RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. - Arkansas Tech baseball will travel to Shawnee, Okla. this weekend for a three-game Great American Conference series against Oklahoma Baptist. The series begins with a 6 p.m. contest between the Wonder Boys and Bison on Friday, March 23, followed by a doubleheader at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
GAME COVERAGE
Live video and statistics for all three games are available at www.arkansastechsports.com.
ALL-TIME SERIES
Oklahoma Baptist holds a 4-3 lead in the all-time series that began in 2015. Arkansas Tech took two of three games in last season's series, however.
SCOUTING THE WONDER BOYS
Arkansas Tech (15-10, 9-6 GAC) currently sits in a tie for the fifth in the GAC standings, three games behind first-place Arkansas-Monticello. The Wonder Boys have won their previous three games, including two wins over Southern Nazarene to claim their fourth consecutive conference-series victory.
The Wonder Boys are hitting .284 as a team this season, sixth-best average in the conference. In conference play, Tech is batting .292 as a team and Harry Gard's .463 average in GAC games is the highest in the conference. Over the last 10 games, Riley Hickerson is batting .306 with two home runs and team-high 12 runs batted in.
Tech ranks third in the conference with a 4.63 earned-run average, and the Wonder Boys have allowed the third-lowest amount of runs to opponents this season. Hayes Cox is 4-2 in 40.2 innings this season, and he leads Tech's starters with a 2.66 ERA, third-best average in the GAC. Michael Mueller has pitched a team-high 45.1 innings, and he ranks second in the GAC with 51 strikeouts.
SCOUTING THE BISON
Oklahoma Baptist (16-10, 9-6 GAC) is tied with Arkansas Tech for fifth in the GAC standings. The Bison are coming off a midweek loss to Northeastern State on Monday, after Oklahoma Baptist lost two of three at Harding last weekend.
The Bison are second in the GAC with a .310 team batting average this season, and OBU also ranks second in the conference in slugging and on-base percentage. Juan Gonzalez leads the Bison and ranks third in the GAC with a .407 batting average, and Zane Gelphman leads the conference with nine home runs.
Oklahoma Baptist boasts the second-lowest earned-run average in the conference, and the Bison lead the GAC in opponent batting average and strikeouts. Zach Fowler leads OBU's starters with a 3.69 earned-run average in 39.0 innings pitched, while Albertus Barber holds a 4-1 record and 3.96 ERA in 38.2 innings.
-FIGHTON-
