SHAWNEE – The start of an eight-game road swing begins this weekend for Oklahoma Baptist. On Saturday, March 7, OBU (8-9, 3-6 GAC) plays at East Central (5-12, 3-6 GAC) at 1 p.m. before a March 8 doubleheader beginning at noon in Ada.
Historically, the Bison lead the all-time series 42-9 but as of the last 11 games, OBU has six wins while ECU has earned five.
Here are notes on both teams.
For the Bison:
Chris Cox's team has won four of five and in each of those wins has scored at least 15 runs.
In fact, over the last five contests, OBU has batted .475, posted an .895 slugging mark and collected 16 homers.
This recent surge has helped the Bison in multiple NCAA stat categories. The team's 30 homers rank sixth in the country while the team's .617 slugging mark is third. Plus, OBU's 9.2 scoring average is No. 37 in D2.
Individually,
Quinn Johnson's nine doubles are No. 13 in D2. Plus, he's 17th with 32 hits.
Lucas Schaefer has the 20th-best slugging mark (.915) and his eight homers are slotted fifth.
Matt Marsic has a pair of triples. Those rank 21st in D2 and third in the GAC. Furthermore,
Zane Bennett's 23 RBI are good for 41st.
On the mound,
Kody Bialas continues to lead the Bison staff. His five games started are No. 12 in Division II while his 32 strikeouts are slotted 17th. Within the GAC, his 9.49 strikeouts-per-nine innings are ranked fourth and his 3.56 strikeout-to-walk ratio is good for fifth.
Also of note,
Marcus Peters and
Logan Wade are slotted in the top-10 of the GAC with 21 and 20 strikeouts, respectively.
For the Tigers:
A few things jump out about ECU. They have six triples, fourth-best in the GAC and 28th nationally. Pitching-wise, the Tigers strike out 8.6 per nine innings. That mark is fifth in the conference.
Overall, on offense, ECU hits .294, which is sixth in the league, but they are ninth in scoring (5.8), 10th in slugging (.405) and 12th with 10 homers.
Pitcher Ryan Dembroski is off to a great start. His 2.08 ERA is second in the GAC and his 4.57 hits allowed per nine innings checks in at No. 1.
Positional teammate Presley Tully is also doing well, ranking in the top four of the conference in strikeouts (24) and strikeouts per nine innings (11.37).
In the batter's box, Ryan Strickland's 27 hits are slotted eighth in the GAC. Teammate Joey Allen has a team-high 16 RBI and Tyler Akers leads in stolen bases (6). Allen and Akers have also produced six doubles apiece.
