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Setting the Scene
- SWOSU Baseball (8-10, 4-5 GAC) travels to Durant for a Great American Conference series against Southeastern having won their previous two GAC series coming into the weekend
- Due to weather concerns the series has been pushed back to Sunday and Monday, with a single nine-inning game on Sunday beginning at 2:00 and then the doubleheader portion of the series on Monday starting at noon 
- The Bulldogs are coming off two out of three conference series victories over Harding and East Central after being swept by Arkansas Tech to kick off conference play
- Last season, the Dawgs took two of three from the Savage Storm winning games 15-6 and 18-4 before dropping the final game 14-9
- In SWOSU's Division II era, SE holds the all-time record against the Dawgs 45-30 but SWOSU leads 8-7 in GAC play dating back to 2012
 
Midweek – Tuesday, March 14
- After a GAC series in Durant, the Bulldogs return home and immediately welcome the No. 4-ranked team in NAIA: Oklahoma City
- Last season the Dawgs faced OCU in Oklahoma City and came away extra-inning winners after defeating the Stars 9-7 in 11 innings
- The contest last year was Saunders' first matchup against Oklahoma City and the first time SWOSU had faced the Stars since 2011
 
The Opponents
Southeastern Okla. St. (3-14-1, 2-7 GAC)
- The Savage Storm have struggled early in the season, but are coming off a GAC series victory over Northwestern last weekend where they took two out of three from the Rangers and a tough loss and a tie against now No. 21-ranked Central Oklahoma during their midweek action
- Brett Akins leads the SE offense with a .321 batting average and 9 RBI
- Mike Wade has the lowest ERA on the pitching staff with a 2.95 through 18.1 innings and four appearances (including three starts)
- The Savage Storm hold the third highest fielding percentage in the conference at .967
 
Oklahoma City (24-4)
- Stars are hitting .383 as a squad including six players at .400 or better
- On the mound, OCU pitchers have a combined 4.24 ERA and are holding opponents to a .238 batting average
- Oklahoma City has only played three games away from their home ballpark and are 2-1 in such contests

 The Coaches
SWOSU: Zack Saunders (142-111, 6th season)
- Two-time Great American Conference Coach of the Year, winning the award in 2013 and 2016
- Inducted into the Muskogee Athletic Hall of Fame on October 13, 2016
- Earned his 100th career victory at SWOSU against Northwestern Oklahoma State on April 24, 2015
- 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: Mike Metheny (1,311-664-3, 38th season)
- Coach Metheny is now three wins away from tying (four to break) the NCAA Division II record for career wins of 1,314 set by Armstrong State's Joe Roberts
- Metheny took over the reins of the program prior to the 1981 season and has continued to make them a dominant force on the diamond ever since
- His connection with SOSU has spanned more than 40 years from his beginnings as a player, through being a graduate assistant, an assistant coach and eventually head coach
 
Oklahoma City: Denney Crabaugh (1,208-370-2, 25th season)
- Denney Crabaugh has built the winningest baseball program in the nation and a hall of fame career in 25 years at Oklahoma City
- Since 1991, OCU has 1,118 wins for the most in college baseball in that span
- Crabaugh is now a member of the Oklahoma Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame and the NAIA Hall of Fame  
 
Checking the Conference Standings
- Arkansas Tech remains the last unbeaten in GAC play, making it three weekends without a loss and sits atop the conference standings at 9-0 followed by Southern Arkansas a game behind at 8-1
- Henderson State and Arkansas-Monticello are tied for third with 7-2 marks, three games in front of SWOSU, Oklahoma Baptist and East Central who hold 4-5 records in fourth 
- Ouachita and Harding are tied for fifth with 3-6 slates while Northwestern and Southeastern have 2-7 records and Southern Nazarene rounds out the rankings with a 1-8 start
 
SWOSU Notes
- Jeremy Smith holds the fourth-best ERA in the GAC with a 1.89 in six appearances on the mound including one start
- Gunnar Cook has now given SWOSU back-to-back quality starts after pitching 7.2 innings against ECU while only allowing one run to move to 2-1 on the season
- Ruben Rodriguez is tied for second in the conference with his 19 runs scored, two fewer than the leader
- Rodriguez leads the Dawgs with eight multi-hit games while holding the team's second-best batting average of .311
- For players with at least 10 starts under their belt, Jason Nichols is hitting the sixth highest average in the league at .387
- Nichols has reached base safely in 17 of SWOSU's 18 contests this season
- Daniel Richardson has had multiple RBIs in five contests this season which is a team best, and sits one rib short of Rafael Otero for the team lead

Looking Ahead
- The Bulldogs will head to Arkansas to take on Southern Arkansas in another GAC series beginning Friday night (March 17) with a single nine-inning game under the lights and will conclude the following day with a doubleheader starting at 2:00 pm