GAME INFORMATION
NO.2-SEED ARKANSAS TECH WONDER BOYS 30-20 (23-10)	NO.7-SEED OUACHITA BAPTIST TIGERS 24-24 (16-17 GAC)
Thursday, April 30 | 4:30 p.m. Majestic Park | Hot Springs, Ark. LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO

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LEADING OFF
The Arkansas Tech baseball team is set to enter its 16th-straight conference tournament under head coach Dave Dawson, and after winning at least 20 games in league play for the fourth-consecutive year and eighth time overall, the Wonder Boys will be the No. 2-seed.
 
As the No. 2-seed, the Wonder Boys will face No. 7-seeded Ouachita Baptist in the opening game on Thursday, April 30. That game is slated for a 4:30 p.m. start time from Majestic Park in Hot Springs. The winner will then play a bracket semifinal game at 8 p.m. the following day, while the losing team will play an elimination game at 1 p.m. on Friday.
 
Historically, the Wonder Boys and Tigers have met 185 times before their tournament clash. The two have already played each other four times with Tech winning three of those games with a non-conference midweek victory in Arkadelphia and a 2-1 series win in Russellville at the end of March. Tech currently leads the series 109-75-1.
 

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TECH(NICALLY) SPEAKING
The Wonder Boys enters the GAC Tournament at 30-20 overall and ended 23-10 in the GAC. They are coming off a series win on the road at Harding this past weekend to secure the No. 2-seed.
 
Statistically, the Wonder Boys are hitting .286 as a team (447-for-1,561) with 335 runs scored, 94 doubles, eight triples and 28 home runs. Kirby Jenkins currently leads the team in batting average at .357 (61-for-117). Jenkins has also been the biggest power threat for the Wonder Boys as he leads the team with a .643 slugging percentage thanks to 16 doubles, three triples and nine home runs. Jenkins also leads the team in RBIs with 52 and runs scored with 49.
 
On the mound, the Wonder Boys have a team ERA of 4.90 and have struck out 336 batters in 400.1 innings of work.
 
Cole Dickson, Creighton Jacobitz and Daniel Hutchison all made starts over Tech's most-recent weekend at Harding and figure to be among the rotation this weekend at the GAC Tournament.
 
Jacobitz is 7-4 with a 3.46 ERA and has 64 strikeouts in 75.1 innings. Hutchison is 8-5 with a 4.66 ERA and has 52 strikeouts in 63.2 innings. Dickson is 4-4 with a 5.05 ERA and has 64 strikeouts in 62.1 innings.
 
Leading the Wonder Boys once more is Dave Dawson. The all-time winningest coach in Tech Baseball history, Dawson enters his 17th year in the dugout for the Wonder Boys. In his previous 16 seasons, Dawson has guided amassed a 482-334 record. He has also had nine 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 21st 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 630-445.
 

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SCOUTING OUACHITA BAPTIST
Ouachita Baptist enters the opening game of the GAC Tournament against Tech at 24-24 overall and ended the year 16-17 in the GAC. They have won three-straight games and are most-recently coming off a must-have series sweep at Henderson State this past weekend to play their way into the tournament.
 
Offensively, the Tigers are hitting .282 as a team (443-for-1,571) with 292 runs scored, 65 doubles, seven triples and 30 home runs. They are led in hitting by Jaren Ceasar at .387 (74-for-191). Joseph Bolin has been the biggest power threat for the Tigers as he leads the team in slugging percentage at .514 thanks to nine doubles and nine home runs. Bolin also leads the team in RBIs with 43 and in runs scored with 34.
 
On the mound, the Tigers have a 5.23 team ERA and have struck out 296 batters in 394.0 innings of work.
 
The Tigers used a weekend rotation of Chase Oberle, Austin Bagnall and Braden Tucker in their weekend series against Henderson State. Those three figure to be in the mix for the rotation during the tournament.
 
Oberle is 4-4 with a 3.43 ERA and has 52 strikeouts in 60.1 innings. Bagnall is 3-4 with a 4.99 ERA and has 38 strikeouts in 57.2 innings. Tucker is 6-3 with a 4.58 ERA and has 39 strikeouts in 59.0 innings.
 
The Tigers are led by Luke Howard, who is in his eighth season as head coach at Ouachita Baptist. In his time at Ouachita, Howard is 194-117.