SERIES INFORMATION
ARKANSAS TECH GOLDEN SUNS 19-11 (9-4 GAC)	SOUTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA STATE BULLDOGS 5-24 (2-12 GAC)
Saturday, March 25 | 3 p.m. | DH City of Colleges Park | Conway, Ark. LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO Sunday, March 26 | Noon City of Colleges Park | Conway, Ark. LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. - The Arkansas Tech softball team returns to action this weekend hot off their weekend conference series sweep on the road at Northwestern Oklahoma State. Looking ahead to this weekend, the Golden Suns will host Southwestern Oklahoma State in a three game GAC series this weekend. Due to the weather forecast in Russellville for the weekend, the series has shifted venues to City of Colleges Park in Conway for the series. This weekends series will open with doubleheader action on Saturday afternoon in Conway with first pitch set for 3 p.m. at City of Colleges Park. Then, the series will wrap on Sunday at noon in Conway for the final game.

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Tech Tidbits
The Golden Suns enter this weekends conference series against Southwestern Oklahoma State with a 19-11 overall record and a 9-4 record against Great American Conference opponents. The team is coming off a strong weekend GAC series sweep on the road at Northwestern Oklahoma State. 

Last season against Southwestern Oklahoma State, the Golden Suns swept the Bulldogs on the road in Weatherford to collect the conference series win. 

Offensively, the Golden Suns are hitting .269 at the plate this season as a team (208-for-772) with 134 runs scored, 36 doubles, nine triples and 16 total homeruns. Entering the weekend conference series, the Golden Suns own two players hitting .300 or better on the year with at least 70 at-bats. Leading the Golden Suns at the plate is Makenzie Goins who owns the team best .356 batting average (32-for-90). Following right behind Goins is Jessica Williams who is averaging .329 at the plate this season (24-for-73).

In terms of power numbers, the Golden Suns boast five total players who have notched at least one total homerun on the 2023 season so far. Leading the charge in homeruns this season for the Golden Suns is Makenzie Addis with seven long bombs. Behind Addis in total homeruns on the season is both Goins and Brooke Prewitt with three homers each. Rounding out the list of homerun hitters for Tech is Williams with two bombs on the year, while Shelby Chavers has hit one. Leading the team in RBI's is Addis with 27. Prewitt is next with 13 total RBI's, while Williams has 12 and Goins has 11. 

In the circle, the Golden Suns have a team ERA of 2.65 and have struckout 125 hitters in 195.2 total innings pitched.

Four total pitchers have made at least once appearance in the circle so far this season for Arkansas Tech. Bailey Buffington leads the team in starts with 17, while Bradi Basler has 11 starts on the year. 

Buffington is 12-4 in the circle this year with a team best 1.40 ERA. She has pitched 11 complete games so far this year and has seven total shutouts. Five of the shutouts were by herself, while two have been through a combined effort. The senior has recorded a team-high 63 strikeouts in 95.1 innings of work and currently holds opposing batters to a .233 average at the plate.

Basler is 5-5 in the circle this season with a 4.15 ERA. She has pitched five complete games and has 45 strikeouts in 60.2 innings of work. 

In relief, Kaila Cartwright leads the Golden Suns with 13 total appearances, that includes one start, and Lexy Taylor has made four total appearances with one start. 

Cartwright was apart of both combined shutout efforts alongside Buffington and also helped to throw a combined no hitter in one of those games as well. The senior has struckout 14 total batters in 32.0 total innings pitched and has a 3.28 ERA on the season thus far.

Taylor has posted a 3.65 ERA so far this season and has struckout three opposing hitters in 7.2 innings of work. 

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Scouting the Bulldogs
Entering this weekends conference series, Southwestern Oklahoma State holds a 5-24 overall record with a 2-12 record in GAC play. In their last outing, they lost a mid-week doubleheader on the road at No. 2 Rogers State. So far this season, the Bulldogs have yet to collect a conference series win over any GAC opponents. 

Statistically this season, the Bulldogs are hitting .220 overall at the plate as a team (160-for-728) with 84 runs scored, 31 doubles, two triples and nine homeruns. Coming into the weekend, the Bulldogs have two players averaging .270 or better at the plate on at least 70 at-bats. Leading the hitters is Maddie Rahon with a .275 batting average (25-for-91). Behind Rahon is Jordyn Wadley with a .274 average at the plate this season (20-for-73). 

In terms of power hitters, Wadley leads the team in homeruns with four on the season. Behind Wadley is Skyla McPhillips who has hit two homers. Closing out the list of homerun hitters for Southwestern Oklahoma State is Rahon, Caitlin DeIaney and Kaylee Barkley with one bomb each on the year. In terms of RBI's, Wadley leads the Bulldogs with 16, while McPhillips follows behind with 11 RBI's. 

In the circle, the Bulldogs have a team ERA of 5.18 and have 80 strikeouts in 185.0 total innings. 

Four total pitchers have made at least one appearance in the circle this season for Southwestern Oklahoma State. Brianna Cryer leads the team in starts with 14, while Taryn Westbrook has started 13 games in the circle. Cryer is 3-10 on the year with a 5.51 ERA and has a team-high 39 strikeouts in 67.1 innings pitched. She has also thrown five complete games, has one shutout and has one save for the Bulldogs. Westbrook is 0-12 with a 5.98 ERA and has recorded 24 strikeouts in 66.2 innings. In terms of complete games, Westbrook has thrown four. 

In relief, Barkley leads the Bulldogs with 16 total appearances and has logged one save in those appearances. Barkley is 2-1 on the year with a team-best 2.40 ERA and has struckout 10 hitters in 43.2 total innings. Opposing bats are hitting .295 against Barkley when she is in the circle.