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ROUTE 66 RIVALRY SWOSU (13-7, 6-3 GAC) at Southern Nazarene (4-17, 4-8 GAC) Saturday, March 19, 1:00 pm (DH) Sunday, March 20, 3:00 pm Live Stats  |  Watch Live

Setting the Stage
- For the first time in almost a month, SWOSU Baseball is on the road this weekend to face Route 66 Rival Southern Nazarene for a three-game series in Bethany
- The Bulldogs and Crimson Storm are scheduled to play a doubleheader on Saturday at 1:00 pm before concluding the series on Sunday with a single game at 3:00 pm
- SWOSU is tied for the best winning percentage in the Great American Conference, but they had last week's three-game series against Arkansas-Monticello rained out to leave them behind Oklahoma Baptist and Henderson State in conference wins
- Southern Nazarene enters the weekend 4-17 (4-8 GAC) on the year after taking two-of-three games from Harding last weekend
 
The Opponent
Southern Nazarene (4-17, 4-8 GAC)
- Earned their first conference series win of the season last weekend, sweeping a doubleheader against Harding on Monday to win the series 2-1
- SNU has won at least one game in three of their four series, suffering their lone sweep against Southern Arkansas in the last weekend of February
- Ranked 11th in the GAC in team pitching with a 7.35 ERA, having allowed 231 hits and 129 earned runs with a league-low 99 strikeouts in 158.0 innings this season
- Seventh-best hitting team in the conference, sporting a .254 batting average with 78 runs scored on 163 hits in 21 games
 
The Coaches
SWOSU: Zack Saunders (115-92, 5th season)
- Has led the Bulldogs to three winning seasons and he's led the team to the GAC Tournament on three occasions while tutoring 16 all-conference players
- Earned his 100th career victory at SWOSU against Northwestern Oklahoma State on April 24, 2015
 
Southern Nazarene: Robert Lee (73-119, 5th season)
- Was named the head coach of SNU Baseball in the summer of 2011 after spending seven years as an assistant coach working with the Crimson Storm's pitching staff
 
SWOSU Notes
- SWOSU ranks second in the GAC in team batting with a .300 batting average and the Bulldogs have totaled 189 hits, 160 runs, 36 doubles, 10 home runs and a league-leading 10 triples in 20 games this season
- Ten different Bulldogs have recorded a multi-hit game this season, led by Korbin Polston with 10, while 12 different players have had a multi-RBI game this season, with Jacob Spring leading the team with 8
- Polston and Zach Barton are both currently riding 11-game hit streaks, the longest by a Bulldog this season, and Barton is the only SWOSU player to reach base safely in all 20 games this season
- Spring is tied for the NCAA Division II lead with six triples this season and he has a team-best four home runs while sharing the team lead of 23 RBI with Polston
- Projected Game 1 starter, Jon Chidester, leads the GAC with a 1.57 ERA and he is 4-1 on the year to rank second in the league for wins
- SWOSU's other weekend starters, Gunnar Cook and Devin Ring, are a combined 5-5 this season and Cook leads the Bulldogs with 26 strikeouts this season
 
Looking Ahead
- Next week, SWOSU heads to Chickasha to face Science & Arts on Tuesday before hosting Oklahoma Baptist for a three-game weekend series