SHAWNEE – An ascending Oklahoma Baptist (20-11, 10-8 GAC) baseball team is heading to East Central this coming weekend for a three-game league series. Competition starts on Friday, March 29 at 2 p.m. before a Saturday doubleheader at 1 p.m.
OBU has dominated against the Tigers in the D2 era. Since joining the GAC in 2016, the Bison have an impressive 26-3 record over ECU.
The Bison have won five straight after their 13-7 win against Southeastern on March 26. Over the course of this winning streak, OBU has hit .335, watched as
Alex Schroeder and
Rafael Gutierrez have each hit above .412 and seen pitchers
Cameron Pool,
Brek Galbreath,
Nolan Feazle and
Logan Kimbro have ERAs no greater than 3.38. Plus,
Bryant Thornton has earned two saves.
Heading into late March, here are some interesting tidbits and stats from coach
Chris Cox's team:
- Schroeder is in second place all-time at OBU with 175 RBI. He needs just three more to pass Jim King (177; 1981-84). Schroeder is third in the nation with 45 RBI and 13th with 10 home runs as well.
- As a team, OBU ranks seventh in D2 with 46 bombs. That's also tops in the GAC.
- OBU is also doing a fine job defensively. Their .971 fielding percentage is No. 39 in the country and third in the GAC.
- Thanks to Jacob Campbell in last week's game against Pittsburg State, OBU is the only team in the nation to have turned a triple play in 2024.
- Galbreath, one of the team's starting pitchers, is one win away from moving into the top-six in school history in that category. He's at 23 career victories which are tied with six other players. Plus, his 230 career strikeouts rank eighth-best at OBU.
- Senior second baseman Isiah Lissade is also moving up the charts. His 166 career runs scored are fourth-best in OBU history. Lissade has crossed home 36 times this season, the best mark in the GAC.
- Feazle, a senior, has six wins on the mound. Not only is that the best in the GAC but it ranks seventh nationally.
- Thornton's four saves in 2024 are second-most in the GAC and a top-25 NCAA mark.
East Central enters the weekend having lost eight of nine. They are 6-27 overall this season and 3-15 in the GAC.
Offensively, ECU is led by three players: Britton Sperry, Nick Blankenship and Christian Whitaker. Sperry has a team-high .302 batting average while Blankenship owns the most hits (31) and doubles (11). That latter total is 30th-best in the nation. As for Whitaker, he has produced nine two-baggers and a team-best three homers with 20 RBI.
The Tigers' pitching has been an issue this season. Their team ERA of 9.65 is slotted 232nd out of 245 Division II schools. Opponents are batting .341 and have tallied 35 homers, 87 doubles and 11 triples.
Beau Driggers, who has made eight appearances has the staff's best ERA at 5.14 while Cayden Blanton boasts a 5.79 ERA. Bryan Terry has struck out the most batters for the Tigers with 39 while Cal Birchfield has notched 37.
