RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. — In a Great American Conference Baseball Championship that has a decidedly Arkansas flair, the Arkansas Tech baseball team will look to keep its season alive in the double-elimination tournament beginning Saturday in Enid, Oklahoma.

The Wonder Boys (30-19, 16-10 GAC) closed out the regular season by winning nine straight against conference foes — including a sweep of then-first-place Harding last weekend — and 10 of 12 overall to enter the league tournament on nearly as hot of a roll as last season's 22-game winning streak that capped the regular season. Tech locked up the No. 5 seed during the sweep of Harding, and will face second-seeded Ouachita Baptist at 3:30 Saturday afternoon at David Allen Ballpark.

"The streak we're on now, it's not 22, but over conference games, yeah we've played pretty well," coach Dave Dawson said. "I think it adds some confidence going in for our guys. We started off a little slow and finished off strong, so it should add something for us. But, it comes down to making plays and making pitches. I think if we can do those things, we can beat anyone in the country, but we have to make sure we execute."

Tech finished in a tie for fourth place in the GAC with Henderson State, just a game out of second place and two games out of first. It was the fourth consecutive season the Wonder Boys have finished in the top four in the conference standings, and their fourth straight appearance in the GAC tournament.

The matchup against the Tigers (24-15, 14-8 GAC) will be the third meeting in the GAC tournament for the two teams, with OBU winning 6-3 in the first round last year and taking a 13-7 decision in 2012. The Tigers also swept the season series from the Wonder Boys, taking two close wins in the first conference series of the year for Tech in early February and another in a nonconference meeting April 21. Tech has won a game in each of its last three appearances in the conference tournament, while OBU has an appearance in the title game in 2012 to bolster its 5-3 record in two GAC postseason trips.

"I feel good," Dawson said. "We have a tough matchup with Ouachita. They have a really, really good arm with [Connor] Eller. He'll probably get conference pitcher of the year. That will be a tough matchup, but I feel like we're pretty good offensively, and if we can get some breaks and get a chance, we can get it done."

The Wonder Boys and Tigers have two of the top offenses in the GAC, with Tech posting a .310 team batting average to finish the regular season second in the league, and OBU right behind in third with a .305 mark. Tech tops the league rankings with a .479 slugging percentage, 363 runs scored, 489 hits, 328 RBIs, 103 doubles, 49 home runs and just 190 strikeouts.

Individually, Patrick Castleberry solidified his case as the top offensive performer in the conference, finishing second in the GAC with a .390 batting average while leading the league with 67 hits, 52 runs scored, 13 home runs and 64 RBIs, while finishing second with a .733 slugging percentage, .486 on-base percentage and 18 doubles. Cole Fergus tied with Castleberry with 13 home runs, and beat him out for the slugging percentage title with a .760 mark, while batting .336 with 40 RBIs and 10 doubles. Bryan Heward finished fourth in the GAC with 63 runs scored, second with 49 runs, and gave Tech three of the top four home run hitters in the league with 11 long balls while adding a .346 average, 11 doubles, 46 RBIs and 10 stolen bases.

The addition of Keenan Jumper (.340), Kris Ayers (.336), Collin O'Neil (.314) and Mark Vaughn (.301) gave the Wonder Boys a total of seven players to finish the regular season with a .300 average or better. Ayers was third on the team with 38 RBIs, adding seven homers and 13 doubles, while Vaughn was third with 35 runs scored to go along with nine doubles and 23 RBIs.

Will Wallace and Parker Norris gave OBU two of the top eight individual batting averages in the league at .372 and .362, respectively. Norris also made leaderboards with 55 hits and 36 runs scored in 39 games while adding three home runs, 12 doubles and 21 RBIs. Justin Weigle led the Tigers with four triples, 14 doubles and 31 RBIs, batting .345 with five homers along the way, while Jace Melby popped six home runs and 11 doubles, collecting 29 batted in.

That offense will go up against a Tech pitching staff that shown new life over the past 12 games, allowing just 30 earned runs over its past 97 innings to lower its season ERA by nearly a run to its present 5.36. Over those 12 games, with saw the Wonder Boys go 10-2, the staff has allowed no more than six earned runs in a game, and have allowed three or fewer in nine of those contests.

Last weekend in a crucial series against Harding, Cody Jones tossed a nine-inning complete game, allowing just two runs, one earned, while striking out six in a 3-2 win, Trent Armstrong tossed his own nine-inning game, allowing two runs and striking out six in a 5-2 victory, and Rafiel Johnson made his third straight start in a conference series, allowing one run and five hits over five innings to move to 2-0 on the season. Randy Vallejo and Ryan Vruggink each tossed an inning of relief in the 4-2 win, combining to allow one hit, one unearned run and one walk, adding to the 12-game stretch that has seen the bullpen toss eight innings, allowing just three runs, two earned runs and two walks while picking up five strikeouts.

OBU counters with one of the top pitching staffs in the GAC, sporting a 3.83 ERA, which is second in the conference, and the third-best opposing batting average at .266. Individually, No. 1 starter Eller is second in the league with a 2.53 ERA, and leads the way with an 8-2 record, 92 1/3 innings pitched and 70 strikeouts. He's tossed six complete games and three shutouts, and has walked just 19. John Franklin Matros adds a 4-3 record and 3.04 ERA over 53 1/3 innings and nine starts, while Connor Reed is 3-2 with a 3.51 ERA, 53 strikeouts and just 20 walks over 56 1/3 frames.

With a win, the Wonder Boys will face the winner between third seed Harding and fourth seed Henderson State at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, while a loss would put them up against the loser between top-seeded Southern Arkansas and sixth seed Southeastern Oklahoma in a 12:30 elimination game Sunday. The Wonder Boys were also ranked eighth in the latest Central Region poll, adding an additional level of intrigue to the weekend as they try to make it back-to-back seasons with an NCAA tournament berth.
"I think it's going to be tough with where we're at," Dawson said. "The only sure way we're going to advance is to win the tournament. Our chances are definitely slimmer other than that. We might be able to jump some teams with a few wins, but winning it is the way to go."

All Arkansas Tech games will be broadcast live on 980 AM (KCAB) in Russellville, with live audio and statistics available on www.arkansastechsports.com, with live video for every tournament game available at www.gacsportsnetwork.com.