We are now coming into the 3rd weekend of the 2024 season and with that it is the 1st weekend of conference play in the Great American Conference.
The GAC is made up of 12 teams with 6 in Oklahoma and the other 6 in Arkansas.
Obviously our focus here at SSBR are the 6 Sooner State teams, but it is good to check in on the other teams from time to time. With the 1st weekend of conference play in a few days, this is one of those times.
Each weekend will be a 3 game series usually played on Friday and Saturdays. Two of the three games will be played as a double header and depending on the series it could be either Friday or Saturday.
What the Oklahoma teams have done so far
So far this season, the Oklahoma contingent has looked better than expected. At the end of play on Tuesday, Feb 13, four of the six Oklahoma teams have impressive winning record. Northwestern OK State and Southwestern OK State lead the way at 7-1 and 8-2 respectively while Oklahoma Baptist and Southeastern OK State each sit at 6-2. OBU (7) and NWOSU (9) are ranked in the Central Region rankings while SEOSU is receiving votes (strangely no love for SWOSU although they beat the 2nd ranked team in the region, MO Southern).
Southern Nazarene opened the season winning 3 of 4 against Newman, but then they got swept by Northeastern State and now sit at 3-4.
Here is a look at this weekend’s matchups.
East Central @ Arkansas Monticello
East Central is struggling in 2024 as expected. They are 1-9 with their win against NCCAA’s Randall University. Offensively they are slashing .228/.313/.315 and are averaging only 3.1 runs per game. Their team ERA is 9.35 and teams are averaging 10 runs per game against the Tigers.
Fortunately for the Tigers, the Boll Weevils are not doing much better than ECU. AMU is coming into the series at 1-5 and are coming off getting swept by UCO last weekend. The Boll Weevils are slashing .233/.319/.361 and are averaging 3.33 runs/game. Their team ERA is better than ECU’s at 5.55 (but still not great) and teams are averaging 5.67 runs/game against AMU.
AMU is still the better team than ECU, but if ECU is going to win at least a game on the road in the conference, this weekend is as good as any they may get.
Oklahoma Baptist vs Arkansas Tech
OBU comes into the weekend looking to get back on track. The Bison were shelled by nationally ranked #23 Missouri Southern 21-6 on Tuesday. Other than that, OBU as been impressive this season with their only other loss to UCO (#3 Central Region). OBU did open the season by beating Pittsburg State (#8 Central Region).
The Bison are slashing .316/.449/.571. They have 14 home runs in their 8 games and are averaging 9.5 runs/game.
Obviously the MO Southern game will balloon the pitching stats, but OBU’s team ERA is 6.79. They are averaging giving up 7.38 runs/game, but if you take away the MO Southern game the average is 5.43.
Arkansas Tech comes into the series vs OBU at 3-5 but are still receiving votes in the Central Region rankings. The Wonder Boys have played arguably the toughest schedule in the country so far as they’ve played games against #3 Tampa, #9 Southern New Hamphsire, and 4 games against #5 Central Missouri. They also just played Pittsburg State who is #8 in the Central Region. ATU has gone 2-5 in those games including getting swept 4 games vs Central Missouri last weekend. The Wonder Boys have yet to play at home in Russellville.
ATU is slashing .227/.341/.372 and averaging just over 5 runs/game. On the mound, they have a team ERA of 6.92 and are averaging giving up 8.63 runs/game.
This may be the best matchup of the weekend as Arkansas Tech was picked #2 in the conference preseason rankings and OBU at #4. ATU’s record and stats are definitely a result of their tough schedule out of the gate so it would be no surprise to see them turn it around regardless of who they play.
OBU still technically hasn’t played a game at home as their opening “home” series was played at Seminole State due to their home field still finishing up repairs from tornado damage in 2023. It looks like they’ll be on Bison Hill this weekend so that should provide a little pick-me-up for the Bison.
If OBU really wants to live up to their preseason pick and want to contend in the GAC this season, a series win over Arkansas Tech would go a long way in those regards.
Northwest Oklahoma State vs Ouachita Baptist
NWOSU is perhaps the surprise team of the young 2023 season as they have jumped out to a 7-1 start and are #9 in this week’s Central Region rankings. Not only have they had the impressive start, it’s how the way they’ve done it. The Rangers have 3 come back walk off wins on the season so they’ve shown that you can never count out the Rangers.
NWOSU is slashing .327/.416/.550 with 15 HRs. They’re averaging 7.25 runs/game and have 15 stolen bases in 15 attempts as a team.
The Rangers have a team ERA of 5.16 and are averaging 5.62 runs/game scored on them.
Ouachita Baptist came into the season with high expectations. They were picked as the #3 team in the conference preseason poll and were #8 in the preseason Central Region poll.
The Tigers have been Jekyll/Hyde through the first 2 weeks. They won their 3 games to open the season at the Dugan Invitational in Hot Springs including a win over #23 Missouri Southern. However, MO Southern swept Ouachita in Joplin last weekend by a combined score of 26-2 over the 3 games.
OBU is slashing .232/.377/.381 as a team and are averaging 4.5 runs/game.
On the mound, the Tigers’ team ERA is 5.51 and teams are averaging 6.67 runs/game against the Tigers.
Much like the Oklahoma Baptist/Arkansas Tech series, this is a great opportunity for NWOSU. They’ve shown they know how to play through adversity and to not count them out. The Rangers can really make a statement in the first week of the conference season by winning a series against a team who made the NCAA D2 Regional last year and was picked high in the conference again this year.
Southern Nazarene vs Harding
The Crimson Storm started the season with a 3-1 series win over Newman, but then they got swept in 3 games at NSU to bring their record to 3-4.
They are slashing .279/.417/.442 with 7 HRs in 7 games. SNU is averaging 6.29 runs/game.
On the mound, the Crimson Storm’s team ERA is 8.43 and they are giving up 9.71 runs/game.
For Harding, the Bisons have been a little better than maybe what was expected. They were picked #7 in the conference preseason poll, but they’ve jumped out to a 6-1 record to start the season.
Harding is slashing .345/.447/.545 and are averaging 9 runs/game. The Bisons have 8 HRs on the season along with 16 doubles.
On the mound is where Harding has been really impressive. Their team ERA is 2.67 and they are averaging only 3.86 runs scores against them per game. So far they are averaging over 10 Ks/game with 74 on the season.
SNU is a program that has shown some improvement over the last 2 years, but is still looking to take that jump as they’ve averaged only 11 wins over the last 5 full seasons. It will be a tough task to win a series versus what looks to be a better Harding team, but the series is in Bethany so maybe they can use the home field to their advantage.
Southwestern OK State vs Henderson State
SWOSU has been another surprise team this season as they sit at 8-2 including a 7-4 win over #23 Missouri Southern where they used 9 different pitchers.
The Bulldogs are slashing .294/.442/.492 and are averaging 7.9 runs/game. They are finding ways to get on base with 63 BB and 19 HBP.
SWOSU is getting it done on the mound with a team ERA of 2.74. They have 82 Ks on the season (8.2/game) against only 34 BB.
Henderson State comes into the series at 4-4. The Reddies were tabbed 5th in the GAC preseason poll. HSU went 2-1 in the Dugan Invitational beating Oklahoma schools, Rogers State and Northeastern State. They dropped 3 of 4 against NW Missouri St (a team that won only 13 games in 2023) last weekend.
The Reddies are slashing .316/.424/.446 and score 8.38 runs/game. While the team avg may be good, they only have 20 XBH on the season.
HSU is struggling on the mound. Their team ERA is 7.52 and they averaging 8.75 runs/game scored against them.
This is a good spot for the Bulldogs. They are riding a 6 game winning streak and HSU has to make the over 6 hour road trip to Weatherford. Just like the other Oklahoma schools, SWOSU can make a statement over a team who made the GAC Tournament final round last year with a series win and show the first 10 games weren’t a fluke.
Southeastern OK State @ Southern Arkansas
The Savage Storm come into the season at 6-2 with their 2 losses in close games to in-state NSU. They received votes in the last Central Rankings due to their 2 weekend series sweeps to start the season.
The Storm are slashing .300/.410/.567 and have 18 HRs as a team. They are averaging over 9 runs/game.
SEOSU’s team ERA is 3.99 and are giving up 5 runs/game.
Southern Arkansas has been the class of the conference the last 3 years. The Muleriders have made the Central Region tournament 3 times, a Super Regional once, and a World Series as well. They were picked 1st in the conference preseason poll, #17 in the national preseason poll, and currently sit at #3 in the Central Region poll.
SAU is slashing .337/.498/.525 as a team and score over 10 runs/game.
On the mound they have a team ERA of 5.65.
This is a tough task for the Savage Storm. Not many teams go into Magnolia and win. If SEOSU can win this series, it will give them momentum going into the rest of the conference season.
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