SHAWNEE – The final weekend of the regular season brings a three-game series between Oklahoma Baptist and Southern Nazarene on Bison Hill. On April 26 at 4 p.m. the two teams will play a doubleheader. Date and time of the final, nine-inning game will be announced at a later time.
OBU is 28-18 and 15-15 in the Great American Conference. As it stands, the Bison are sitting in eighth place in the standings. A win in any of the three games will clinch a postseason berth in the GAC Tournament on May 3-4.
Since the schools started competing regularly in the GAC in 2016, the Bison own a 19-1 record over SNU. A season ago, the Bison rang up 40 runs over the course of that series.
Here are notes and tidbits on the Bison heading into the weekend:
- The Bison's 28th win of the season came at Northeastern State by a 17-5 score. It was the most runs ever scored against NSU and the 12-run margin of victory was the team's biggest since a 16-0 result against the RiverHawks on April 16, 2019.
- In that contest, Troy Shields hit three homers with nine RBI. The nine runs batted in were the most by a Bison player in a D2 game. Plus, his three homers helped Shields become one of just six Bison to hit that many in a D2 game.
- This season, Shields is ninth in the country with 17 homers and second with 72 RBI. Plus, he's 42nd in slugging (.745). Those totals are all career-bests for the junior.
- Also of significance, both Shields and Alex Schroeder have reached 70 RBI. That's only happened four times in GAC play beginning with the 2012 season and three times in OBU's D2 history. Previously for OBU, Dan Pruitt and Kade Self each reached 70 RBI in 2023 while Jake Gozzo and Ramon Enriquez did so in 2019.
- Before missing Tuesday's game with the RiverHawks, centerfielder Will Joseph extended his hitting streak against Henderson State. He's on a 22-game streak, bested only by Pruitt (26) last season.
- Five different players have hit at least nine homers this season for OBU: Shields, Schroeder, Isiah Lissade, Jacob Campbell and Spencer Dickinson. Only two other Bison squads have produced more in the D2 era. The 2019 and 2022 teams each had six players record at least nine bombs.
- Speaking of Lissade, he tied his season-high with four hits against NSU. He's currently on a 16-game hitting streak and his 73 hits are No. 8 in Division II.
- First baseman Jayden Shafer continues to draw walks. Over the past week, he was issued six, bumping his total to 46. That's second-best in the country.
- Senior starting pitcher Brek Galbreath needs just seven strikeouts to become the eighth Bison all-time to reach 250. He currently ranks eighth in OBU history with 243 and is slotted in the same position in innings pitched (276.2).
Southern Nazarene has lost seven straight after a 14-3 loss to Washburn on April 24. SNU is 12-35 overall and 6-24 in the GAC. This season, the Crimson Storm is 2-22 away from Bethany.
The Storm is slotted 11th in the GAC in both team batting (.266) and earned run average (9.63). Its best offensive mark is in sacrifice bunts. SNU has 20 of those, sixth-best in the GAC.
Individually, Jacob Martinez boasts a team-high .356 batting average with 13 doubles while Trey Orman has produced nine homers and 43 RBI. Also of note, Colby Entwistle is batting .288 with 12 doubles and a team-high 230 putouts.
On the mound, Patrick Hine has earned the most starts for SNU. He's got 12, tossed 52.1 innings, posted an ERA of 7.05 and has struck out 42. Martinez and Will DesHotels have each started eight games while Martinez is tied for the team lead with two saves. He also leads the staff with 49 strikeouts.
SNU has also given up 74 homers this year, the same total the Bison have attained through 46 games.
