SHAWNEE – Oklahoma Baptist will begin a three-game series with East Central tonight at 6 p.m., ahead of Easter weekend, at Bison Softball Park. The series will wrap up on Friday with a doubleheader scheduled to start at 1 p.m.
Fans can watch the contests on the Bison Sports Network with the play-by-play commentary of Todd Miller.
The Bison pushed its record to 22-10 after a split with Lone Star Conference affiliate Cameron University on Tuesday. OBU prevailed 4-1 in game one before falling 5-0 in the finale. Oklahoma Baptist is 8-8 against non-conference opponents this season.
Now, the green and gold return to GAC action with the league's eighth-best club coming into town. OBU remains at the top of the conference standings with a 14-2 record, one game in front of second place Harding.
A season ago, the Bison posted a program-best 28-5 record against league opponents, a mark they'll aim to pursue with 17 remaining contests.
OBU has seen a mild offensive production dip in the last seven games. The Bison came into last week's matchup with UT-Tyler hitting .285, but have since seen its batting average drop to .263. During the seven-game span, the Bison hit .182 and struck out 48 times.
Chances of Oklahoma Baptist crawling out of its slump are likely as tonight's opponent owns a 4.07 ERA. Furthermore, the Bison have racked up 26 runs against the Tigers in the last two seasons, including 17 in 2023.
OBU's pitching staff has the GAC's second-best earned run average at 2.27. Freshman Maggie Place has been electric over the last two weeks, garnering a 3-0 record in four appearances while breaking the program's rookie record for wins.
Place paced the Bison with a 1.85 ERA and collected 18 strikeouts in 22.2 innings of action. Overall, she owns a 2.40 earned run average and a 9-5 record inside the circle. Also of note is Morgan Max, who recorded her second save on Tuesday. It is the most saves in a season since Kayleigh Jones compiled five in 2022.
SCOUTING EAST CENTRAL
ECU brings a 15-17 record and a 6-11 GAC tally into tonight's matchup. Despite losing their last two games, the Tigers picked up their first conference series victory the weekend before at Ouachita Baptist.
East Central is slotted directly above OBU at the plate with a .264 batting average. They total 224 hits and have knocked 12 home runs. Defensively, the Tigers have turned 12 double plays, which leads the conference and ranks 26th in the nation. However, they've committed 34 errors and own a .961 field percentage.
Elyse LeClair and Jami Watson head the club offensively with averages of .316 and .313, respectively. Leclair has 37 hits, and Watson has the team lead in RBI (19) and home runs (4).
In the pitching lane, Taylor Spence has registered six wins and holds a team-best ERA of 2.91 in 77.0 innings. Lauren HerrNeckar and Taryn O'Brien follow with matching season records of 4-5.
Head coach Destini Anderson in her 18th season in Ada and owns a 427-419-2 (.505) record. She is a 2001 graduate of Oklahoma Baptist and still owns multiple records in the softball history books after her time on Bison Hill.
