WEEKEND INFORMATION
ARKANSAS TECH WONDER BOYS 4-4 (0-0 GAC)	OKLAHOMA BAPTIST BISON 3-3 (0-0 GAC)
Friday, February 17 | 3 p.m. Baswell Field | Russellville, Ark. LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO Saturday, February 18 | 1 p.m. | DH Baswell Field | Russellville, Ark. LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO

FIRST PITCH
The Arkansas Tech baseball team is set to open their Great American Conference slate of games with a three-game weekend series at home against Oklahoma Baptist. The Bison were picked third in the GAC Preseason Baseball Coaches poll.
 
The series is slated to begin with a single nine-inning game on Friday starting at 3 p.m. Saturday will close the series with a doubleheader (9-7) starting at 1 p.m.
 
The Wonder Boys and Bison have met 23 times historically with all games coming as GAC foes. In terms of the all-time series record, Oklahoma Baptist holds a 15-8 lead over Tech.
 
The two teams met four times last regular season with a three-game conference series at Oklahoma Baptist and a game in the GAC Tournament in Hot Springs. Oklahoma Baptist swept the weekend series, but Tech won the tournament game, eliminating the Bison.
 

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TALKING TECH
The Wonder Boys enter this weekend's series against Oklahoma Baptist with an overall record of 4-4. They are currently on a modest two-game winning streak after winning their series finale against then-ranked No. 13 Central Missouri on Sunday and their non-conference mid-week game against Arkansas-Monticello.
 
In the win against Monticello, the Wonder Boys' offense erupted for 16 runs on 17 hits. Of those 17 hits, seven went for extra-bases with all seven being doubles.
 
With that game, the Wonder Boys enter play against the Bison for their first Great American Conference series of the year, hitting .253 as a team (64-for-253) with 50 runs scored, 12 doubles, three triples and four home runs. Brandon Bunton currently leads the team in batting average at .400 (6-for-15). Cade McBride leads the team in doubles with three while Sawyer Duddleston leads the team in triples with two. Duddleston is also pacing the team in runs scored with eight.
 
Nick Jones leads the team in RBIs with nine and has one of the team's four home runs. Sam Stephenson, Logan Schwenke and Keaton Ranallo account for the other homers thus far.
 
On the mound, the Wonder Boys have a team ERA of 6.58 and have struck out 49 batters in 64.1 innings of work.
 
John Gray, Emilano Mata, Jack Rector, Gerald Pintarich and Ethan Fritz have made starts on the mound thus far. The weekend rotation will likely be comprised of Gray, Mata and Rector with a chance of Pintarich making a start as well.
 
Aside from those five who have made starts, 11 other pitchers have taken the mound for the Wonder Boys in relief roles. Will Horton has the most relief appearances thus far with four. Marshall Brown has logged the most innings in relief with 7.1 to his credit. Mason Griffin has the lone save for the Wonder Boys.
 
Leading the Wonder Boys once more is Dave Dawson. The all-time winningest coach in Tech Baseball history, Dawson enters his 14th year in the dugout for the Wonder Boys. In his previous 13 seasons, Dawson has guided amassed a 380-269 record. He has also had six seasons with 30 or more wins which includes the 2014 season in which he led the team a program-record 44 wins and hosting rights for that year's Central Region Tournament.
 
Overall, Dawson is in his 18th year as a head baseball coach at the collegiate level as he spent four years as head coach at Kansas Wesleyan and totaled 118 wins. Dawson's combined win total at Tech and Kansas Wesleyan stand at 502. He earned the milestone 500^th win in the series opener vs. No. 13-ranked Central Missouri back in February.
 

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SCOUTING OKLAHOMA BAPTIST
Oklahoma Baptist enters this weekend's series against Tech with a 3-3 overall record. The Bison are coming off a win in their last time out as they picked up a road win in mid-week action against Central Oklahoma. Prior to that, the Bison played two games last weekend and had split decisions against McKendree and Missouri Western, beating McKendree 6-4 and losing to Missouri Western 7-3 as part of the Henderson State Invitational.
 
The Bison enter the weekend against Tech hitting .288 as a team (60-for-208) with 46 runs scored, 13 doubles, two triples and eight home runs. The leading hitter in terms of average so far is Trey Furrey at .455 (10-for-22). Furrrey is also tied for the team-lead in doubles with two. Dan Pruitt has provided the most power thus far with three homers. He is also tied for the team-lead in RBIs at seven with Kade Self. on the team in RBIs with nine.
 
On the mound, the Bison have a 6.61 team ERA and have struck out 47 batters in 49.0 innings of work.
 
The Bison have had four pitchers start games with Ryan Turbeville, Nolan Feazle, Brek Gailbreath and Logan Kimbro accounting for the starts. Gailbreath and Turbeville have each made two starts to lead the team while the other two have made just one start. In addition to those four, the Bison have used seven other pitchers in relief roles.
 
Oklahoma Baptist is led by Chris Cox, who is in his fourth season with as head coach of the Bison. In his time at Oklahoma Baptist, Cox has won 72 games and posted a winning record each season. Prior to becoming head coach at Oklahoma Baptist, Cox spent six seasons as an assistant coach at OKB under his father Bobby Cox. Cox also has assistant coaching experience at Vernon College and Northern Oklahoma College.