Wonder Boys back at home to take on Southeastern Oklahoma

The Arkansas Tech baseball team is back at home this weekend and will take on Southeastern Oklahoma in a three-game Great American Conference series.
The series is slated to begin with a doubleheader (9-7) on Saturday starting at 1 p.m. and then conclude with a single game at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
The Wonder Boys and Savage Storm have met 50 times historically in a series that dates back to 1995. In terms of the all-time series record, Tech holds a 26-24 lead over SE.
The two teams met three times last season with the weekend series being played at Southeastern., Tech would win all three games for the sweep.
TECH(NICALLY) SPEAKING
The Wonder Boys enter the weekend series 8-13 overall and 6-5 in the GAC. This past weekend, Tech was swept in their series on the road at Arkansas-Monticello and most-recently, the Wonder Boys dropped a high-scoring affair in their mid-week game at Central Oklahoma this past Tuesday.
Entering play this weekend, the Wonder Boys are hitting .256 as a team (172-for-671) with 134 runs scored, 26 doubles, six triples and 11 home runs. Cole Dawson currently leads the team in batting average at .343 (23-for-67) and leads the team in runs scored at 21. Simon Murray has the highest slugging percentage on the team at .426 thanks to three home runs. Murray is one of five players on the team with double-digit RBIs. Kirby Jenkins currently leads the club in RBIs with 15 while Tyler Sardelli is second with 15.
On the mound, the Wonder Boys have a team ERA of 7.93 and have struck out 152 batters in 170.1 innings of work.
Jack Rector, Emiliano Mata and Daniel Hutchison made starts over the past weekend in the games played against UAM and figure to be a part of this weekend's rotation as well.
Rector is 1-2 with a 6.35 ERA and 40 strikeouts over 28.1 innings. Hutchison is 1-2 with a 7.96 ERA and 23 strikeouts across 26.0 innings. Mata is 1-2 with an 8.79 ERA and five strikeouts in 14.1 innings.
Eleven relievers have made multiple appearances with Austin Mittlestedt having the most with eight. He is currently 2-1 with a 3.72 ERA and 11 strikeouts in 9.2 innings. JT Cafferty, Derek Rockett and Turner Seelinger are next in relief appearances with six apiece.

Leading the Wonder Boys once more is Dave Dawson. The all-time winningest coach in Tech Baseball history, Dawson enters his 16th year in the dugout for the Wonder Boys. In his previous 15 seasons, Dawson has guided amassed a 450-311 record. He has also had eight seasons with 30 or more wins which includes the 2014 season in which he led the team a program-record 44 wins and hosting rights for that year's Central Region Tournament.
Overall, Dawson is in his 20th year as a head baseball coach at the collegiate level as he spent four years as head coach at Kansas Wesleyan and totaled 118 wins. His combined win total at Tech and Kansas Wesleyan have him with a career record of 576-415.
SCOUTING SOUTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA
Southeastern Oklahoma enters this weekend series on the road against Tech with a 9-13 overall record and a 7-5 mark in the GAC. This past weekend, the Savage Storm lost their series on the road at Northwestern Oklahoma, 2-1. Most-recently, they split a mid-week doubleheader on the road at Austin College, losing the opener and winning the second game.
Offensively, the Savage Storm are hitting .268 as a team (190-for-709) with 127 runs scored, 33 doubles, five triples and 34 home runs.
Wesley Mitchell leads the team in batting average at .333 (24-for-72). Mitchell also leads the team in RBIs and is tied for the team-lead in home runs with six. Chase Keeton is the other Savage Storm with six homers. Keeton also leads the team in slugging percentage at .662 thanks to his two doubles, triple and aforementioned six home runs.
On the mound, the Savage Storm have a 6.62 team ERA and have struck out 160 batters in 174.0 innings of work.
This past weekend, the Savage Storm had a starting rotation of Daniel Collins, Colton Clawson and Brock Zimmer against Northwestern Oklahoma. Collins has been a primary weekend starter for SE with six starts and six appearances. Both Clawson and Zimmer made their third starts of the season against NWOSU.
Collins is 0-2 with a 2.36 ERA and 30 strikeouts in 26.2 innings. Clawson is 1-1 with a 4.66 ERA and six strikeouts in 19.1 innings. Zimmer is 1-1 with a 4.95 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 20.0 innings.
The Savage Storm have used 11 other pitchers in strictly relief roles. Six of those have made at least five appearances. Austin Hillebrandt has been the reliever called upon the most with 10 appearances. He is 1-0 with a 6.00 ERA with seven strikeouts in 9.0 innings.
The Savage Storm are led by Alan Trayler, who is in his first season as head coach at Southeastern Oklahoma. Prior to becoming the head coach, Trayler spent seven seasons as an assistant coach at Southeastern.