SHAWNEE – Oklahoma Baptist will make its second consecutive trip to the NCAA DII Central Regional Tournament tomorrow afternoon in Pittsburg, Kansas, where they'll face a familiar foe in Augustana (SD) at 4:30 p.m.
The regional meet-up will take place at host institution and top-seed Pittsburg State. No. 8 seed and fellow Great American Conference affiliate Southern Arkansas will also participate in the tournament this week. The event will run May 9-11 and is played in a double-elimination format.
Should OBU prevail against the Vikings, they'll play the winner of the PSU and SAU game on Friday at 11 a.m. If they fall tomorrow, they'll compete against the loser on Friday at 1:30 p.m.
Single day tickets are $12 for adults and $10 for students with I.D., senior citizens and children (ages 2-12). All-session tickets are $30.
The Bison will look to bounce back after bowing out of the Great American Tournament in the semifinal round against SAU. The Muleriders took down top-seeded OBU 5-4 in Bentonville, Ark., last week.
Now with a clean slate, Oklahoma Baptist looks to shake things up in the national tourney and right the wrongs of last year's disappointing exit.
OBU has the second-best earned run average (1.92) and the second-most strikeouts (375) of this week's participants at the regional.
Kayleigh Jones (21-4) and Maggie Place (16-7) head the Bison's bullpen with ERA's of 1.77 and 1.95, respectively. Additionally, Jones leads the duo with 244 punchouts, while Place has 84.
Jones' number of strikeouts ranks seventh in the nation and her seven shutouts are 19th.
Morgan Max, Ally Ryan, and Adi Reese bring the power to the plate for the Bison. Max, the GAC Player of the Year, is hitting a team-best .386 and has 54 hits. The Moore, Okla. native has also been one of the toughest batters to retire with just five strikeouts in 140 at-bats.
Reese is right behind with a .368 hitting average and has reached base in 19 consecutive contests. Ryan is one home run away from breaking the OBU single-season record with 17 to date. She holds a .706 slugging percentage and totals 48 RBI.
SCOUTING THE VIKINGS
When OBU met AU at the Mardi Gras Invitational in February, the Vikings blanked the green and gold 4-0. Augustana went on to post a 44-13 record and captured both the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) regular season and tournament titles.
Here is where Augustana ranks in the country statistically: 10th in batting average (.351), fifth in the home runs (82), sixth in slugging percentage (.587), second in shutouts (19), fourth in hits (576), third in doubles (114), and 11th in earned run average (1.82).
Kennedy Buckman and Torri Chute have 17 home runs apiece, while Desi Cuevas boasts a team-best hitting rate of .429.
In the circle, Grace Glanzer has produced the nation's second-best ERA (0.60), 13 shutouts, and 23 wins. Glanzer adds 176 strikeouts in 180.0 innings of work. Lexi Lander, AU's next-best option, holds a 13-5 record and an earned run average of 2.68.
Buckman and Chute turned in two RBI in the club's first showdown of the year.
