ALVA, Oklahoma- The Red-and-Black will return to action on Saturday, April 17th, playing host to the Bisons of Harding University for a three-game series. The schedule will be a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 1:00 PM with the second game 30 minutes following the conclusion of game one. The third and final game of the series will begin at 1:00 PM on Sunday, April 18th.
Northwestern comes into the weekend series with a 17-10 record for the 2021 season, with a 13-8 Great American Conference record. The 13-8 record has the Rangers in fourth place in the conference sitting two games out of third behind Southern Arkansas with a 15-6 conference record.
The Ranges are coached by head coach Ryan Bowen in the middle of his fourth season with the Ranges baseball program, holding a career record of 75-74 in his career with the program.
The Rangers starting pitching staff is led by Scott Creedon, making the most start for the Rangers this season with seven. In those starts, he holds a 2.53ERA which is second in the GAC only behind River Hunt of Arkansas Monticello with a 2.33 ERA. Creedon leads the team in wins with five, complete games with two, and innings pitched with 46.1 on the season. He is second in the conference in opposing batting average against this season. Ethan Swanson leads the Rangers with 30 strikeouts on the season in his eight appearances of the year. He has struck out 17 batters looking for the third-most in the conference. Swanson is one of four pitchers with two wins on the season for the Rangers pitching staff. He is joined by Austin Thomason, who has a 4.25 ERA in eight appearances, including one complete game. Koby Spicer has two wins in nine appearances, including one save with 17 strikeouts in 11 innings. Rafferty Brown has picked up two wins on the season as well in four games pitched. Kaleb Honea has been the leader out of the bullpen for the Rangers with eight saves on the season, not only to lead the conference but tied for the national lead in saves. He holds a 1.29ERA with 26 strikeouts in 21 innings pitched. Honea's WHIP is 0.95 this season. Connor Gibson with the third-lowest ERA at 2.70 in six appearances this season. Dillon Van Oosbree and Grant French have the remaining Northwestern wins. The Rangers pitching staff has the third-lowest ERA in the conference as a team, only behind Arkansas Tech and Southern Arkansas.
Marques Paige has led the Red-and-Black offense so far as he is one of five "qualified" hitters above the .300 average mark on the year. Paige leads the team with a .364 batting average. Paige leads the conference in slugging percentage at .848 on the season and first in the league for home runs with 13. The 13 for the year is fifth in the nation in total home runs. He is second in the conference in RBI with 32 on the year. The Rangers infielder is first in total bases across the league. The Second Northwestern hitter is Yugo Hamakawa with a .346 average and leads the team with a .429 OBP with 36 hits second on the team. The third Rangers player is Daschal Johnson, who has the most hits for the Red-and-Black this season with 37. The Rangers senior is tied for second in RBI with 25 on the season. He also leads the team in stolen bases with seven. Preston Lonadier is fourth on the team with a .342 average. He leads the team in doubles with 11 on the year, second in the conference for most doubles. Jake White is the fifth Ranger batter above that .300 mark with 25 RBI on the season tied with Johnson for the most RBI on the season. Northwestern is fourth in the conference in batting average with a .314 team average, just behind the weekend foe in Harding with a .315 average. The Red and Black are second in total doubles hit and third in the most home runs.
Harding University:
The Bisons of Harding University comes into the weekend matchup with a 15-11 overall record on the season with an 11-10 Great American Conference record for sixth in the conference, two games behind the Rangers.
Andrew Bradshaw and Ty Hoecker lead Harding's pitching staff, with the most starts on the team so far to this season for the club at seven each. Ross Shirey is third with five starts. Bradshaw has the best ERA of the three pitchers with a 4.46 ERA on the season. Joey Lawhorn and Ryder Yakel have been the two best pitchers out of the bullpen for Harding, with Lawhorn a 2.70ERA in 11 appearances while Ryder Yakel has a 2.88 ERA with three wins on the season along with five saves. The Harding pitching staff is eighth in the conference with a 6.39 team ERA.
David Butterfield leads Harding's offense with a .439 batting average as one of six "qualified hitters" batting over .300 on the season. Butterfield's .439 average is first in the conference going into the weekend series and first in OBP with a .526 percentage. Michael Chrisman hitting .358, Cody Smith at .351 Harrison Heffley, Connor Kelly, and Chris Witzke are above the .300 average line. Heffley leads the team in home runs with five on the season. Kelly is the RBI leader with 28-RBI on the season, followed by Smith with 24-RBI. Chrisman leads the team with 31 runs scored on the year for fifth in the conference.
History:
The Red-and-Black will enter the weekend series on a two-game win streak over the Bisons. This will be the first meeting with Harding since the 2019 season, where the Rangers took the home series two games to three. The two baseball programs are 5-5 in the last ten meetings between the two universities, including two extra-inning games. The Rangers have also won the previous two series meetings, looking to make it three straight.
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