Usually prior to each weekend, we provide a preview of the upcoming college slate. This week we are changing it up a little as we focus on just one series happening in the Sooner State this weekend.

Yes, OU is hosting their first ever home SEC series. Yes, OSU is making their first ever Big 12 trip to Utah. Yes, Rogers State is hosting perennial power, Central Missouri, in Claremore. But the biggest series in the state this weekend is happening in Chickasha as the USAO Drovers host the MACU Evangels in a 3 game series on Friday and Saturday.

This series marks the halfway point of the SAC season and MACU is currently in 1st place at 10-2 in the conference while USAO is only 1 game behind in 2nd place at 9-3. Looking at the remaining schedule, both teams have to play Southwestern Christian and Texas Wesleyan while MACU still has OCU and Nelson and USAO plays Central Christian and College of the Ozarks. Advantage goes to the Drovers.

Winning this series should go a long way in determining the eventual regular season champion.

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USAO Drovers, 18-9 (9-3), RV NAIA Coaches Poll

The Drovers have been the class of the conference for quite a while now. Going back to 2018 (that’s as far as their website goes with season records), the Drovers have finished in either 1st or 2nd place in the Sooner Athletic Conference (although this writer thinks it is more).

This year USAO has been a solid team so far this season. They haven’t lost a series this season – that includes going 2-2 in events in Kansas and the Cajun Collision in February. Their longest winning streak was 6 and they’ve won 8 of their last 10 games including a series win over rival, OCU last weekend.

Offensively, the Drovers are lead by SR, Gage Ninness. The lead off hitter is batting .406 and hase 36 RBI which also leads the team. Peyton McDowall leads the team in HR with 5 (he is also the all time HR leader in USAO history) as Ben Bach and Christopher Martinez both have 4.

As a team, USAO is slashing .332/.434/.476 with 24 HR and 191 RBI. They are averaging 7.67 runs/game.

On the mound, USAO is led by Brian Ereu. The Soph was a 3rd team NAIA All American in 2024 and his stats show that he is pitching even better this season. He leads the team in starts (8) and innings pitched (45.1). Ereu’s ERA of 2.38 is better than the 4.69 he finished with last year. His strength is his control. Ereu has given up only 12 walks in his 8 starts compared to his 39 Ks.

Ryan Cullinane is another key piece for the Drovers. He has made 7 appearances all out of the bullpen. Cullinane can go short or long relief like he showed last week going 7 strong innings against OCU allowing the Drovers to come back from being down 7-2 to win 8-7.

As a team, USAO has an ERA of 4.81 with a WHIP of 1.33. The team shows tremendous control as they’ve only given up 58 walks (just over 2/game) against 206 strikeouts.

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MACU Evangels, 23-7 (10-2), #18 NAIA Coaches Poll

For as much as USAO has been the class of the SAC for several years, MACU has been the class of the conference the last 2 seasons. In 2024, the Evangels led the league from start to finish winning the regular season comfortably by 3 games and winning the SAC Tournament. In fact, up until last week, MACU had not even shared 1st place in the conference let alone be out of it since the start of last year.

This season the Evangels are showing that they are a program here to stay. After starting the season 4-3, they’ve gone 17-4 since and have put up some impressive offensive numbers. They have 5 players hitting .300 or better and D’Andre Gaines comes in right below that at .298. Chirstopher Munoz leads the team in AVG at .410 with Noel McGarry-Doyle at .408. Brett Justice leads the team in HR with 9, but Munoz and Gaines are close behind with 7 and Payton Matthews has 6. Matthews leads the team with 42 RBI with 4 others having at lest 25.

Coach Stanton said in his preview for us before the season that the offense should be able to put up runs in several different way. I’d say he’s right as it seems there is no let up from 1-9 in the lineup.

As a team, MACU is slashing .344/.465/.608 with 53 HR and 269 RBI. They are putting up just under 10 runs a game at 9.8 runs/game.

On the mound, the Evangels are not as consistent as they were last year. Gone is All American, Isaac Baez and Zane Robeaux who was a really good no. 2 by the end of the year. That does not mean the Evangels haven’t shown promise in 2025, though. This year MACU is led by Gabriel Dixon and Fabian Hernandez who both have ERAs of 3.82. Both have shown dominance at different times this season along with their other starter, Brock Cordes, who was one out away from a perfect game at the Cajun Collision in February.

As a team, MACU has an ERA of 4.95 with a WHIP of 1.49. They’ve given up 99 walks which is just over 3 a game against 227 strikeouts (7.57/game).

Outlook

This should be a fun series. These two programs know each other well. Brett Stanton has built the MACU program into a national power as they’ve been in the Top 20 for 2 seasons now. Tyle Hankins has the Drovers on an even more upward trend in 2025 as this writer thinks they are a Top 20 team right now even though they aren’t technically ranked right now.

Both teams know how important this series is. Whoever wins this series will have a leg up on the other one in the final regular season standings.

The passion and atomosphere will be electric and it should be a great weekend of baseball in Chickasha.

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