ALVA, Okla. - The Red-and-Black are ready to resume conference play Friday and Saturday afternoon. The Rangers are coming off of a 5-0 loss to non conference opponent Central Oklahoma. However, last weekend the Rangers opened conference play with a three game sweep over Southern Nazarene, as the team will look to carry some momentum from those games. 

Northwestern is led by head coach Ryan Bowen who is currently in his third season with the Rangers. He has a record of 52-58 with the program. He had Northwestern ranked as high as 5th last season in the Central Region. 

The Rangers are currently led by their high powered offense, which has been led by redshirt senior Bryce Donovan. He is currently hitting .442 with 13 runs six homeruns and 16RBI's along with 11 walks bringing his on base percentage to .545 on the season. Yugo Hamakawa is not far behind him hitting.405 with four doubles, nine runs,with 17 hits which only trails Donovan's 19 for most on the team. Jake Darrow is third on the team in hitting with a .372 average with 16 hits with nine RBI's which is tied for second on the team with Parker Base. 

The pitching staff is led by Colby Carlson who is 2-0 in two games started and has an ERA of 3.75. Scott Creedon leads Northwestern with 17innings pitched with 4.76ERA. He picked up his first win his last outing when he threw a complete game against Southern Nazarene. Kaleb Honea has a 1.74 ERA in 10 innings out of the bullpen. 

Oklahoma Baptist:

The Bison come into the weekend series with an 8-2 overall record and a 3-0 conference record. Just like the Rangers were able to accomplish, Oklahoma Baptist swept their opening series in conference play, against Southeastern. 

The head coach for Oklahoma Baptist is Chris Cox who is currently in the middle of his first season with the program as the head coach. He was an assistant with OBU back in 2014-2015.

The offense is led by Kaimana Bartolome, as he is hitting .422 with five home runs along with 20 RBI, and leads the team with 19 hits. Ramon Gomez is second with a .405 average from 17 hits. He has four home runs and nine RBI's on the season. Cliff Pradd comes in hitting .382 with 12 RBI, 3 homeruns and four doubles. 

Raul Rizo leads the picthing staff with a 3-0 record 1.69ERA in three games started, followed by Jake Lipetzky who has a 2-1 record with a 2.04 ERA. 

Series History:

Northwestern will look to get the first win against Oklahoma Baptist in the Division II era as the Bison lead the history 12-0 since 2016. They outscored the Rangers 44-22 last season in three games.  

How the teams Compare:

The Schedule for the Weekend is as followed; 

Friday:First Pitch 3PM 

Saturday: First Pitch 1PM/ 4PM