FIRST PITCH
The Arkansas Tech baseball team is back at home this weekend and will face off with Southwestern Oklahoma in a three-game Great American Conference series.
The series is slated to begin with a single nine-inning game on Friday night starting at 6 p.m. Saturday will close the series with a doubleheader (9-7) starting at 1 p.m.
The Wonder Boys and Bulldogs have met 41 historically in a series that dates back to 2010. In terms of the all-time series record, Tech holds a 25-16 lead over SWOSU.
The two teams met three times last season with the three-game conference series being played at SWOSU. Tech would sweep the series winning, 17-0, 11-7 and 9-5.
TECH(NICALLY) SPEAKING
The Wonder Boys enter this weekend series at home against Southwestern Oklahoma with an overall record of 16-12 and an 8-7 mark in the GAC. This past weekend, the Wonder Boys dropped their series on the road at Northwestern Oklahoma, losing the first two games by a run each, 3-2 and 3-2. The Wonder Boys would bounce back in the finale and won 8-0. Earlier this week, the Wonder Boys also won their mid-week game on the road at Arkansas-Monticello.
Entering play against Southwestern Oklahoma, the Wonder Boys are hitting .257 as a team (223-for-867) with 166 runs scored, 47 doubles, four triples and 19 home runs.
Logan Schwenke currently leads the team in batting average at .364 (28-for-77). Schwenke has also been the top-power production bat in the lineup as he leads the team in slugging percentage at .714 thanks to seven doubles, one triple and six home runs. His home run total leads the team, and he is also the team-leader in RBIs with 22. Six other Wonder Boys have driven in at least 10 runs and two others have at least 20 driven in.
Keaton Ranallo is second on the team in home runs at four while Markos Cabranes is right behind with three. Christian Olea and Brendyn Bard have two and Cole Dawson and Nick Jones account for the other homers thus far with one apiece.
In terms of other extra-base hits, Olea leads the team in doubles with eight while the triples have come from four different players in Sawyer Duddleston, Grant Jones, Bard and Schwenke.
On the mound, the Wonder Boys have a team ERA of 4.32 and have struck out 248 batters in 233.1 innings of work.
John Gray, Emilano Mata, and Jack Rector made starts this past weekend against Northwestern Oklahoma and figure to be in the mix to start against Southwestern Oklahoma. Rector currently has the lowest ERA among starters at 4.33. He also is 2-3 with 28 strikeouts in 27.0 innings of work. All three weekend starters have registered at least 20 strikeouts thus far with Gray leading the group with 39 Ks.
Aside from those that have made starts, 12 other pitchers have taken the mound for the Wonder Boys in relief roles. Will Horton has the most relief appearances thus far with 12. He is 3-1 with two saves and has a 1.93 ERA with 19 strikeouts in 18.2 innings. Grant Shahan has logged the most innings amongst prominent relievers with 29.0 to his credit. Shahan is second on the team in strikeouts with 35.
Leading the Wonder Boys once more is Dave Dawson. The all-time winningest coach in Tech Baseball history, Dawson enters his 15th year in the dugout for the Wonder Boys. In his previous 14 seasons, Dawson has guided amassed a 414-298 record. He has also had seven 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 19th 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 546-394.
SCOUTING SOUTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA
Southwestern Oklahoma enters this weekend series with Tech with a 15-12 overall record and a 7-8 mark in the GAC. This past weekend, the Bulldogs were swept in their three-game series at home against Harding, losing the opener and finale in extra innings. Most-recently, the Bulldogs lost their mid-week game against Oklahoma Science and Arts, 21-11.
Offensively, the Bulldogs are hitting .298 as a team (256-for-859) with 200 runs scored, 59 doubles, eight triples and 23 home runs.
Marco Barrera currently leads the team in batting average at .397 (29-for-73). Geoff Marlow has provided the most power production thus far with a .698 slugging percentage thanks to 11 doubles and seven home runs. Marlow's seven home runs lead the team as do his 30 runs scored. Additionally, his 23 RBIs are second on the team. The team-leader in the category is Jackson Syring with 24 while two others have at least 20 RBIS.
On the mound, the Bulldogs have a 5.19 team ERA and have struck out 201 batters in 218.0 innings of work.
Last weekend, the Bulldogs used a weekend rotation of Rece Parker, Josh Fluet and Jackson Phillips against Harding and figure to see to action in the same roles against Tech. Parker has the lowest ERA among the starters at 3.77 and is 2-1 with 36 strikeouts in 31.0 innings of work. Phillips is 5-0 with a 3.99 ERA with 39 strikeouts in 38.1 innings.
In addition to those starters, the Bulldogs have used 13 other pitchers in relief roles. Ernesto Hidrogo has made the most relief appearances with 10. He is 2-2 with a save and has a 2.75 ERA with 11 strikeouts in 19.2 innings.
The Bulldogs are led by Zack Saunders, who is in his 13th season as head coach at Southwestern Oklahoma. In his time at SWOSU, Saunders is 288-268.
