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SWOSU (13-15) at Fort Hays State (4-17) Wednesday, March 25, 2:00 pm Hays, Kan. (Larks Park) Live Stats SWOSU (13-15, 7-8 GAC) at Henderson State (15-8, 8-6 GAC) Friday, March 27, 2:00 pm Saturday, March 28, 12:00 pm (DH) Arkadelphia, Ark. (Clyde Berry Field) Live Stats SWOSU Weekly Notes (pdf)

Setting the Scene
- SWOSU Baseball remains on the road as they complete a seven-game road swing this weekend with games at Fort Hays State and Henderson State
- The Bulldogs are completing a home-and-home series with FHSU after defeating the Tigers 7-6 in Weatherford last Wednesday
- The weekend brings a return to Great American Conference play as SWOSU visits Arkadelphia for a three-game set with Henderson State
- SWOSU has won three of their last four GAC series to improve to 7-8 in league play heading into the weekend
- The Bulldogs are 7-6 on the road this season with a 4-2 mark in conference road games
 
The Opponent
Fort Hays State (4-17)
- Enter the week having lost 13 of their past 14 games heading into a matchup on Tuesday evening at McPherson College
- Had 12 hits off the Bulldogs last Wednesday with multi-hit games from Nick Hammeke, Austin Unrein, Kevin Czarnecki, Gus Strunk and Casey Sedbrook
- Czarnecki is their leading hitter, batting .366 with seven doubles, three home runs and 10 RBI while Unrein and Connor Ross are also batting above .300
- Cooper Langley leads the team with 25 RBI on 19 hits
- Have a team ERA of 8.13 but they've now held opponents to eight runs or less in six consecutive games
- Used four different pitchers against the Bulldogs last week, including starter Alex Cox, who allowed just two hits and one run in 3.0 innings of action
 
Henderson State (15-8, 8-6 GAC)
- In the midst of a breakout season that has seen the Reddies ranked as high as No. 5 in NCAA Division II this season
- Have won four of their five Great American Conference series so far this season, with their lone defeat a two-game sweep at Arkansas-Monticello
- Ranked sixth in the GAC in batting with a team average of .276, 206 hits, 28 doubles, two triples and eight home runs
- Led by Lance Fields, who is hitting .354, and Claude Johnson, who hits .326 and ranks eighth in the GAC with 30 hits
- The Reddies are the top pitching team in the conference with a team ERA of 2.82 that includes holding opponents to a .234 batting average
- Six pitchers, including three of their starters, have an ERA of lower than 3.25 and only one pitcher has a losing record
 
The Coaches
SWOSU: Zack Saunders (96-73, 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
- Has a record of 96-73 while leading the Bulldogs, with a 1-0 career mark against FHSU and a record of 7-2 against Henderson State
 
Fort Hays State: Steve Johnson (100-115, 5th season)
- In the midst of his fifth season at FHSU, where he has led the Tigers to three MIAA Tournament appearances and three 20-win seasons
- Best season at FHSU came in 2011-12 when the Tigers finished fourth in the MIAA and had an overall record of 29-24
 
Henderson State: Cody Hooten (98-119-1, 5th season)
- In his fifth year as Henderson State's head baseball coach after serving three years as an assistant coach for the Reddies
- Having a breakout season at HSU this season with 15 victories to date and the highest ranking in their Division II history previously this year
 
SWOSU Notes
- An eight-strikeout performance and seven scoreless innings against Arkansas-Fort Smith earned Jon Chidester his second GAC Pitcher of the Week nod in March on Monday
- Chidester joins Cam McKay of East Central as the only pitchers in the GAC to earn multiple weekly honors so far this season
- CJ Faddis is tied for the league lead with a 12 stolen bases in 13 attempts for a 93.2% success rate on the base path
- Faddis owns an eight-game hit streak earlier this season, the longest such streak by a Bulldog this year
- Christian Perez, who hasn't seen game action since February 21, owns a three-game hit streak, the longest active streak on the team, followed by Nolan Barrientos and Chris Graham with one-game streaks
- With three triples to his credit, Jacob Spring is tied for the GAC lead in the category
- Taylor Weifenbach has made 13 pitching appearances this season with just one start and he ranks second in the league in appearances on the mound
- Weifenbach and Ethan Davis are tied for the team lead with three saves apiece, while Kent Callison and Brett McNaughton have one save apiece to their credit
- Dalton Daniels has a team leading seven multi-hit performances to his credit, including six two-hit games and a three-hit effort in Friday's game at Arkansas-Fort Smith
 
Looking Ahead
- After nearly two weeks away from home, the Bulldogs return to the Athletic Complex next weekend to host Ouachita Baptist in a three-game GAC series