SEARCY ARKANSAS - Northwestern Oklahoma State baseball travels to Arkansas this weekend to face Harding University for a three game conference series. The Rangers will play a Friday doubleheader with first pitch scheduled for Noon followed by game two at around 3:00 PM. Saturday will conclude the series with a Noon first pitch in Searcy.
 

Northwestern (17-21 overall and 10-14 GAC) enter play Friday afternoon on a two game winning streak after winning the final game against Oklahoma Baptist before the win over East Central Tuesday night. Rangers enter play 3-13 on the road looking for their second straight win. 
 

At the plate the Rangers have been led by Yugo Hamakawa with a .408 batting average and a .509 OBP% this season, and a team high 1.140 OPS. He is one of six hitters above the .300 mark joined by Brandon Holdren at .353, followed by Blake Hoffman .351, Shaughn Kelly at .303 Brayden Koenig at .301 and Brett Erickson at .316. Hoffman leads the Rangers in home runs with 10 on the season along with 44 RBIs, with Kelly second with seven home runs and third in RBIs with 32. Hamakawa is third in home runs with six and second in RBI with 34. Kelly has a team leading five stolen bases with Bryan Guerrero, Erickson, and Beiswanger all tied at three. 
 

On the mound for the Rangers, Northwestern has been led by Edwin Colon out of the bullpen with a 3.22 ERA, including a 5-1 record with two saves in 15 appearances. Emilio Lovato has a team high 50 innings pitched this season in 10 starts made with two wins and 51 strikeouts. Ethan Swanson is second with 45.2 innings pitched and a team high 57 strikeouts on the year in 10 appearances this year. Dylan Collins is second on the team in wins with a 4-0 record over 11 appearances (four starts) in the current season. 
 

Scouting the Bisons:

Harding (22-14 overall and 13-11 GAC) enters the weekend series with a 11-9 home record this season after winning the final game of the series vs Southern Arkansas. Harding overall comes into the game 3-2 in their last five games overall.
 

On the mound the Bisons have been led by Chris Witzke with a .347 batting average alongside Michael Dewald with the same average at .347. Cody Smith is third on the team with a .336 batting average. Coulton Doyle leads the team with 11 home runs with 42 RBIs on the year. Harding has three other players tied with two home runs. Dewald and Butterfield each have 22 RBI on the year. 
 

Pitching for Harding they have been led by Joel Barker in wins this season with seven through 10 games of starts including four complete games and one shutout. Maddox Long leads the team with 56 innings of work on 55 strikeouts also a team high. Ross Shirey has been the leader out of the bullpen with 10 appearances and a 3.48 ERA through 20 innings of work. 
 

History:

This will be games numbers 25, 26, 27 in the season series between the two teams after the Rangers won the series meeting in 2021 after taking two of three games including the final two. Overall the Rangers have won three straight series meetings and two straight games over the Bisons.