SHAWNEE – Friday brings week two of Great American Conference action for Oklahoma Baptist (14-4, 1-2 GAC), who will host Northwestern Oklahoma State (2-14, 1-2 GAC) in a three-game series on Bison Hill this weekend.
The series kicks off in a single game tomorrow at 5 p.m. before concluding in a doubleheader on Saturday at noon. OBU brings in a 19-7 all-time series lead over the Rangers, including a current streak of 11 wins. The Bison have not lost to Northwestern since 2019.
Fans can watch the game on the Bison Sports Network featuring the play-by-play commentary of Todd Miller.
History could be made this weekend with a Bison win, as head coach Sam Maples needs one victory to become the second coach in the program's history to attain 100 victories. Maples currently holds a 99-96 overall record with Oklahoma Baptist.
OBU's early success has garnered the attention of the National Fastpitch Coaches Association, whose committee gave the Bison three votes in this week's DII Top 25 Coaches Poll. It is the first time the program has been mentioned in the national discussion since it officially began NCAA competition in 2018.
Oklahoma Baptist comes off a hard-fought series at Harding, where they fell two games to one. After shutting out HU in game one, the Bison lost the next two, including a 12-inning 1-0 thriller in the finale.
Kayleigh Jones held down the circle against the Bisons, twirling 18.0 innings and striking out 19 batters without surrendering an earned run. The performance warranted her fourth-straight GAC Pitcher of the Week honor, which brought her career total for the weekly accolade to seven.
This season, Jones has an ERA of 0.09 and 123 strikeouts. Her strikeout total leads the nation, while her number of victories (11) ranks second.
The outstanding work of OBU's pitching staff is why the Bison has the country's eighth-best team ERA (1.10). Furthermore, no team in Division II has as many strikeouts (182). The next closest, Saint Leo University, has 155.
Morgan Max had the best showing in the batter's box of any Bison at Harding last week. She went 6-for-10 and hit .600, which included the second home run of her career. Max also recorded three RBI's and scored twice, finishing with an on-base percentage of .600.
On the year, Emily Adler leads Oklahoma Baptist and ranks fourth in the GAC with a .439 batting average. Adler adds the second most hits (25) in the league, which is 25th in DII. Furthermore, with just one strikeout in 57 at-bats, Adler has the country's fourth-best strikeout average (0.57).
Also of note, Kennedy Clark is second on the team in batting average (.361), while Reagan Ford has the second most hits (17) for OBU. Additionally, Samantha Campos leads the team in home runs (2) and ranks second in RBIs (12).
SCOUTING THE RANGERS
Northwestern Oklahoma State has a record of 2-14, including a 1-2 mark in conference play. The Rangers earned their second win of the season in a 2-1 defeat of Henderson State last weekend. Yesterday, NWOSU dropped two games to No. 10 Central Oklahoma in a midweek twinbill.
The Rangers have a team ERA of 5.38, which is the fourth worst in the GAC. Northwestern's pitcher with the most appearances (11), Ireland Caro, has an earned run average of 4.65. She has struck out 26 batters and given up 33 earned runs. Next likely to take the circle is Hannah Howell, who has a 0-4 record with a 7.27 ERA in nine appearances.
Senior utility player Abby DeTar leads NWOSU at the plate batting .395, one of three Rangers hitting over .300. DeTar has team-high's in RBIs (9), hits (17), and runs scored (9). Raegyn Parrish and Hannah Howell fall in line batting .357 and .333.
