Alva,Okla.- The Northwestern Baseball team is set to open conference play Friday afternoon starting a weekend series with Arkansas Monticello. The Rangers play host this week following the schedule change due to expected weather in the Monticello area. Rangers will be coming off a 16-9 loss to Rogers State on Monday, while Arkansas Monticello will be opening their season Friday.
The Red-and-Black are led by head coach Ryan Bowen, starting his fourth season with the program. Bowen is 59-66 in his four seasons with the program.
The opening series the Rangers offense was led by Daschal Johnson, after hitting .545 in the opening series vs Rogers State followed by Marques Paige and Dylan Norsen with Paige hitting .455 and Norsen at .400. Yugo Hamakawa, Jose Rubalcava and Thomas Beiswanger are each above .300 on the season as well at .333, .375, and .333 respectively. Johnson has a team leading six RBI with three runs scored. Johnson and Paige each have one homerun for the Rangers in the early part of the season.
The Red-and-Black pitching staff is led by Scott Creedon, after throwing five innings allowing one run for a 1.80 ERA to start the season. Thomason has a 2.25 ERA in his lone start after allowing one earned run through four innings of work. Ethan Swansasn and Blake Hoffman each with three scoreless innings out of the bullpen leading the staff early on this season. Austin Thomason and Swanson lead the Rangers with four strikeouts after their first appearance.
Arkansas Monticello:
The Weevils are set to open their season on Friday against the Rangers after having their opening series and a midweek game canceled this past week. They finished the season 8-13 last year with a 6-7 conference record before the cancelation.
Arkansas Monticello is led by head coach John Harvey who begins his sixteenth season with the Weevils. He holds a 419-342 record through those seasons.
Last season they were led by returners in Jordan Johnson and Cade Thompson hitting .354 and .313 on the season respectively. Johnson led the team with seven homeruns on the season in their 21 games played followed by Hudson Hopkins with four. Johnson led the UAM offense as well with 19 RBI on the season and Hopkins with 17.
Ojani Chacon led the Weevil staff with three wins on the season pitching all game out of the bullpen posting a 3.86 ERA with a save through 21 innings pitched. Matt Lundh led the Weevil staff with a 1.02 ERA through four starts on the season with 23 strikeouts. River Hunt had two saves with a 2.70 ERA with a 1-1 record in seven appearances.
History:
The Red-and-Black enter the series with a three game win streak, coming off a sweep of Arkansas Monticello last season with a 10-3 win, 5-4 win, and a 16-12 win. In the last seven games the Rangers lead 4-3 in the series, but Monticello took the last two of three series overall. The Weevils lead the all-time series history 15-8 between these two programs.
GameTimes:
Friday: Doubleheader 1PM and 4PM
Saturday: First Pitch Noon
