FIRST-PITCH
The Arkansas Tech baseball team is set to conclude their five-game homestand this Tuesday night against Harding.
The single nine-inning game will be played as a non-conference contest and is slated to begin at 6 p.m. from Baswell Field.
The Wonder Boys and Bisons have met 153 times historically in a series that dates back to 1965. In terms of the all-time series record, Tech holds a 93-60 lead over Harding.
The two teams met three times last season with a three-game conference series at Tech. The Wonder Boys won the first two games of the series, 5-0 and 7-3, before dropping the finale, 16-5 in eight innings.
TECH(NICALLY) SPEAKING
The Wonder Boys enter Tuesday's mid-week game against Harding with an overall record of 7-8. After a three-game sweep of Southern Nazarene this past weekend, the Wonder Boys are currently on a season-high four-game winning streak. The streak started last week at home when Tech beat Southern Arkansas in a non-conference game, 10-6.
Entering play against Harding, the Wonder Boys are hitting .262 as a team (124-for-473) with 92 runs scored, 24 doubles, three triples and 13 home runs.
Logan Schwenke currently leads the team in batting average at .395 (17-for-43). Schwenke also leads the team in RBIs with 16 and home runs with six. Keaton Ranallo is second on the team in home runs at three while Brendyn Bard, Markos Cabranes, Cole Dawson and Christian Olea have account for the other homers thus far with one apiece.
In terms of other extra-base hits, Shane Poe leads the team in doubles with six while the triples have come from three different players in Sawyer Duddleston, Grant Jones and Schwenke.
On the mound, the Wonder Boys have a team ERA of 5.53 and have struck out 128 batters in 123.2 innings of work.
John Gray, Emilano Mata, and Jack Rector made starts this past weekend against Southern Nazarene and likely won't see action against Harding. A candidate to start the mid-week game is Mason Willis. He already has one mid-week start to his credit and has appeared in three games overall.
Aside from those that have made starts, 12 other pitchers have taken the mound for the Wonder Boys in relief roles. Will Horton has the most relief appearances thus far with seven. Grant Shahan has logged the most innings in relief with 17.1 to his credit. Shahan also currently leads the team in strikeouts with 24.
Leading the Wonder Boys once more is Dave Dawson. The all-time winningest coach in Tech Baseball history, Dawson enters his 15th year in the dugout for the Wonder Boys. In his previous 14 seasons, Dawson has guided amassed a 414-298 record. He has also had seven 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 19th 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 535-389.
SCOUTING HARDING
Harding enters this mid-week game on the road at Tech with a 12-2 overall record. The Bisons are coming off a big three-game weekend sweep of Oklahoma Baptist at home.
Offensively, the Bisons are hitting .336 as a team (150-for-446) with 112 runs scored, 24 doubles, three triples and 17 home runs.
Collin Helms leads the team in batting average early on at .449 (22-for-49). Helms has also provided the most power production thus far with an .897 slugging percentage thanks to five doubles, a triple and four home runs. Sebastian Martinez is tied with Helms for the team-lead in home runs and is pacing the club in home runs with 21. Collectively, the Bisons have eight players with at least 10 runs scored with Helms leading the way with 17.
On the mound, the Bisons have a 3.81 team ERA and have struck out 143 batters in 111.0 innings of work.
Last weekend, the Bisons used a weekend rotation of Maddox Long, Davis Welch and Will Roguske against Oklahoma Baptist. The Bisons have also had three other pitchers make starts this year. Javier Lobo started the most-recent mid-week game for Harding. He lasted 1.1 innings in the start and allowed four runs on four hits.
In addition to those starters, the Bisons have used eight other pitchers in relief roles. Griffin Meeker and Keaton Baird have made the most relief appearances with four each while Merritt Jay has the most overall appearances with five. Meeker is 1-0 with two saves and a 4.26 ERA with 10 strikeouts in 9.2 innings of work. Jay is 2-1 and posted a 4.26 ERA with 30 strikeouts in 12.2 innings.
The Bisons are led by Dr. Patrick McGaha, who is in his 19th season as head coach at his alma mater, Harding and his 23rd overall. In his time at Harding, McGaha is 517-395 and is 636-491-1 overall.
