The 2026 college season will be here before you know it as the majority of our NCAA D2 squads will begin their seasons the last weekend of January.

In the past, we have looked ahead to the season with season previews, but this year we are changing it up a bit with a fall report that will also provide a look to the season ahead.

SSBR recently sent out questionnaires to each head coach of the small college (NCAA D2, NAIA, NCCAA) and JUCO schools in the state. We asked them to provide who their top returners, top newcomers, and top performers were in the fall. We’ve compiled that information into the fall report with an outlook for the upcoming 2026 season.

Today’s team: Southwestern Oklahoma State Bulldogs

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Level: NCAA Division 2

Conference: Great American Conference

2025 Overall Record: 24-23

2025 GAC Record: 11-21 (10th)

Head Coach: JR Head

Head Coaching Experience: 2nd season (all at SWOSU)

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Top Returning Players

• Drew Fifer (RHP): Projected Game 1 starter; Ability to be a top arm in the conference/region; Electric “stuff” but needs to find consistency in the strike zone; 56.1 IP with 80 K vs 47 BB in 2025
• Josh Doelitsch (RHP): Projected Game 2 starter; Experienced arm with ability to be an all conference performer; Also needs to find consistency in the strike zone; 57.2 IP with 47 K vs 46 BB in 2025
• Conner Watson (RHP): Reliever that had 14 appearances in 2025; Tough on right handed hitters; Ability to draw weak contact and ground balls at high rate; Projected to be “big piece” of bullpen

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Top Newcomers

• Jared Adams, RHP (USAO): Versatile arm with experience; Can fill a number of roles and projects to pitch big innings
• Kaegan Baker, RHP (NOC Tonkawa): Competitive; Plus stuff; Can fill a number of roles and projects to pitch big innings
• Landon Meyer, INF (Wingate University): High baseball IQ; Leader; Makes players around him better; “Ball Player”
• Kotaro Wakui, OF (Seward County CC): Plus hitting tools; 2 big years at Seward; Ability to make immediate impact in the lineup; Finds barrells

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Top Performers in Fall

• Kotaro Wakui (OF): .394/.444/.515, 12 RBI
• Rusty Workman (C): .412/.512/.647
• Kaegan Baker (RHP): 13 IP, ER, 19 K
• Jared Adams (RHP): 15 IP, 5 ER, 12 K

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Outlook

The first thing that the players in the SWOSU program did this fall was to literally get to know each other. Of the 36 players on the roster, 26 of them are new to the Bulldogs (20 junior college transfers, 4 – 4 year school transfers, 2 high school recruits). Coach Head will be banking on the majority of these players to provide a much needed boost to a team that missed out on the GAC Tournament in 2025.

In Coach Head’s assessment of his squad, several of his top returners and newcomers are on his pitching staff. That is a good thing because the Bulldogs will need to find consistency on the mound in 2026.

The lineup will look almost completely different in 2026. Transfers Landon Meyer and Kotaro Wakui look to provide the consistent sticks for the Bulldogs while others will battle to crack the lineup and provide the rest of the punch for SWOSU.

While it may look like it is a rebuilding year in Weatherford, don’t be surprised to see the Bulldogs sneak into the GAC Tournament in 2026 if they can get the consistency they are looking for.

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