SHAWNEE – Oklahoma Baptist will host Arkansas Monticello for a three-game series at Bison Softball Park this weekend as they look to stay perfect in Great American Conference action.
The clubs will square off in a single game tomorrow beginning at 3 p.m. before playing a doubleheader on Saturday at noon.
All games will be streamed on the Bison Sports Network with Todd Miller providing play-by-play commentary.
OBU (16-6, 10-0 GAC) has won 11 straight games, which is six wins behind the all-time record of 17 set a season ago.
Most recently, the Bison took down Southern Nazarene via run rule on Tuesday night. OBU throttled the Crimson Storm 10-0 in five frames, highlighted by outstanding efforts from pitcher
Kayleigh Jones and third baseman
Ally Ryan.
Jones registered her second no-hitter of the season after fanning seven batters and holding SNU to zero connections. The feat broke the Great American Conference record for career no-hitters, held by Henderson State's Michelle Sorenson.
Jones is now the all-time leader for strikeouts (880), no-hitters (6), and shutouts (28) in the GAC record books. Furthermore, Jones is the Division II active career leader in strikeouts and starts (101), while her 73 victories sit fourth.
Ryan's night featured two home runs, six RBI, and three hits. She is the second Bison to homer twice in a game this season, joining
Morgan Max who sent two over in game two of last week's sweep of Southeastern Oklahoma State.
Jones and Ryan lead the Bison in their respective roles this year. In 13 appearances, Jones owns a 8-2 record and the GAC's third-best ERA (1.95). Her 114 strikeouts rank fourth in the nation, while her four shutouts are seventh.
Here is where Ryan ranks on the conference leaderboards: second in batting average (.463), first in slugging (.907), first in on-base percentage (.571), second in RBI (26), and second in home runs (7). All of which, are career-bests for the sophomore out of Frisco, Texas.
Max is also having a great year. The utility player was named GAC Player of the Week after stuffing the stat sheet during against Southeastern. It was the second conference weekly accolade of her career.
Max boasted team leads in almost every offensive statistic, as she finished hitting .667 with a slugging percentage of 1.556. She smacked two home runs, drove in six runs, and accounted for 14 total bags. One of those homers was a grand slam that broke a 1-1 tie in game two of the series.
Then she pulled double duty in the pitching lane, stepping in to clinch the series victory and earn her second career save. Max surrendered one hit without giving up a run in 2.2 innings of action.
SCOUTING THE COTTON BLOSSOMS
Arkansas Monticello is 12-15 with a 4-7 tally against GAC foes, the ninth-best record in the league. They are coming off their sixth-straight loss on Tuesday, where they dropped two games to No. 19 Southern Arkansas.
The Cotton Blossoms are batting .267, the 10
th-worst average in the conference and have the second-most strikeouts (132). But, there are bright spots for the club.
UAM has compiled 14 home runs, 185 hits, 105 RBI, and scored 110 runs. All are top-five marks in the GAC. Additionally, the squad has the league's second-most stolen bases (45) and boast the seventh-best fielding percentage in the country (.980) with only 14 errors.
At the plate, Adrianna Erichsen is the lone Cotton Blossom hitting over .350. She adds a tie of the team-lead in hits (26) and a .500 on-base percentage. Erichsen also pairs 11 stolen bags with the most walks in the GAC (20).
Kennedy Cox has a team-high in home runs (4) and RBI (21), while Bailey Camp has compiled 26 hits and 10 stolen bases.
Junior Mallory Pitre heads a pitching staff that owns an ERA of 5.14. Pitre has a 5-5 record in 13 appearances and totals the fifth-most strikeouts in the GAC. Kyann Woods and Sam Stephens have also seen significant time in the circle, holding respective records of 3-3 and 3-4.
