SHAWNEE – Following a weekend in Alva, Oklahoma Baptist will be back at Bobby Cox Field at Ford Park for another Great American Conference series. This time, the Bison will face Southeastern Oklahoma State on March 10-11.
This matchup with the Savage Storm has been one of the most favorable for the green and gold when playing at home. OBU is 8-0 in Shawnee against SE dating back to 2011. In the last 10 contests overall, the Bison have won eight.
Coming into the weekend, coach
Chris Cox's team possesses a 9-8 record and 4-5 GAC mark. The latter record has OBU in a tie for seventh in the GAC standings with two other teams including Southeastern.
In last weekend's GAC series win at Northwestern,
Dan Pruitt had one of his best weekends to date. He batted a team-high .455, got on base eight times in 11 at-bats and posted a .909 slugging mark. Pruitt also tallied four runs scored, as did
Trey Furrey, and drove in five. Also of note,
Troy Shields batted .400 while Furrey and
Kade Self each hit at least .300.
On the pitching front,
Jake Hamilton stole the show with a complete-game shutout with 14 strikeouts in the series finale against the Rangers. That 3-0 win was OBU's first shutout against an opponent this season.
Here's how the green and gold stack up in the GAC coming into this weekend:
| On-Base Percentage |
Jayden Shafer; 7th; .52 |
| Home Runs |
Alex Schroeder; T4th; 6 – Pruitt: T6th; 5 |
| Triples |
Furrey; T5th; 2 |
| Walks |
Pruitt; 7th; 16 |
| Sacrifice Bunts |
Furrey; 2 (GAC leader has 3) |
On the mound, Hamilton's stats are littered over the GAC stat rankings. He is third in opposing batting average (.170) and hits allowed (15); fourth in strikeouts (38) and seventh in ERA (2.59).
Brek Galbreath also checks in as the GAC leader in walks allowed (4).
Southeastern (11-9) has won five of its last six games after a 20-5 win over Austin College on March 7. The Storm's most recent GAC series brought two wins over SWOSU. Like a season ago, Reid Rice is the Storm's key offensive player. He ranks ninth in batting average (.400), second in runs scored (27) and fourth in hits (30). A few of his other teammates are also ranked in the GAC:
| On-Base Percentage |
Damon Burroughs; 9th; .513 |
| RBI |
Burroughs; 9th; 21 |
| Doubles |
Sebastian Martinez; 4th; 8 |
| Triples |
Burroughs; GAC leader with 4 |
SE's pitching staff is a formidable one. It ranks in the top half of the GAC in era (5.84) with a league-best 165 strikeouts. Of note, the Storm has committed the most balks (6) and allowed the fourth-most homers in the GAC (19).
Here are Southeastern's top pitchers:
| ERA |
Connor Priest & Dylan Turner: T9th; 3.38 |
| Innings Pitched |
Cole Canuteson; 5th; 29.0 IP |
| Strikeouts |
Canuteson; 8th; 33 |
| Walks Allowed |
Turner; 2nd; 5 |
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