SHAWNEE – Oklahoma Baptist looks to stay hot as they'll travel down to Durant to take on Southeastern Oklahoma State in a three-game series beginning tomorrow. Saturday's action will include a doubleheader at 1:00 p.m. before the series concludes in a single game on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Fans can watch the games on the Southeastern Sports Network.
The Bison come into Saturday riding a five-game winning streaking, fresh off a midweek sweep of Southern Nazarene on Tuesday. OBU defeated SNU 4-2 in game one before wrapping up the series in a 3-1 triumph. Before that, Oklahoma Baptist swept Northwestern Oklahoma State last weekend.
OBU sits in fourth place in the GAC standings with a 19-4 overall record and a 6-2 conference mark. The outcome of this weekend's matchup could push the Bison to the top of the rankings, as Southeastern is tied for first place with five wins and one loss. With its outstanding start to the season, Oklahoma Baptist received votes in the NFCA poll for the second straight week. This time, OBU garnered four votes, one more than last week.
This season, Oklahoma Baptists leads the GAC in ERA (1.34), hits (194), shutouts (6), and strikeouts (230). Led by an experienced pitching staff, OBU also leads the nation in total punchouts.
Kayleigh Jones accounts for 154 of the total, coupling the sum with a staggering 0.53 ERA that ranks 13th in Division II. Jones improved her season record to 14-2 on Tuesday, which is the second-most victories in the nation. With 48 wins in her career, Jones needs 12 more to surpass Kena Freeman (2000-03) for the most victories in program history.
Jones is joined in the circle by senior Aspen Younce, who picked up her third win of the year earlier this week. Younce has an ERA of 2.39 and totals 50 strikeouts, the fifth most in the conference.
Emily Adler continues her tear at the plate, leading the GAC in batting average (.472), hits (34), and on-base percentage (.536). Adler's dominance doesn't stop there as she ranks fourth in RBIs (20), seventh in stolen bases (7), and is the nation's second-toughest to strikeout with only one strikeout in 72 at-bats.
Kennedy Clark, Sydney Adler, and Reagan Ford are hitting over .300, led by Clark's .449 average. In Tuesday's two-game series, Ford went 4-for-5 in the box and registered an RBI. Furthermore, she scored three times and added a stolen base to her season total of seven.
SCOUTING THE SAVAGE STORM
SE enters the weekend on a three-game winning streak after sweeping Southwestern Oklahoma State. Southeastern's dominating series victory over SWOSU featured back-to-back shutouts in Saturday's doubleheader.
Despite tallying 22 hits last weekend, the Savage Storm have not hit very well, as its .240 batting average is next to last in the GAC. SE has struck out 99 times, fifth most in the league, and has the least amount of home runs (3).
Grace Ore and Iliana Olivares lead the Storm offensively with averages of .326 and .311, respectively. Olivares has the most RBIs (13) and is tied for the most hits (14) on the squad. Though batting .277, Cheyenne Mahy has the most home runs (3), ranks second in RBIs (13), and has a team-best .532 slugging percentage.
Mahy pulls double duty in the circle, heading Southeastern's pitching staff with a 2.36 ERA. She picked up the GAC's Pitcher of the Week award after tossing a no-hitter over the weekend. Reese Taylor and Amberlyn Walsworth have also seen significant time in the pitching lane, producing ERAs of 4.34 ad 5.63.
