SHAWNEE – Three seniors will take the grounds of Bison Softball Park for the last time in the final series of the 2022 regular season this weekend. Oklahoma Baptist will play host to the Henderson State Reddies on Friday for a single game at 5 p.m., followed by a doubleheader on Saturday at noon and 2 p.m.
Friday will be the 24th all time-meeting between the two teams, with the Reddies holding a 14-9 series lead.
Fans will be able to watch all games on OBUBison.com, accompanied by the play-by-play commentary of Zach Frazier and Todd Miller.
Senior Day festivities for Emily Richardson, Sheyanne Sandoval, and Emily Smith will take place ahead of Saturday's doubleheader.
The Bison have put together their best season since joining Division II, grinding out 30 overall victories with 16 GAC wins. OBU recently clinched a spot in the upcoming conference tournament (May 5-7), their second consecutive trip, and is currently sitting at the No. 6 spot in the league standings.
The conference standings could change as the Bison are two games back of fourth-place Southern Nazarene (18-11) and Southeastern (18-12).
The story of the year has been the outstanding work of the pitching staff of Kayleigh Jones and Aspen Younce. The tandem has 417 strikeouts combined, led by Jones' 277. The figure (417) ranks third in Division II. Counting all 436 of OBU's strikeouts, Oklahoma Baptist is No. 2 across all NCAA Divisions (I, II, III).
OBU needs 77 more strikeouts to break the all-time GAC single-season record of 512, set by Arkansas Tech in 2017.
After a record-tying 16 strikeout performance against Arkansas Monticello, Jones has 424 career strikeouts, ranking No. 4 in the Oklahoma Baptist history books. Her season total (277) has already eclipsed the all-time Bison best (210) and is currently fourth in GAC history.
Jones' success in the circle against Arkansas-Monticello earned GAC pitcher of the week honors after she finished the series with a 2-0 (1 SV) record, 1.57 ERA, and 27 strikeouts. This was the second conference nod of the season for Jones and the fourth of her career.
The records do not stop there. For freshman outfielder Sammie Greene, her 24 stolen bases are the most by a Bison in the Division II era. Additionally, she leads the conference in the category.
Greene became the second OBU freshman to garner a GAC player of the week recognition since 2018 after a .714 batting average weekend against UAM.
SCOUTING THE REDDIES
Henderson State enters the weekend with a 12-39 overall record, including a 9-21 league record that lands them 10th in the GAC.
The Reddies have lost seven straight, most recently to the hands of Southeastern Oklahoma State last weekend.
Henderson is batting .244 and has a team ERA of 5.54, which is near last in the conference.
Freshman Madison Treutlein leads the Reddies in the batter's box with .358 batting average. She is third in hits (39), despite having played seven less games than the team's leaders.
Abbie Moore's nine home runs are tied for seventh in the league as she is slugging a team-high .496. Additionally, she totals a team-best 26 RBIs.
In the circle, time has been split between Savannah Carrigan, Brooke Johnson, and Erika Bittinger. Carrigan leads the threesome with 82 strikeouts in 32 appearances, while Bittinger has the most wins (5). Each has an ERA of 4.02 or higher, led by Johnson (4.02).
For more information on OBU Softball, follow the team on Twitter (@OBU_Softball) and Instagram (@OBU_Softball).
