting average
· Shane Scott: Tied for staff-high with seven starts; Has 27 Ks with just six walks
· Will Horton: Second on the team with 32 strikeouts
