FIRST PITCH
The Arkansas Tech baseball team carries their five-game winning streak on the road for a three-game conference series at Henderson State this weekend.
The series is slated to begin with a single nine-inning game on Friday night starting at 6 p.m. Saturday will close the series with a doubleheader (9-7) starting at 1 p.m.
The Wonder Boys and Reddies have met 179 times historically in a series that dates back to 1914. In terms of the all-time series record, Tech holds a 105-74 lead over Henderson.
The two teams met four times last season with a three-game conference series at Tech and mid-week non-conference game at Henderson. The Wonder Boys swept the series 3-0 but dropped the mid-week game.
TECH(NICALLY) SPEAKING
The Wonder Boys enter this weekend series at Henderson State with an overall record of 8-8 and a 3-3 mark in GAC play. They are currently on a five-game winning streak, winning all five games at home over the last week and a half. Most-recently, the Wonder Boys won their third-straight mid-week game with a thrilling walk-off win over Harding, 10-9, this past Tuesday.
Entering play against Henderson State, the Wonder Boys are hitting .263 as a team (134-for-510) with 103 runs scored, 26 doubles, three triples and 16 home runs.
Markos Cabranes currently leads the team in batting average at .375 (12-for-32). Logan Schwenke has been the top-power production bat in the lineup as he leads the team in slugging percentage at .872 thanks to four doubles, one triple and six home runs. His home run total leads the team, and he is also the team-leader in RBIs with 16.
Keaton Ranallo is second on the team in home runs at three while Cabranes and Christian Olea have two and Brendyn Bard and Cole Dawson 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 5.66 and have struck out 140 batters in 133.2 innings of work.
John Gray, Emilano Mata, and Jack Rector made starts this past weekend against Southern Nazarene and figure to be in the mix to start against Henderson State. Rector currently has the lowest ERA among starters at 3.24 and his 16.2 innings are tied for the most among starters with Gray. All three weekend starters have registered double-digit strikeouts thus far.
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 eight. 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 536-389.
SCOUTING HENDERSON STATE
Henderson State enters this weekend series at home with Tech with a 9-7 overall record and 4-2 record in conference play. The Reddies have won two-straight games and are coming off an 11-7 win in their mid-week game against Union this past Tuesday. This past weekend, the Reddies won the series over Northwestern Oklahoma with wins in games one and three of the series.
Offensively, the Reddies are hitting .290 as a team (153-for-527) with 122 runs scored, 26 doubles, two triples and 11 home runs.
Luke Rice leads the team in batting average early on at .400 (24-for-60). Kaden Argenbright has provided the most power production thus far with a .534 slugging percentage thanks to seven doubles and two home runs. Argenbright is also pacing the club in RBIs with 18. Collectively, the Reddies have six players with at least 10 runs scored with Louis Holt leading the way with 16.
On the mound, the Reddies have a 6.40 team ERA and have struck out 102 batters in 135.0 innings of work.
Last weekend, the Reddies used a weekend rotation of Kyle Williams, Ryan Galvan and Reese Weaks against Northwestern Oklahoma. Weaks has the lowest ERA among the weekend starters at 3.32. Overall, he has made four starts and is 1-0 with 17 strikeouts in 19.0 innings of work. Williams is 2-0 and leads the team in strikeouts with 18 in 18.1 innings of work.
In addition to those starters, the Reddies have used 15 other pitchers in relief roles. Payton Baird has made the most relief appearances with eight. Baird is 0-1 with two saves and a 7.56 ERA. Additionally, he has nine strikeouts in 8.1 innings of work.
The Reddies are led by Cody Hooten, who is in his 14th season as head coach at Henderson State. In his time at Henderson, Hooten is 352-291-1.
