SHAWNEE – A very intriguing, early-season Great American Conference baseball series is coming this weekend when Oklahoma Baptist (9-2, 3-0 GAC) travels to Harding (9-2, 3-0 GAC).
Heading into the second week of conference action, OBU, Harding, Southern Arkansas and Arkansas-Monticello are the only undefeated GAC squads.
For the Bison, they are coming off a three-game sweep of Arkansas Tech. As for the hosts, HU swept Southern Nazarene before falling to Monticello on Feb. 20. In series history, OBU leads Harding 15-9. They have won three of the last four games and in last year's regular-season series, OBU won two of three.
Take a look at what these two squads have done so far:
Harding is ranked 20th in the nation with a .332 batting average and is slotted 12th in strikeouts-to-walk ratio (3.03). HU is also No. 17 in Division II with 10 double plays turned. As for OBU, it is ninth in the nation in doubles (26), 12th in home runs (16) and 23rd in strikeouts-to-walk ratio (2.66).
Individually, the Bison also have some of the best marks in the country. Senior second baseman
Isiah Lissade is 15th in D2 and second in the GAC with 19 hits. Fellow classmate
Alex Schroeder is 16th with four homers and 12th with 18 runs batted in. Also of note, Schroeder and centerfielder
Will Joseph are each tied for 20th with five doubles.
On the mound, OBU is the only staff in the country that possesses three players with two saves:
Bryant Thornton,
William Ellis and
Ryan Turbeville. Plus, lefty
Cameron Pool is tied for the national lead with three wins and ranks 52nd with 17 strikeouts.
In the opposite dugout, Harding has one of the best pitchers in the country. Maddox Long has a 0.98 ERA, which is tops in the conference and a top-70 mark. He also is fifth with 24 strikeouts and has three wins, like Pool. Furthermore, pitcher Merritt Jay is slotted 12th with 22 punch outs.
The batter's box features Sebastian Martinez, a player with 16 RBI. That's good for 19th in the nation.
