SHAWNEE – Three weekends of Great American Conference baseball remain and this Friday and Saturday for Oklahoma Baptist (18-18, 11-13 GAC) is crucial.
The Bison head to Harding University for a three-game series. Game one is Friday at 6 p.m. before a Saturday, April 11 doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.
OBU is currently tied for eighth place in the standings. Harding sits at fourth with a 20-16 overall mark and 14-10 league record. The top eight teams in the standings qualify for the GAC Tournament. Historically, OBU holds a slight 16-14 series advantage over HU, however, the team from Searcy has won the last two series. Here are notes on the teams.
For the Bison:
The green and gold have been in a funk lately, losing four of five. In three of those games, opponents scored at least 17 runs.
OBU's struggles on the mound have seen them drop to eighth in the GAC in earned run average (8.4). That said, the Bison staff is still striking out a bunch of batters. They rank No. 16 in D2 with 9.6 strikeouts per nine innings.
Marcus Peters has a staff-high 51 strikeouts while
Kody Bialas (41) and
Logan Wade (35) follow.
Despite having made just one appearance since March 13, Bialas is still the GAC leader with a 3.18 ERA and limits opponents to a .207 average. That, too, is No. 1.
On the offensive end,
Matt Marsic is on a 14-game hitting streak. He's No. 2 in the GAC and 28th nationally with a .430 average. That batting average is the highest for an OBU player since 2020 when Kaimana Bartolome posted a .435 mark.
Left fielder
Tui Amosa is shining too. His 16 doubles lead the conference and are a top-10 D2 total. He also ranks 34th in slugging (.776), No. 21 with five sacrifice flies and 18th with 104 total bases.
Designated hitter
Lucas Schaefer has 13 homers to lead OBU. Those rank second in the conference and 13th in D2.
For Harding:
Like OBU, Harding has been up and down lately, having split its last eight games. They did beat Union (TN) 10-3 on April 7, its 20th win of the season.
Harding, historically, has possessed a quality pitching staff in the GAC. This year is different, though. They rank seventh in team ERA at 6.39. This is the first time since the 2021 season that HU isn't in the top four of the league.
Stealing bases has been HU's top strongpoint this season. With 77 stolen bags and a 2.14 per-game average, they rank top-two in the GAC and top-50 nationally with those marks.
Also of note, Harding's 77 doubles rank third in the league and 37th in D2.
Easton Jones is tied atop the GAC and ranks 10th nationally with 16 doubles. He's also got 13 stolen bags which are a top-nine league mark. Teammate Cooper Newsome's 44 RBI is the fifth-best total in the conference as well.
Pitching-wise, Merritt Jay leads the staff with a 3.86 ERA, which ranks eighth in the league. Ryan Romolo is third in the GAC allowing 7.87 hits per nine innings while Austin Kelley is third in pitching appearances (17). Lastly, Josiah Binford's three saves rank fourth.
