FIRST PITCH
The Arkansas Tech baseball team is on the road this weekend and will play a three-game conference series at Northwestern Oklahoma.
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 Rangers have met 30 times historically in a series that dates back to 2013. In terms of the all-time series record, Tech holds a 23-7 lead over Northwestern Oklahoma.
The two teams met three times last season with a three-game conference series at Tech. The Wonder Boys swept the series and won the first two games on walk-offs.
TECH(NICALLY) SPEAKING
The Wonder Boys enter this weekend series on the road at Northwestern Oklahoma with an overall record of 14-10 and a 7-5 mark in the GAC. This past weekend, the Wonder Boys won their series at home against Ouachita Baptist, winning the first two games by shutout, 3-0 and 2-0. The Wonder Boys would fall one-run shy of a sweep in the finale.
Entering play against Northwestern Oklahoma, the Wonder Boys are hitting .256 as a team (189-for-739) with 145 runs scored, 38 doubles, four triples and 18 home runs.
Logan Schwenke currently leads the team in batting average at .349 (22-for-63). Schwenke has also been the top-power production bat in the lineup as he leads the team in slugging percentage at .762 thanks to six doubles, one triple and six home runs. His home run total leads the team, and he is also the team-leader in RBIs with 21. Five other Wonder Boys have driven in at least 10 runs.
Keaton Ranallo is second on the team in home runs at four while Markos Cabranes, Christian Olea and Brendyn Bard have two. Cole Dawson and Nick Jones account for the other homers thus far with one apiece.
In terms of other extra-base hits, Shane Poe leads the team in doubles with seven 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 4.44 and have struck out 214 batters in 200.2 innings of work.
John Gray, Emilano Mata, and Jack Rector made starts this past weekend against Ouachita Baptist and figure to be in the mix to start against Northwestern Oklahoma. Mata currently has the lowest ERA among starters at 4.57. He also is 1-1 with 21 strikeouts in 21.2 innings of work. All three weekend starters have registered at least 20 strikeouts thus far with Gray leading the group with 32 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 11. He is 3-1 with two saves and has a 1.47 ERA with 19 strikeouts in 18.1 innings. Grant Shahan has logged the most innings in relief with 25.2 to his credit. Shahan is also currently tied for the team-lead in strikeouts with 32.
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 542-391.
SCOUTING NORTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA
Northwestern Oklahoma enters this weekend series with Tech with a 16-8 overall record and an 8-4 mark in the GAC. This past weekend, the Rangers swept their conference series at home against Southern Nazarene. Most-recently, Northwestern Oklahoma lost their mid-week game at home against Oklahoma Panhandle, 12-10.
Offensively, the Rangers are hitting .296 as a team (229-for-773) with 164 runs scored, 40 doubles, five triples and 33 home runs.
Carson Wright currently leads the team in batting average at .395 (30-for-76). Wright has also provided the most power production thus far with a .776 slugging percentage thanks to six doubles, a triple and seven home runs. Wright's seven home runs are tied for the team-lead with Colby Grace, while his 24 runs scored leads the team. Hagan Barcello leads the team in RBIs with 25.
On the mound, the Rangers have a 5.66 team ERA and have struck out 164 batters in 197.1 innings of work.
Last weekend, the Rangers used a weekend rotation of Garrett DeHaas, Jacob Fuller and Colby Mitchell against Southern Nazarene and figure to see to action in the same roles against Tech. DeHaas has the lowest ERA among the starters at 4.94 and leads the team in strikeouts with 20.
In addition to those starters, the Rangers have used 13 other pitchers in relief roles. Jacob Shaw has made the most relief appearances with 10. He is 3-0 with five saves and has a 1.80 ERA with 14 strikeouts in 15.0 innings.
The Rangers are led by Ryan Bowen, who is in his seventh season as head coach at Northwestern Oklahoma. In his time at NWOSU, Bowen is 142-142.
