WEATHERFORD, Okla. – The longtime relationship between Sonic Drive-In of Weatherford and SWOSU Baseball continued Monday when Sonic owner Tommy Sims came to campus to present head coach Zack Saunders with his annual contribution to the program.

Sims has donated to the baseball program for more than two decades as part of the Sonic Corporation partnership program.

"We're so grateful to Tommy for his consistent support," said Saunders. "We'll continue to use his donations to better our facilities, fund scholarships, and support the team. We wanted to do something extra this year for him to really show our appreciation, which is where the custom bat idea came in. We hope he sees that and always knows how thankful we are for his loyalty to SWOSU Bulldog Baseball."

The bat Coach Saunders references is a hand-made custom bat from Woody Meadows Bat Co., owned by former SWOSU Baseball player and coach Kyle Meadows. The bat is color matched to Sonic and features the fast-food chain's logo and the logo of the St. Louis Cardinals – Sim's favorite MLB team. It was gifted to Sims during the annual donation presentation.

Weatherford Sonic will also be featured on the outfield fence this upcoming season as part of the new sponsorship program.

The 2023 season gets underway in February. The Bulldogs will look to avenge a 2022 season that saw them finish 19-27 and narrowly miss the conference tournament. Prior to last season, SWOSU hadn't been under the .500 mark since 2017.