SHAWNEE – Oklahoma Baptist will make their second consecutive Great American Conference Tournament appearance tomorrow against the No. 4 seeded Southern Nazarene Crimson Storm on the event's opening day.
Thursday's contest will be played at Tiger Athletic Complex in Bentonville, Arkansas, at 11 a.m. With a win, the Bison would play the winner of (1) Arkansas Tech and (8) Arkansas-Monticello on Friday at 11 a.m. in the semi-finals.
OBU earned 33 overall wins, including 19 conference victories, to complete the best regular season in the program's Division II era. Oklahoma Baptist ended the year on a six-game winning streak with back-to-back sweeps of league opponents Arkansas-Monticello and Henderson State.
The Bison's success earned the club the No. 5 seed heading into the Tournament, one place higher than last season's sixth spot.
An immense contribution to these accomplishments is attributed to the work in the circle. The pitching staff of Kayleigh Jones and Aspen Younce have steered the Bison, combining for 442 strikeouts thus far.
Jones has broken school records left and right, accounting for 296 of OBU's 461 strikeouts. Her season total ranks third in the country, eight behind the Division II leader, while her 21 wins lead the GAC.
Most recently, Jones pitched her best series of the season, including a no-hitter that earned GAC Pitcher of the Week honors. It was her second of the year and the first time since 1984 that a Bison had produced multiple no-hitters in a season. Jones appeared three times in the Henderson State series to strikeout out 19 batters without allowing a run
Younce's 146 strikeouts rank fourth in the conference, a step up from her 2021 total (113). Additionally, her ERA has improved, moving form a 3.78 to a 3.39.
Offensively, sophomore Reagan Ford has paved the way for the Bison in the latter part of the season. Ford's .359 batting average leads the team and ranks in the top-15 of the conference. Additionally, her .427 on-base percentage is top-20 in the GAC.
Ford has also stolen 18 bases, a part of OBU's 71. The category is led by freshman Sammie Greene, whose 26 stolen bags rank No. 1 in the league.
SCOUTING THE CRIMSON STORM
Southern Nazarene enters the quarterfinals with a 24-24 overall record, including a 20-12 conference mark that landed the No. 4 seed. OBU dropped two of three against the opposition this season, concluded by a 9-5 series finale victory at Bison Softball Park on April 5.
OBU fell by matching scores of 1-0 in games one and two of the series.
After starting the year 5-15, including a 2-4 start in conference play, SNU climbed back to .500 to finish the season.
In the batter's box, the Storm have five batters hitting over .300, led by Liana Heshiki's .391. Only a freshman, Heshiki has 61 hits, coupled with a team-best .473 on-base percentage. Behind the leader is Natalie Jones, who is batting .377 with 61 hits, while Emma Swearingen is hitting .359.
Romero-Ivarson leads the way in the circle for Southern Nazarene, having racked up 176.2 innings pitched for the season. She has amassed a 16-9 record with a 3.49 ERA and 127 strikeouts.
For more information on the Tournament, visit the GAC Tournament page.
For more information on OBU Softball, follow the team on Twitter (
@OBU_Softball) and Instagram (
@OBU_Softball)
