RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – The Ouachita Tigers (2-4) will travel to Arkansas Tech (1-6) for the Great American Conference opener for a three-game series on Saturday and Sunday. The first two games will begin Saturday at 2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. and the final game will be played Sunday at 1:00 p.m.
Tech 2019 Season
The Wonder Boys finished third in the GAC, boasting a 20-12 record, 29-23 overall. They defeated Southwestern Oklahoma State University 5-2 in the first game of the GAC Championship Tournament, but were eliminated after losing the next two games 8-5 to Oklahoma Baptist University and 13-10 to Harding University in 10 innings.
Tech 2020 Season
So far through seven games, Arkansas Tech is 1-6. They began their season in Houston, Texas, for the Houston Winter Invitational at Minute Maid Park. The Wonder Boys lost all three games in Houston, dropping game one 7-2 to Millersville, game two 6-2 against Colorado School of Mines, and 10-7 to Flagler. They then traveled to Warrensburg, Missouri, for a four-game series with Central Missouri. The Wonder Boys earned their first win of the season in a 3-2 thriller, but lost the remaining three games 7-3, 2-1, and 9-0 respectively.
2019 Series vs. Tech
The Wonder Boys won two of the three games against the Tigers. Arkansas Tech won big in game one 15-2 and game two 9-0, but the Tigers prevailed in game three with a late-inning comeback to win 9-8.
Scouting Tech's Pitching
The Wonder Boys have started five different pitchers in their seven games. The Tigers will likely face returning starter Hayes Cox (0-2) and transfer pitcher Zach Strickland (0-2) as starters in two of the three games. Cox and Strickland are the only two players for Tech that have started two games apiece.
The last two years, Cox has pitched complete game shutouts 11-0 and 8-0 against the Tigers. In 2019, He allowed three hits and two walks in his seven innings on the mound, while also earning two strikeouts. He was named to the All-GAC Second Team, led the Wonder Boys in strikeouts with 73, and finished with a 4.69 ERA and 6-5 record in 78.2 innings on the mound. This season, Cox has the lowest ERA of any starter at 2.84 in 12.2 innings. He has given up five runs (four earned), 11 hits, six walks, and is tied with a team leading 13 strikeouts. In two games, his opponent has a .234 batting average against him.
As for Strickland, the transfer from Georgia Southern has the highest ERA on the team at 18.90 through 3.1 innings. Although he has only given up four hits, his Tech-leading nine walks have proved costly for 13 runs (seven earned). He has a .308 batting average against him.
The Tigers might also see Matthew Tieding (0-1), who has started one of the two games he has played in and has the second most innings on the team with 10.2. Tieding has a 6.75 ERA and has given up eight runs, 12 hits, three walks, and retired five hitters.
A final pitcher to note is Armando Romero (1-0). Romero has made two relief appearances for Tech and has the only win for his team. Through eight innings, he has yet to give up an earned run (one run given up). He is tied for the team-leading 13 strikeouts, nine of which he obtained in four innings on the mound against Millersville during the season opener. Romero has held his opponent to a .148 batting average and given up just four hits and five walks in 27 batters.
Scouting Tech's Hitting
As a team, the Wonder Boys are hitting .186 through seven games. They have totaled 41 hits, 3 doubles, four homeruns, 24 walks, and 60 strikeouts. Stormy Taylor and Evan Hafley are the only two Tech hitters to start every game this season. Taylor leads the team offensively with a .321 average, nine hits, two doubles, a homerun, and seven strikeouts. He also has scored two runs and has two RBI's. Hafley is just behind with a .320 average, eight hits, four runs scored, a homerun, three RBI's, three walks, and six strikeouts. In 2019, he hit .213 going 10-47 at the plate in 11 starts in 24 games.
Two other hitters to mention are Josh Detweiler and Tristan Thomas. Detweiler has the third highest average at .217 with five hits, two runs, a homerun, five RBI's, a walk and six strikeouts. This season, Thomas is hitting .125 in six starts with three hits, four runs, a homerun, two RBI's, two walks, and three strikeouts. In 2019, he was named First Team D2CCA All-Region, Second Team ABCA/Rawlings All-Region, and Second Team All-GAC. He also boasted a team-best .401 average going 57 for 142, scoring 38 runs, knocking in 49 runs, and finishing with 12 doubles and six homeruns.
The Tigers will open conference against Tech for the second straight season and will look to advance their one-game win-streak this weekend against the Wonder Boys who are riding a three-game losing-streak.
