SHAWNEE – Oklahoma Baptist's sixth appearance in the Great American Conference Tournament will take the eighth seed Bison to top seed Arkansas-Monticello.
Competition starts on May 4 with a doubleheader starting at noon at Weevils Field. Should the two teams split those games, a winner-take-all finale will follow on Sunday, May 4 at noon.
This trip to Monticello, historically, hasn't favored OBU. The Boll Weevils have won three of the four series since 2016. OBU's lone series win came during the 2018 campaign. Earlier this season on March 17-18, UAM won by scores of 6-5 and 13-3 while OBU had a 4-3 victory sandwiched between those defeats.
Head Coach
Chris Cox answered a couple questions about his team heading into the postseason.
1 -
During the series last month, UAM did a solid job limiting our offense. In your eyes, what makes UAM's pitching staff good and how do our Bison respond this weekend?
Cox: "They have a veteran group on the mound, especially their three weekend guys. Those guys not only possess a really good arsenal but do a really good job of changing speeds and changing your eye level at the plate. The key for us will be to stay disciplined in the zone and not get away from the approach that's made this offense successful down the stretch of the regular season."
2 -
What can this team take into this road trip as the eighth seed after what was accomplished last year at Arkansas Tech?
Cox: "I feel there's a lot of returners on this year's club that understand what it takes to be successful in the postseason and in doing it on the road. We've stressed from the beginning: if you want to be successful in the postseason, you must possess the ability to travel well. I think the fight and the resolve this club possesses will aid them well in going on the road and being successful."
Here are several nuggets and notes as the Bison get ready for UAM.
- After last weekend's series against SNU, the Bison bumped their season batting average to .341. Not only is that the seventh-best mark in Division II, if that total holds up after postseason play, it would be a GAC team single-season record.
- Helping that cause was Will Joseph. He hit .455 against the Crimson Storm and ran his hitting streak to 25 consecutive games. With two games coming this weekend at Monticello, OBU's centerfielder will have a chance to pass Dan Pruitt who secured hits in 26 straight games in 2023.
- Troy Shields earned GAC Player of the Week honors on April 29, his third this season. One of OBU's catchers and designated hitters, Shields is having an All-American-like season. His 19 homers are one off the national lead and his 76 RBI are No. 3 in the country. Plus, his 56 runs scored are a top-50 NCAA mark as is his slugging percentage (.773; 28th).
- Speaking of offense, here are OBU's best ranks in D2: 5th in walks (292), home runs (85), runs scored (465) and on-base percentage (.455); 6th in slugging (.577); 10th in hits (548) and 13th in scoring (9.5).
- Did you see Alex Schroeder's last at-bat in Shawnee on April 28? He hit a grand slam to end the game versus Southern Nazarene. He's got 63 bombs in his career, tops in OBU and GAC history and the most among active NCAA career leaders. For the senior from Rocklin, Calif., he has 19 homers and is No. 2 with 81 runs batted in.
- On the Jayden Shafer walk count, the junior is up to 50. That's No. 2 in the nation and trails Missouri Southern State's Drew Townsend (52).
- Senior Nolan Feazle picked up his seventh win of the season during OBU's 9-2 win over SNU on April 26. He struck out five batters, marking the seventh appearance this season that he reached that total. This season, his 4.02 ERA is seventh-best in the GAC and his seven wins are 41st in the country.
As for Monticello (27-20, 23-10 GAC), its pitching is the major reason it secured a share of the GAC Regular Season Championship and No. 1 seed.
Take a look at these numbers. They are 15th in the nation in strikeouts per nine innings (9.4); 17th in hits allowed per nine (8.32) and 21st in shutouts (4). As mentioned above from Coach Cox, UAM has a trio of outstanding weekend starters.
They are Connor Irvine, Charles Peacock and Maxim Mrakovcic. With 13 games started apiece, Irvine and Peacock are tied for eighth nationally in that category. Plus, Irvine ranks sixth in the GAC in ERA (3.91) and ninth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.84).
Peacock's best mark is in strikeouts. He's got 84, slotted No. 16 in Division II.
Offensively, Camden Tanner has been outstanding. Just a freshman, he leads the conference and ranks No. 17 nationally with a .430 batting average. Tanner also ranks 37th in hits (71) and 47th in slugging (.733). Finally, he has a top-50 NCAA mark in total bases (121).
Also of note, Chaz Poppy has a team-best 48 RBI with 11 homers while Kirk Woolf, Cade Cancilla and Roc Hawthorne each have 11 doubles.
