---

Setting the Scene
- SWOSU Baseball (8-9, 4-5 GAC) plays in a non-conference midweek game in Chickasha on Tuesday against Science & Arts (USAO) in a single-nine inning game starting at 4:00 pm
- The Bulldogs are coming off of a Great American Conference series victory over East Central after taking two out of three from the Tigers last weekend
- Last season, SWOSU and USAO played three times in non-conference action and the Bulldogs were victorious in two of those three affairs
- The all-time record favors SWOSU since it's been an NCAA Division II school, as the Bulldogs lead the series 25-11 including an 8-2 mark since Head Coach Zack Saunders has been at the helm
 
The Opponent
Science & Arts (16-7)
- Finished last year with a 48-13 record, making it to the NAIA World Series
- This season, the Drovers are off to a 16-7 start and have won two-straight coming into their contest with SWOSU
- USAO has eight players who have played in at least 13 games who are batting over .300, led by Christian Perez who leads the team with a .509 average  
- The Drover pitching staff holds a team ERA of 2.67

 The Coaches
SWOSU: Zack Saunders (142-110, 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
 
USAO: Mike Ross (163-228, 10th season)
- Led the Drovers to an NAIA World Series in 2016
- Has been at USAO since 2005 and the head coach of the baseball team since 2009 and he's led the Drovers to 25 wins or more in each season

Checking the 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
- Gunnar Cook had another successful outing against East Central, pitching 7.2 innings, striking out nine Tigers and only allowing one run in his second-straight start to lower his season ERA down to a 5.26
- Ruben Rodriguez collected two hits in all three games, batting .667 on the weekend and improving his season average to .311
- Rodriguez is currently second in the GAC in runs scored with 19
- Jason Nichols had at least one hit in all three games for the Dawgs including a three-hit performance in the opening game and leads the team with a .387 batting average
- Vincent Berrones made another lefty-lefty matchup appearance this weekend, striking out his only batter faced to help SWOSU get out of a scoring threat by ECU
- Rafael Otero ranks tied for second in the conference with five home runs

Looking Ahead
- The Dawgs will play a road GAC series in Durant starting on Friday, March 10 with a single nine-inning game and then play the doubleheader portion on Saturday starting at noon