Wonder Boys and Tigers meet for non-conference game

FIRST PITCH
Two days after winning the weekend series against Southern Arkansas, the Arkansas Tech baseball team is set to play its second mid-week non-conference game of the year as they play host to Ouachita Baptist.
The mid-week game is slated to begin on Monday afternoon starting at 4 p.m.
The Wonder Boys and Tigers have met 177 times historically in a series that dates back to 1912. In terms of the all-time series record, Tech holds a 103-73-1 lead over Ouachita.
The two teams met six times last season with a weekend series at Tech and then the opening round series of the conference tournament, which was also played at Tech. The Wonder Boys would win the regular season series, 2-1, and then claimed the post-season series, 2-1.
TECH(NICALLY) SPEAKING
The Wonder Boys enter the mid-week game with a 7-9 overall. This past weekend, Tech won their home series against Southern Arkansas as they took the first and third games over the Tigers.
Entering play, the Wonder Boys are hitting .252 as a team (131-for-520) with 95 runs scored, 21 doubles, five triples and nine home runs. Sawyer Duddleston currently leads the team in batting average at .350 (21-for-60). Duddleston also has the highest slugging percentage on the team at .583 thanks to five doubles and three home runs. Additionally, he is second on the team in RBIs at with nine and in runs scored with 15. Kirby Jenkins currently leads the club in RBIs with 13 while Cole Dawson leads in runs with 16.
On the mound, the Wonder Boys have a team ERA of 6.46 and have struck out 117 batters in 131.0 innings of work.
Jack Rector, Emiliano Mata and Daniel Hutchison made starts over the past weekend in the games played against Southern Arkansas and likely will not see action in the mid-week game. Tech has only played one mid-week game thus far this season and John Gray made the start.

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 450-314 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 575-411.
SCOUTING OUACHITA BAPTIST
Ouachita Baptist enters the mid-week game on the road against Tech with a 9-8 overall. This past weekend, the Tigers played at home against Harding and lost the series, 2-1. The one win for the Tigers came in the series finale.
Offensively, the Tigers are hitting .192 as a team (96-for-500) with 96 runs scored, 17 doubles, no triples and nine home runs.
Wesley Scott leads the team in batting average early on at .259 (15-for-58). Scott also paces the team in power production with a team-high .517 slugging percentage thanks to six doubles and three home runs. His doubles leads the team while his home runs are tied with Garrett Graham and Isaac Nowell. Scott also leads the team in RBIs with 13 and is second in runs scored with 11.
On the mound, the Tigers have a 5.55 team ERA and have struck out 149 batters in 141.0 innings of work.
This past weekend, the Tigers had a starting rotation of Chase Oberle, Kyzer Smith and Luke House against Harding. Those three have been primary weekend starters for the Tigers with all three having made five starts thus far.
Austin Bagnall is the only other pitcher that has made a start and has two. His most-recent start came last week in Ouachita's mid-week game on the road at Delta State.
The Tigers are led by Luke Howard, who is in his seventh season as head coach at Ouachita Baptist. In his time at Ouachita, Howard is 155-136.