SHAWNEE – Oklahoma Baptist (14-9, 6-6 GAC) is heading to Arkansas-Monticello (12-9, 9-3 GAC), the Great American Conference's second-place team, for a three-game series starting on Sunday, March 17.
UAM has won the last two GAC regular-season series between these teams including winning two of three in Shawnee in 2023.
A week ago, the Bison dialed up a series win at Southeastern Oklahoma State, winning the first two games 14-2 and 7-1. As for the Boll Weevils, they won their GAC series against Harding last weekend before defeating Delta State in mid-week action on March12.
This weekend's competition puts Oklahoma Baptist, the GAC's top hitting team, against UAM's third-best pitching staff. The Bison are batting .330, tops in the conference and 27th nationally. As for Monticello, its staff's era is 4.58 and they are holding opponents to a league-low .225 batting average.
OBU has a host of players it has relied on this year. Here's a look:
Isiah Lissade: Ranks 4th nationally and first in the GAC with 40 hits. He's also 19th in the country with 30 runs scored. Plus, he's fifth in the league in slugging (.739) and on a nine-game hitting streak.
Alex Schroeder: His eight homers lead the GAC and check in 13th in D2. Schroeder is also No. 13 in the nation with 31 RBI. The senior needs just 17 more RBI to move into first place all-time in that category at OBU.
Troy Shields: Ranks second in the conference with seven bombs while boasting the 10th-best slugging mark (.675). He's also driven in 30, a top-three league mark.
Nolan Feazle: His four wins on the mound are one off the GAC lead while his 35.1 innings pitched rank seventh in the conference.
Brek Galbreath and
Cameron Pool also sit in the top-10 of the GAC with three wins each. Plus,
Ryan Turbeville,
William Ellis and
Bryant Thornton each have two saves.
As mentioned earlier, UAM's pitching has posed problems for opponents. Take a look at these numbers:
The Weevils rank 12th nationally in hits allowed per nine innings (7.55). They are also 23rd in strikeouts per nine innings (9.9). Connor Irvine is their leader, checking in at No. 5 in the GAC with a 2.83 ERA. Plus, Irvine and teammate Charles Peacock are both ranked inside the top-25 of D2 in strikeouts.
Offensively, no UAM players are slotted in the top-10 of the GAC in any significant categories. Their team batting average of .276 is 8th-best in the league while their scoring mark of 6.3 runs is also eighth.
Chaz Poppy has the team's best batting average at .338 while Kirk Woolf has generated team-bests in homers (5) and (21). Also of note, Roc Hawthorne has smacked six doubles, first on UAM.
