Oklahoma Baptist Baseball hits the road for weekend series at Arkansas Tech

SHAWNEE – OBU Baseball is Arkansas bound for a three-game series with the Wonder Boys.

Bison Baseball is set for a Thursday/Friday series at Arkansas Tech beginning at 6 p.m. Thursday evening. Games 2 and 3 will follow with the first pitch of the day at 1 p.m. and the series finale the follow. 

Bison Notes

• After a pair of weekend losses to Harding and a midweek loss to East Central, Oklahoma Baptist Baseball is 20-20 overall and 12-15 in conference play with a two-game losing streak.
• In the previous weekend of action, the Bison were shut out by Harding in the first game. Game 2 saw new life in OBU, securing a big 14-6 win over the second-place team in conference. The third game saw a struggling green and gold staff as Harding capitalized, winning 22-14 to take the series. 
• In midweek play, the Bison offense struggled to compete with a late comeback from East Central. The Tigers took the midweek with an 11-4 final, earning their first win over OBU this season after getting swept by the Bison in GAC play. 
• Lucas Schaefer has jumped ahead of the others in a handful of categories, including homeruns (11), slugging percentage (.706), batting average (.346), and total bases (96).
• The leading arms for OBU include Bryant Thornton and David Stuart. Thornton holds the best ERA across 43.2 innings, giving up a season total of 26 runs (21 earned) on 41 hits, walking 20 batters and striking out 42, holding the opponent to a .243 batting average. Stuart leads the bison in innings pitched (61.1). In his time on the mound, Stuart has compiled a 5.58 ERA, giving up 45 runs (38 earned) on 68 hits, walking 29 and striking out 58, holding the batter to a .273 average. Thornton is 4-3 on the season and Stuart is 5-4. 
• Schaefer is sixth in the league in slugging percentage, Zane Bennett is seventh in RBI (44), Keenan Morris is tied for 11^th in runs scored (40) and DJ Van Atten is tied for fifth in doubles (13). Matt Marsic is tied for third in triples (3), Schaefer is tied for fifth in homers (10), Bennett sits in ninth for homers (9) and Schaefer is tied for 10^th in total bases (89). 
• In GAC rankings, Thornton is ranked seventh in ERA, fifth in opposing batting average and seventh in batters struck out looking (16). Stuart is sixth in innings pitched, tied for fifth in batters struck out (58) and tied for seventh in wins (5). Logan Kimbro is eight in saves with three this season. 

Wonder Boys Notes

• In midweek play, Arkansas Tech faced Henderson State but fell short with a 7-1 final for the Reddies in Arkadelphia. Prior to the midweek meeting, the Wonder Boys swept Southern Nazarene with 39 runs scored over the weekend. 
• The Wonder Boys are 22-19 overall and 17-9 in conference play. 
• Sawyer Duddleston is a key component of the ATU offense, tied for the team lead with six homers. Duddleston is first in RBI (35), and total bases (55). Tyler Sardelli is a stud at the plate with five homeruns, 84 total bases, a .575 slugging percentage, a .356 batting average, 52 hits, nine doubles, four triples and 30 RBI. Cole Dawson is batting .399 at 61-153 from the plate. Dawson has seven doubles three triples, one homer, 77 total bases and a .503 slugging percentage with 25 RBI on the season so far.
• Daniel Hutchison is the standout arm for ATU with 56.0 innings pitched, accruing a 5.14 ERA and a 5-2 record from the bump. Hutchison has given up 40 runs (32 earned) on 70 hits, walking 26 batters and striking out 50. Hutchison holds opponents to a .306 batting average.