SERIES INFORMATION
ARKANSAS TECH WONDER BOYS 11-14 (8-6 GAC)	EAST CENTRAL TIGERS 4-22 (1-14 GAC)
Friday, March 21 | 2 p.m. Ken Turner Field | Ada, Okla. LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO Saturday, March 22 | 1 p.m. Ken Turner Field | Ada, Okla. LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO

FIRST PITCH
The Arkansas Tech baseball team is looking to carry over its growing momentum to this weekend for their road series at East Central.
 
The three-game series is slated to start with a single game on Friday at 2 p.m. and conclude with a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 1 p.m.
 
The Wonder Boys and Tigers have met 58 times historically in a series that dates back to 2000. In terms of the all-time series record, Tech holds a 45-15 lead over ECU.
 
The two teams met three times last season with the weekend series being played at Tech. The Wonder Boys would sweep the series, winning 11-1, 12-2 and 17-1.
 

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TECH(NICALLY) SPEAKING
The Wonder Boys enter their weekend series at East Central with an 11-14 overall record and an 8-6 mark in the GAC. Tech is currently riding a three-game winning streak as they won the last two games of their weekend series against Southeastern this past weekend and most-recently winning a road mid-week game at No. 12-ranked Delta State.
                                                                                        
Entering play, the Wonder Boys are hitting .271 as a team (217-for-800) with 175 runs scored, 36 doubles, six triples and 15 home runs. Cole Dawson currently leads the team in batting average at .368 (32-for-87) and leads the team in runs scored at 28. Simon Murray has the highest slugging percentage on the team at .547 thanks to four home runs. Murray is one of seven players on the team with double-digit RBIs and is tied with Sawyer Duddleston for second with 17. Kirby Jenkins currently leads the club in RBIs with 19.
 
On the mound, the Wonder Boys have a team ERA of 7.79 and have struck out 175 batters in 195.1 innings of work.
 
Jack Rector, Emiliano Mata and Daniel Hutchison made starts over the past weekend in the games played against Southeastern Oklahoma and figure to be a part of this weekend's rotation as well.
 
Rector is 1-3 with a 6.96 ERA and 44 strikeouts over 32.1 innings. Hutchison is 2-2 with a 7.26 ERA and 31 strikeouts across 31.0 innings. Mata is 1-2 with an 8.00 ERA and five strikeouts in 18.0 innings.
 
Eleven relievers have made multiple appearances with Austin Mittlestedt having the most with nine. He is currently 2-1 with a 5.23 ERA and 11 strikeouts in 10.1 innings. Turner Seelinger is next in appearances with eight. He is 0-1 with a 10.32 ERA and nine strikeouts in 11.1 innings. JT Cafferty and Derek Rockett are next in relief appearances with seven apiece.
 
Leading the Wonder Boys once more is Dave Dawson. The all-time winningest coach in Tech Baseball history, Dawson enters his 16th year in the dugout for the Wonder Boys. In his previous 15 seasons, Dawson has guided amassed a 450-311 record. He has also had eight 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 20th 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. His combined win total at Tech and Kansas Wesleyan have him with a career record of 579-416.
 

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SCOUTING EAST CENTRAL
East Central enters the weekend series at home against Tech with a 4-22 overall record and a 1-14 mark in the GAC. The Tigers are coming off a win their last time out as they beat Southeastern Oklahoma, 16-5 in seven innings in a mid-week game this past Tuesday.
 
Offensively, the Tigers are hitting .261 as a team (213-for-816) with 138 runs scored, 46 doubles, three triples and nine home runs.
 
Tyler Akers leads the team in batting average at .354 (23-for-65). Zac Carroll is not far off that at .347 (34-for-98). Carroll also leads the team in slugging at .480 thanks to a team-leading 10 doubles and a home run. He also leads the club in runs scored with 23 and RBIs with 18.
 
On the mound, the Tigers have a 7.54 team ERA and have struck out 183 batters in 204.0 innings of work.
 
This past weekend, the Tigers had a starting rotation of Justin Smith, Ezra Gustafson and Cal Birchfield against Harding. Gustafson and Birchfield have been primary weekend starters for ECU as Gustafson has made seven starts while Birchfield has made six. For Smith, his start against Harding was the first of the season. Joel Hogan has also made multiple starts for ECU with six in eight overall appearances.
 
Gustafson is 1-4 with a 4.28 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 33.2 innings. Birchfield is 0-5 with a 10.13 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 21.1 innings. Smith is 1-1 with a 4.08 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 17.2 innings.
 
The Tigers have used eight other pitchers in strictly relief roles. Four of those have made at least four appearances. Nate Windle has been the reliever called upon the most with eight appearances. He is 0-1 with a 7.77 ERA with 22 strikeouts in 22.0 innings.
 
The Tigers are led by Kevin Paxson, who is in his second season as head coach at East Central. At ECU, Paxson is 13-63.