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SWOSU (2-8, 0-3 GAC) at Southeastern (6-4, 2-1 GAC) Friday, February 20, 2:00 pm Saturday, February 21, 12:00 pm (DH) Durant, Okla. (The Ballpark in Durant) Live Stats SWOSU Weekly Notes (pdf)

Setting the Scene
- SWOSU Baseball hits the road this weekend for a three-game Great American Conference series in Durant against Southeastern Oklahoma State
- The Bulldogs are winless at 0-3 in league play after being swept by East Central last weekend in Weatherford
- Southeastern also started conference play last weekend, taking two-of-three games against Northwestern Oklahoma State in Alva
- With a one-run defeat against West Texas A&M last Tuesday, the Bulldogs come into the weekend on a four-game slide and just 2-8 overall
- The three-game sweep was just the third suffered by the Bulldogs since joining the GAC (2014 at Arkansas Tech; 2013 at Southern Arkansas) and the first time they've been swept in a home conference series
 
The Opponents
Southeastern Oklahoma State (6-4, 2-1 GAC)
- Riding a two-game win streak after sweeping a doubleheader against Northwestern on Saturday to win their first conference series
- Hold non-conference victories over Texas A&M-International, Cameron and Oklahoma Christian for an overall record of 6-4
- Strong at home with a 3-1 record in Durant to date with a sweep of Cameron and a split against OC
- Ranked fourth in the GAC in batting with a team average .283 while tied for eighth in team pitching with a 4.50 ERA
- Outfielder Collin Sefcik currently leads the GAC with a .448 batting average on 13 hits while Kaleb Thomas is also among the league's top ten at .407
- Dylan Linke has yet to record a decision in three starts, but he ranks fourth in the GAC with a 0.59 ERA in 15.1 innings of action
 
The Coaches
SWOSU: Zack Saunders (85-66, 4th season)
- In his fourth season leading the Bulldogs and his teams have earned a berth in the Great American Conference Tournament in each of the previous three seasons
- Has tutored 14 players who have earned All-GAC status, including four first-team selections, one All-Central Region honoree, one regional gold glove award winner and one MLB draftee
- Named GAC Coach of the Year in 2013 after leading the Bulldogs to a 31-16 record and a second place finish in the conference at 21-9
- Previously served as an assistant at SWOSU for six seasons under former Bulldog coaches Charles Teasley and Scott Selby
- Played collegiately at Kansas State following two seasons at Connors State playing on nationally-ranked junior college teams
 
Southeastern Oklahoma State: Mike Metheny (1,266-604-2, 7th season)
- His connection with Southeastern has spanned more than 40 years as a player, assistant coach at head coach, a role he began prior to the 1981 season
- In 2006, he became the 42nd coach in NCAA history to reach the 1,000-win plateau and he has now more than 1,200 career victories
- While SE was a member of the NAIA, his teams made seven trips to the NAIA World Series with three runner-up finishes
- Has claimed 15 conference championships and led the Savage Storm to its only NCAA National Championship in 2000
 
Checking the Standings
- A three-game sweep at the hands of East Central has the Bulldogs currently tied with Arkansas Tech for 10th in the GAC at 0-3
- The two teams are joined by Southern Arkansas, who had a bye last week, as the only GAC programs searching for their first conference victory this weekend
- East Central and Ouachita Baptist are on top of the standings at 3-0 after the opening weekend, with a trio of teams (Henderson State, Southeastern, Southern Nazarene) right behind at 2-1
 
SWOSU Notes
- Despite appearing in just four games for the Bulldogs, Cole Wagner currently leads the team with a .438 batting average, with seven hits, one double and four RBI in 16 plate appearances
- Bryan Holt has started six games behind the plate for SWOSU and he's currently hitting .381 with eight hits, two doubles, six RBI and four runs scored
- Christian Perez leads the Bulldogs with 10 runs scored and he's hitting .325 with an on-base percentage of .386. Perez also has a team-best five multi-hit games to lead the Bulldogs
- Jacob Spring had a seven-game hit streak snapped in Game 1 of the Bulldogs series against East Central, but he's still hit safely in eight of nine games he's played this season
- For the season, Spring is hitting .324 with two doubles, one triple, four RBI and six runs scored
- As a team, SWOSU currently ranks seventh in the GAC in batting with a team average of .271 and 48 runs scored
- SWOSU is tied with Harding for the fewest home runs in the conference with one, a solo shot from Nolan Barrientos against Nebraska-Kearney
- Just three players (Perez, Korbin Polston, Dalton Daniels) have started all 10 games for the Bulldogs this season
- SWOSU's team pitching also currently ranks seventh in the GAC with an ERA of 4.45 and an opposing batting average of .266
- Jon Chidester made his third start at SWOSU against East Central but took the loss after allowing five runs on eight hits in 6.1 innings of action
- The Bulldogs have used 12 different pitchers this season, with 10 who have made multiple appearances
 
Looking Ahead
- SWOSU is back on the road next weekend, taking on Southern Arkansas in a three-game GAC set in Magnolia before returning home on March 6-7 to face Arkansas-Monticello