SHAWNEE – Oklahoma Baptist's final regular-seasons series comes this weekend when Southern Nazarene (10-36, 1-29 GAC) visits Bison Hill.
The two teams will meet on April 24 for a 3 p.m. doubleheader before a Saturday, April 25 contest at 1 p.m.
OBU sits at 19-24 and 12-18 in the Great American Conference. While its GAC Tournament chances are slim, the green and gold are still in contention for a top-eight finish which would push the Bison into the postseason.
Historically, OBU leads the series over SNU 37-10. The Bison have won 13 straight over their rivals from Bethany too. The last time the Crimson Storm beat OBU was May 1, 2021. Dave Myrick and Todd Miller will be on the call of the games this weekend. Here are notes on the teams.
For the Bison:
On April 21, OBU fell at home to University of Science and Arts (OK) by a 7-6 tally.
Left fielder
Tui Amosa has put together an All-GAC and possible All-Region-type year. The junior is sixth in the nation and first in the conference with 20 doubles and he ranks No. 42 and fourth, respectively, with 117 total bases.
Plus, his .745 slugging mark is No. 40 nationally and a top-five league mark. Furthermore, he's the first OBU player since 2016 with 20 doubles.
Also of note offensively, designated hitter
Lucas Schaefer's 13 homers rank seventh in the conference and No. 41 in Division II.
As a team, OBU's .330 batting average is No. 25 in the country and first in the league. They are also tops in the GAC in doubles (108) and sacrifice flies (26).
However, pitching struggles have taken away from the team's quality offense. OBU's 8.87 ERA is 211th out of 249 D2 schools and is the highest in program history (since 1953). The Bison also give up 11.39 hits per nine frames, the No. 9 mark in the conference.
The Bison staff still strikes out batters at a good rate. With 9.2 punchouts per nine innings, they rank No. 19 in the nation and first in the GAC.
For the Crimson Storm:
SNU, which has struggled historically, in the GAC has just one conference win. They attained it on March 14 at Ouachita by a 7-3 tally.
They are 5-17 in their last 22 games and are coming off a 22-5 win against Oklahoma City University on April 21.
Pitching has been SNU's main issue this spring. The team's 12.18 ERA is worst in the conference and 243rd nationally. In only two games this year has SNU given up three runs or less.
SNU's staff has also hit 81 batters, tops in the GAC.
Layton Reither has a 2-0 record for SNU, tied with Clayton Ward, Caleb Eakle and Lane Benevidas for most wins. Reither also has the best ERA (5.23) with those that have pitched at least 20 innings. Justin Trucks leads with 40 strikeouts as well.
Offensively, Cade Ross' 15 doubles rank sixth in the GAC while Josh Bay has the same placement with 62 hits. Plus, Bay leads SNU and is No. 5 nationally with 18 homers and ranks No. 13 with 133 total bases.
