ALVA, Okla. - The Northwestern Oklahoma State University Rangers face a tough weekend on the road with their furthest road trip of the year as they travel to the University of Arkansas at Monticello for a four-game Great American Conference series to begin on Friday afternoon at 1:00/3:00 p.m. and Saturday afternoon at 12:00/2:00 p.m.

Rangers will go into conference play with a 3-12 overall with a 0-8 mark on conference play after hosting back-to-back GAC opponents. This weekend will mark the first conference series on the road for the Rangers. Northwestern hopes to rebound after being swept by No. 6 nationally-ranked Southern Arkansas this past weekend.
 
The Red-and-Black are led by head coach Jill DeVries who is currently in her third season with the Rangers. She has a record of 44-114 prior to this season which includes her interim stint before receiving the full-time job at the University.
 
The Rangers offense is led by sophomore Kalie Johnson who has a batting average of .383 as she leads the team with 18 hits and an on-base percentage of .463. Joey Casey continues to make an impact after missing the start of the season because of injury with a .500 batting average with three runs and three RBI's and a team-leading OBP of .538.
Alexus Bailey sits right below with a .355 average with one homerun, seven RBI's, and a team-leading nine runs and a .516 slugging percentage. Abby Detar, Lauran Adcock and Taylor Zanca sit with a similar average around .320 while La Neve leads the team with nine RBI's and three homeruns.
 
The pitching staff is led by Freshman Hannah Howell who sits with a 6.28 ERA and is credited with all three of the Ranger wins in 42 innings pitched. Right behind her is junior transfer Alexia Taylor and sophomore Alli Willis who both have an ERA of 5.60. Taylor has a 0-2 record despite a great game thrown against Southern Arkansas and Willis is not credited with a win or loss. 
 
The University of Arkansas at Monticello:
 
The Blossoms have faced a tough schedule as they currently sit with an overall record of 8-9 but have shown up for conference play with a 6-2 mark. Arkansas-Monticello started their season off with tough competition and took a close loss to No. 10 Texas A&M-Commerce with a score of 5-6, then went a run with five straight wins. They split their last weekend against Southwestern Oklahoma State University with a nine-inning loss 15-16.
 
The Blossoms are led by Hannah Holdbrook who has a .367 batting average with 11 hits and 12 RBI's on two homeruns, two doubles and a triple. She leads the team with a .700 slugging percentage and has a stellar .525 on-base percentage. Sierra Gasca is next and is hitting .350 on the young season with 14 hits on the year.
Haley Godeaux is not far behind with a .341 batting average with 15 hits and ten runs. Caroline Tedder sits with the fourth-highest batting average at .320 but leads the team with five homeruns and has a .640 slugging percentage. She also has a .443 on-base percentage with nine walks and 16 hits while driving in 17 RBI's.
 
The pitching staff to date has been led by Alexis Pevehouse who has a 4.85 ERA through 39 innings so far this season in two starts with a 3-4 record. She is followed by Kaylee Freeman who has a 5.25 ERA in three starts and has two wins of her own.
 

Series History:
 
Northwestern and Arkansas-Monticello have a long history with this match-up being the two teams' 21^st game. The Blossoms lead 11 wins to the Rangers nine, with NWOSU's last win in March 2018. Since joining the Great American Conference, the Red-and-Black were defeated 11 out of the 16 times. In last year's match-up, UAM took all four games of the series and held the Northwestern to 10 runs compared to their 32.

How the teams Compare:
 

Northwestern	Arkansas-Monticello
Batting Average: .260	Batting Average: .283
HR: 6	HR: 16
R: 59	R: 100
RBI: 52	RBI: 86
OBP: .343	OBP: .385

 

ERA: 7.95	ERA: 5.49
FLD %: .917	FLD%: .950

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