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QUIKTRIP DIVISION II CLASSIC Grand Prairie, Texas (QuikTrip Park) Tournament Homepage Live Stats  |  Live Video SWOSU Weekly Notes (pdf) SWOSU vs. Pittsburg State (0-0) Thursday, February 5, 7:00 pm SWOSU vs. #21 Texas A&M-Kingsville (0-0) Friday, February 6, 1:00 pm SWOSU vs. Nebraska-Kearney (1-2) Saturday, February 7, 10:00 am SWOSU vs. Ouachita Baptist (2-1) Sunday, February 8, 4:00 pm

Setting the Scene
- SWOSU Baseball sets their sites on Grand Prairie, Texas, and the QuikTrip NCAA Division II Classic this weekend where they will play four games from Thursday to Sunday
- The Bulldogs open the tournament on Thursday night against Pittsburg State before facing Texas A&M-Kingsville Friday, Nebraska-Kearney Saturday and GAC foe Ouachita Baptist on Sunday
- Three of the games are against in-region foes while the Kingsville game will also count as a regional game with the opponent coming from a bordering state
- SWOSU enters the weekend 0-2 after a pair of one-run losses last weekend in the opening series against West Texas A&M
 
The Opponents
Pittsburg State (0-0)
- Chosen to finish tied for 11th out of 14 teams in the MIAA Preseason Poll, which was released last week
- Return five position players who started 17 or more games in 2015 and welcome back nine pitchers who saw action on the mount a year ago
- Finished 2014 with an 18-32 record, which included a 13-27 mark in league games
 
#21 Texas A&M-Kingsville (0-0)
- Enter the season as the #21-ranked team in NCAA Division II according to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association preseason poll
- Picked to finish first in the Lone Star Conference following a 38-20 record an NCAA Tournament appearance last season
- Leading returner is closer Ryan Scott, an All-LSC honoree who tied a school record with 14 saves last season
 
Nebraska-Kearney (1-2)
- Enter the weekend with a 1-2 record after taking one game off of a three-game set against Metro State
- Picked to finish 5th in the MIAA after going 30-19 last season
- Return seven starters and six pitchers off of last season's team, including All-American right fielder Anthony Pacheco and All-Region utility player Danny Droll
 
Ouachita Baptist (2-1)
- Fellow Great American Conference foe, was picked to finish 5th in the conference this season after going 25-28 (16-14 GAC) last season
- Took two wins in a three-game series against St. Edward's last weekend to open the season
- Five of their top seven hitting leaders are back this season, including First Team All-GAC selection Parker Norris
- Lost their two top starts and closer, but have two key pitcher returning
 
The Coaches
SWOSU: Zack Saunders (83-60, 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
 
Pittsburg State: Matt Murray (47-56. 3rd season)
 
Texas A&M-Kingsville: Jason Gonzales (183-40, 7th season)
 
Nebraska-Kearney: Damon Day (305-295, 12th season)
 
Ouachita Baptist: Jeremy Haworth (79-79-1, 4th season)
 
Last Time Out
- SWOSU has runners on base in the final inning of both games, but dropped two one-run games to West Texas A&M last Sunday, by scores of 6-5 and 4-3
- Jacob Spring and Korbin Polston led the Bulldogs with three hits apiece in the set while Mason Marshall had a team-best 2 RBI
- Connor Garcia took the loss in Game 1 after allowing four earned in 4.1 innings of work
- Jon Chidester gave up four runs on seven hits in 5.0 innings, but suffered the loss in Game 2
 
SWOSU Notes
- Nine of eleven players that had an at-bat in the West Texas A&M series recorded at least one hit against the Buffs
- Spring and Polston each had three hits on the day while Nolan Barrientos and Christian Perez had two apiece
- The Bulldogs uncharacterstically committed five errors on the day and have a team fielding percentage of .918 after two games
- Bryan Holt started the second game at catcher, going 1-for-3 at the plate, including an RBI single
- SWOSU's top returner, shortstop Dalton Daniels, went 1-for-6 at the dish against WT and committed an error after earning a Central Region Gold Glove as a junior
- Three pitchers who threw last weekend - Jon Chidester, Austin Hilton and Ben Schweifurth - did not allow an earned run in their first appearances
- Opponents are hitting .264 off of the Bulldogs while SWOSU is batting .254 as a team
 
Looking Ahead
- SWOSU concludes their home-and-home series against West Texas A&M next Tuesday before hosting East Central for a Great American Conference three-game set that weekend