RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – Wonder Boys baseball begins conference play this weekend in Weatherford, Okla. with a three-game series against Southwestern Oklahoma State. The series begins with a 2 p.m. game on Friday, before a doubleheader on Saturday at noon.
 
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Live stats and video of all three games are available at www.arkansastechsports.com.
 
SCOUTING THE WONDER BOYS
Arkansas Tech (2-5) is coming off a three-game series against Missouri Western last weekend, in which Missouri Western took two of three games. The Wonder Boys defeated the Griffons, 5-4, in the series opener on a walk-off single by Shane Pollard in the bottom of the 10^th inning.
 
Zach Klockowski currently leads Arkansas Tech with nine hits, two home runs and six runs batted in. Jake Harvey is hitting a team-high .412, and Dylan McDearmon is tied for the team-lead with three doubles. On the mound, Trent Armstrong has pitched over 10 innings, while Blake Sullivan leads the Wonder Boys with a 2.08 earned-run average. Branden Bohuslav has one win and one save in four appearances.
 
The Wonder Boys were picked seventh in the 2017 Great American Conference Preseason Coaches Poll.
 
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
Southwestern Oklahoma State (4-3) is coming off three consecutive losses after starting the season 4-0. The Bulldogs opened the season with two victories over Oklahoma Panhandle State before dropping three of four games to Cameron University last weekend. The weekend was highlighted by an 18-16 victory over Cameron to open the four-game series, in which the Bulldogs erased a nine-run deficit with 11 runs over the final two innings.
 
Jason Nichols leads Southwestern Oklahoma with a .462 batting average. Daniel Richardson has batted in a team-high eight runs, and Rafael Otero has hit a team-high two homers this season. Jeremy Smith has allowed just one run in seven innings while on the mound for the Bulldogs, leading the team with seven strikeouts.
 
The Bulldogs, 2016's GAC regular-season champions, were picked to finish second in the 2017 preseason poll.