Northwestern Oklahoma State (14-32, 11-19 GAC) at SWOSU (30-13, 19-8 GAC)
Saturday, April 30, 1:30 pm (DH)
Sunday, May 1, 1:00 pm
Weatherford, Okla. (Athletic Complex)
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Setting the Stage
- After recording their 30th win of the season on Tuesday, the SWOSU Baseball (30-13, 19-8 GAC) team returns home to conclude the regular season with a three-game rivalry series against Northwestern Oklahoma State
- Due to weather concerns, the series has been pushed back one day and the teams will now play a doubleheader on Saturday at 1:30 pm before culminating on Sunday with a single game at 1:00 pm
- SWOSU enters the weekend one game behind Arkansas-Monticello in the conference standings, needing to be one game better than the Weevils this weekend to claim a share of their first Great American Conference championship
The Opponent
Northwestern Oklahoma State (14-32, 11-19 GAC)
- Fighting for their postseason life, the Rangers are currently tied for the final spot in the GAC Tournament with Arkansas Tech and Ouachita
- Northwestern has the lowest team batting average in the conference, hitting .250 as a team for the year with 361 hits and 366 strikeouts
- The Rangers pitching staff, anchored by ace Robert Lawhon, is ranked eighth in the conference with a 4.94 earned run average and they've issued a league-leading 184 walks
The Coaches
SWOSU: Zack Saunders (132-98, 5th season)
- In the midst of his second 30-win season as the head coach of the Bulldogs, where he has led SWOSU to four winning seasons while tutoring 16 all-conference players
- Earned his 100th career victory at SWOSU against Northwestern Oklahoma State on April 24, 2015
Northwestern Oklahoma State: Sam Carel (33-61, 2nd season)
- Concluding his second season as the head coach of the Rangers after previously coaching at Jefferson College
SWOSU Notes
- SWOSU Baseball will honor 15 seniors from the 2016 squad prior to Saturday's doubleheader, they are:
Tanner Dearman,
Haden Houska,
Trent Troxell,
Zach Barton,
CJ Faddis,
Jacob Spring,
Bryan Holt,
Greg Bruno,
Jon Chidester,
Ben Schweinfurth,
Korbin Polston,
Austin Hilton,
Dillon Freie,
Brett McNaughton and
Connor Garcia
- SWOSU relief pitcher
Ben Schweinfurth has not allowed an earned run in his last two outings, allowing him to lower his league-leading ERA to 2.05 for the year
- Centerfielder
Tanner Dearman enters the weekend with 59 runs scored, a mark that leads the GAC by a wide margin and ranks among the top ten in NCAA Division II
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Korbin Polston is ranked second in the league with 61 hits, one ahead of Dearman who is tied for fourth in the league
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Jacob Spring leads the conference with 56 runs batted in, with Polston not far behind in fourth with 49
- SWOSU has three pitchers in the top ten in the conference in ERA, with
Jon Chidester (6th/2.87) and
Gunnar Cook (10th/3.38) not far behind Schweinfurth
Looking Ahead
- SWOSU has secured their spot in the Great American Conference Tournament, which will begin next weekend with a three-game series at campus sites
