SHAWNEE – Oklahoma Baptist has its biggest series to date when it visits No. 11 (NCBWA) Southern Arkansas this weekend in Magnolia. The three-game series starts Saturday at 2 p.m.
SAU (18-8, 11-4 GAC) has won 14 of 21 all-time games versus OBU (14-11, 8-7 GAC) and four of the last six.
The Bison are coming off an 11-1 defeat to Central Oklahoma in which they attained five hits, their second-lowest total of the season. OBU's bright spot in the contest was
Jayden Shafer who tallied a pair of doubles.
OBU's struggles in the batter's box against UCO have been a part of a very surprising issue this season. To date, the Bison are batting .295 which ranks 11th in the GAC. They are also tenth in runs scored (180) and hits (235). Individually, three batters find themselves slotted in the top-ten of the GAC.
Alex Schroeder and
Dan Pruitt are tied for second with eight homers apiece while
Kade Self is sixth with 32 RBI.
On the mound, senior
Jake Hamilton has been a solid force for the green and gold. The usual game-three starter, he is ninth in the GAC in ERA (3.31), ranks fifth in opposing batting average (.208) and is slotted 19th nationally with 50 strikeouts. Additionally, junior
Brek Galbreath ranks tied for sixth with 12 strikeouts looking. As a staff, the Bison are fifth with a 5.91 ERA and the GAC leader with 218 strikeouts. OBU's ERA is its best since the 2020 unit posted a 4.41 mark.
Southern Arkansas' pitching is what makes the 11th-ranked team go. They are led by Jeremy Adorno who ranks fifth in the country with 62 strikeouts. Collectively, SAU is third in the GAC in earned run average (4.51), opposing batting average (.255) and rank second in strikeouts (209).
Offensively, the Muleriders sit in the middle of the conference in several categories but their best placements are on-base percentage (2nd; .434) and runs scored (3rd; 225). Individually, Riley Orr ranks third in both batting average (.425) and on-base percentage (.533) while Brandon Nicoll checks in at third in runs batted in (33). Also of note, Chris Lyles is the GAC leader with five sacrifice flies.
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