SHAWNEE – Oklahoma Baptist is back on the road tomorrow in Bolivar, Mo., for a two-game series with Southwest Baptist. The doubleheader is set to begin at 5:00 p.m. Fans can watch Tuesday's games on the Southwest Baptist website.
The Bison bring in a 7-3 all-time series record against the Bearcats, including a pair of wins a season ago. OBU blanked the Bearcats 8-0 in five innings at Henderson State's Hawkins McGhee tournament before splitting a late March series last year. The Bison outscored SBU 15-14 and batted .324 to finish 2-1 versus Southwest Baptist in 2022.
OBU is 13-2 versus non-conference opponents in 2023, highlighted by wins over then-nationally ranked Texas A&M-Kingsville and No. 18 Washburn. Furthermore, against non-GAC challengers, Oklahoma Baptist boasts a 1.15 ERA and has outscored teams 73-24.
The Bison come off a series loss at Southeastern over the weekend, where they beat the Savage Storm 3-0 in game one before dropping the next two. The loss in Saturday's doubleheader ended a five-game winning streak that dated back to March 3. Despite outscoring SE 10-8, the Bison played unlike themselves, finishing with a .250 batting average.
After last weekend, Oklahoma Baptist ranks sixth in the league with seven wins and four losses. They have not lost in Shawnee this season, residing as the only team with an undefeated home record in the GAC.
The Bison lead the conference in ERA (1.46) and have thrown the most strikeouts (256) in the country. Additionally, OBU is tied for the league's most shutouts (6). Nearly batting .300, Oklahoma Baptist has the second-most hits (214) behind nationally ranked Southern Arkansas.
Senior Emily Adler accounts for the majority of the offensive success, leading the GAC in batting average (.469), and hits (46), along with the third-most RBIs (27). Adler has registered a hit in 22-of-26 games this season, featuring a 14-game streak. She adds the best on-base percentage (.531) and the fourth-most steals (9-11) in the conference.
Freshman Kennedy Clark has the second-best batting average on the team at .404 and leads the Bison in slugging percentage (.526). Reagan Ford has a hit in seven straight games, the longest active hit streak for OBU. The leadoff bats .400 and totals seven stolen bags.
Kayleigh Jones remains the nation's leader in strikeouts (170), coupling the total with a 0.60 ERA that ranks first in the GAC. Jones added a win on Saturday to improve her season record to 15-3 as the 3-0 victory was her fifth complete-game shutout of the season.
SCOUTING THE BEARCATS
Southwest Baptist comes into Tuesday with a 6-16 overall record, having lost seven of their last eight games. The Bearcats are batting .241 and have a team ERA of 5.85.
Offensively, freshman Shalie Wooden has a team-best batting average of .362 with nine RBIs and 17 hits. Margo Frossard backs her up with a .348 average and has the most hits (24) for the Bearcats. Chloee Sams leads the team in runners batted in (11) and has the second-best on-base percentage (.469).
In the circle, Jenna Daggett paces Southwest Baptist with a 4-4 record in 57.0 innings of action. Daggett totals 33 strikeouts and has an ERA of 4.89. Other notable pitchers, Shalie Wooden and Madison Bentley, have logged 30.0 and 39.0 innings of work. Madison leads the duo with a 6.30 ERA and 24 punchouts.
For more information on OBU Softball, follow the team on Twitter (
@OBU_Softball) and Instagram (
@OBU_Softball).
