SHAWNEE – Oklahoma Baptist (22-8, 7-4 GAC) looks to end a full week of traveling on a positive note as they'll head down to the natural state for a weekend series against Arkansas-Monticello that'll feature a doubleheader on Saturday and a single game on Sunday.The teams will begin tomorrow's twin bill at noon before completing the series on Sunday at 1 p.m. Last season, the Bison swept the Blossoms to tie the all-time series versus the opposition at 10-10.
OBU returns to GAC play after facing non-conference opponents Southwest Baptist and Drury this week. The Bison swept Tuesday's doubleheader against SBU before dropping two in Springfield, Mo, versus the Panthers. Those results moved OBU's record against non-GAC competitors to 15-4 this season.
Oklahoma Baptist racked up five home runs this week, including three from senior infielder
Adi Reese, all coming in the series against Drury. Reese went yard once in game one before smacking two more bombs in the finale to become the first Bison since Cheyenne Demaree to record three home runs in a two-game span. Furthermore, she is the first OBU player to homer twice in a game since
Samantha Campos and
Jocee Sparks did it a season ago.
This season, Reese is tied for the fourth-most home runs (4) in the GAC and ranks second on the team in RBIs (15). She adds a tie for the third-most triples in the league and has Bison leads in slugging percentage (.522) and total bags (47).
Sluggers
Emily Adler and
Kennedy Clark lead Oklahoma Baptist at the plate with averages of .427 and .403, both ranking in the top five in the conference. Adler has GAC leads in batting average, hits (41), and on-base percentage (.486). Additionally, she has stolen the fifth-most bases (11). Clark totals the second-best on-base percentage (.507) and the third-most hits (27) for the Bison.
Reagan Ford couples a .287 batting average with the most runs scored in the GAC. She also ranks in the top 10 for stolen bags (7).
Gwyn Miller had a massive outing on Tuesday against the Bearcats, racking up two home runs and three RBIs with a 2.000 slugging percentage. She bats .364 on the year.
In the circle,
Kayleigh Jones continues to pave the way for OBU with a 0.74 ERA. Jones leads the nation in strikeouts (180) and has recorded 15 wins
Aspen Younce earned her fourth win of the year on Tuesday against Southwest Baptist, tossing a complete that featured nine strikeouts and just two earned runs. Appearing for the first time this season,
Olivia Cummings picked up her first Bison victory in game two on Tuesday. Cummings fanned three without surrendering a run in 3.1 innings of relief work.
SCOUTING THE BLOSSOMS
UAM comes into Saturday with a 13-9 overall record, including a 6-5 mark in GAC play. They lead the conference with a .318 batting average and have scored the most scored runs (140).
Conversely, their team ERA of 6.25 ranks near the bottom of the conference, as the Blossoms have given up 17 runs in their last four contests.
Junior outfielder Kennedy Cox leads UAM in the batter's box with the GAC's second-best batting average of .415. Cox adds 29 RBIs and the seventh-most doubles (11) in the nation. Grace Neal trails the leader batting .385 and has the ninth-most RBIs (34) in Division II.
Sophomore Kyann Woods leads the pitching rotation with a 4.25 ERA and 39 strikeouts in 17 appearances, while Maguire Estill has four wins with a 6.64 ERA.
