Southern Nazarene (3-26, 3-15 GAC) at SWOSU (10-17, 6-10 GAC)
Friday/Saturday March 31 - April 1
Weatherford, Okla. (Athletic Complex)
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Setting the Scene
- SWOSU Baseball (10-17, 6-10 GAC) turns its focus to the Southern Nazarene Crimson Storm for a Friday and Saturday three-game Great American Conference series
- Due to possible rain in the forecast on Saturday, the schedule has shifted and the teams will play the doubleheader on Friday beginning at noon and finish with the final game the following day beginning at 1:00 pm
- The Dawgs swept SNU last season by scores of 5-2 in game one, 14-1 in game two and 5-2 again in game three
- The Crimson Storm lead the all-time series 17-15 since SWOSU has been a D2 institution, but since 2012 the Bulldogs are 10-3 against SNU and have won nine out of the last ten contests
The Opponent
Southern Nazarene (3-26, 3-15 GAC)
- SNU comes into the weekend tied for last place in the league standings, but are coming off a game-three victory over Harding which they hope to carry into the series with the Dawgs
- Despite their overall record, the Crimson Storm have fallen in 13 times this season in 3 or less run ballgames including 5-4 and 3-2 losses against Arkansas Tech
- Mike Descisciolo ranks seventh in the league in batting average at .365 amongst players with at least 20 games played
- Descisciolo also ranks first in RBIs (31) and second in homeruns (7)
The Coaches
SWOSU: Zack Saunders (144-118, 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
Southern Nazarene: Robert Lee (80-178, 6th season)
- Under the tutelage of Lee, four pitchers have gone on to play professionally while two have been drafted. He has also coached three NAIA All-Americans and one Sooner Athletic Conference Player of the Year; all on the SNU pitching staff
- Lee was named Head Coach of Southern Nazarene's baseball program, June 14, 2011 after spending seven years as an assistant coach working with the Crimson Storm's pitching staff
Checking the Conference Standings
- Southern Arkansas (17-1), Arkansas Tech (14-4), Arkansas-Monticello (13-5)
- Henderson State (12-6), Oklahoma Baptist (10-8), Harding (8-10)
-East Central (8-10), Ouachita (7-11), SWOSU (6-10)
- Southeastern (5-11), Northwestern (3-15), Southern Nazarene (3-15)
SWOSU Notes
- The Bulldogs snapped a season worst seven-game losing streak on Saturday against UAM when they grabbed the final game of the GAC series 8-1 to prevent the sweep
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Daniel Richardson had himself a weekend, batting .545 in the three-game set vs the Weevils with three doubles and a triple while driving in five and scoring four himself
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Connor Anderson collected five hits including his first-ever homerun as a Bulldog and is now batting .350 on the season
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Jason Nichols posted multi-hit games in every contest against UAM, with two hits and at least one RBI in each game to improve his batting average to .350
- After following Anderson's bomb with a dinger of his own,
Richard Marches now had two home runs on the season
- The Dawgs need a lead by the sixth inning because they are 6-1 in such games, but on the contrary just 1-14 when trailing after six innings
Looking Ahead
- The Bulldogs will play USAO on Tuesday, April 4 to conclude their eight-game home stand in a non-conference matchup against the Drovers
- That weekend, SWOSU travels to Shawnee to take on Oklahoma Baptist in another three-game league series starting Friday and finishing up on Saturday