SHAWNEE – Oklahoma Baptist (21-15, 13-11 GAC) achieved a key Great American Conference series sweep a week ago and will look to do the same this April 14-15 when it visits Ouachita.
The Bison check in at No. 6 in the standings while the Tigers (27-10, 17-7 GAC) are sitting in second. Following Friday and Saturday's games, two weeks of conference action remain before the eight-team postseason tourney begins.
Heading into the trip to Ouachita, the Bison are 16-5 all-time against the Tigers. Most recently, Ouachita won two of three during last year's series which featured a combined 74 runs.
Senior
Dan Pruitt led the green and gold last week to wins over Northeastern State and Southwestern Oklahoma State. He batted .556, attained a 1.222 slugging percentage and drove in 12. With those numbers, Pruitt moved into 19th in D2 in slugging (.796). Plus, he knocked four homers, moving his total to 15. That mark is tied for fourth in the country.
Also of note,
Kade Self is tied for 11th in the nation with 52 RBI.
On the pitching front, the Bison were outstanding last week. Outside of a couple innings against Northeastern and in the finale versus SWOSU, the staff generated a 5.06 ERA and attained 31 strikeouts to nine walks.
Brek Galbreath,
Jordan Brewer and
Nolan Feazle didn't give up any earned runs in 12.1 innings, and
Logan Kimbro and
Ryan Turbeville put together solid outings.
As far as rankings, senior
Jake Hamilton checks in 17th nationally in strikeouts per nine innings (12.79) while Galbreath is tied for 12th with 10 games started.
Ouachita is riding a seven-game winning streak after a 5-1 win at Henderson State on Apr. 11. The Tigers have been very good at home this season, winning 13 of 17.
G. Allen leads the Tigers with a .380 batting average, seven homers and 91 total bases. He also is 7-for-7 in stolen bases. Teammate Michael Quinones also has attained seven homers while Dustin Bermudez has driven in 39.
The Tigers' staff is led by Cooper Timmons who ranks tied for 15th in D2 with 71 strikeouts. Teammate Teddy Webb has Ouachita's best ERA at 3.20 while Bermudez has earned seven saves. That total is tied for sixth in the country and two off the lead of Southern Arkansas' Isaiah Haynes (9).
Competition starts on Friday with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.
