OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma City Stars baseball team recently won four games in Kansas, sweeping Sooner Athletic Conference opponent, Central Christian College and beating non-conference foe, Sterling (15-7).
Game Information
- (#22) Oklahoma City Stars (30-14, 15-6 SAC)
- Previous Game: at Sterling College (W, 15-7)
- Wayland Baptist (21-24, 10-11 SAC)
- Previous Game: at Southwestern Christian (W 5-2)
- Date and Time: Apr. 28-29 | 4 & 7 PM / TBD
- Location: Piedmont, Okla. | Denney Crabaugh Field at Jim Wade Stadium
- Live Coverage: TV | Radio | Live Stats
Oklahoma City
Key Hitters
- Sr | #9 - Trent Kiraly - .409 AVG, 1.333 OPS, .864 SLG%, 13 2B, 19 HR, 58 RBIs
- Jr | #18 - Darian Duhon - .351 AVG, .984 OPS, 5 2B, 6 HR, 30 RBIs, 46 R
- So | #27 - Reese Ratchford - .345 AVG, 1.033 OPS, 8 2B, 4 HR, 23 RBIs
Key Pitchers
- Sr | #26 – Andrew Limbaugh – 5-2, 64.0 IP, 3.52 ERA, 27 BB, 63 SO
- So | #23 – Kade Shatwell – 6-1, 44.0 IP, 2.86 ERA, 16 BB, 43 SO
- Gr | #8 – Chad Pike - 2-1, 21.1 IP, 10 SV, 1.69 ERA, 4 BB, 22 SO
About the Stars
- Recently ranked No. 22 in the nation, Oklahoma City enters with a 30-14 record while going 15-6 in conference play.
- The Stars come off a series win against Central Christian where the Stars swept the three-game series while outsourcing the Tigers 21-3. Before last weekend, Oklahoma City rattled off another series win on the road against the Drovers of the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma.
- Trent Kiraly is the only Star hitting above .400 while leading the team with 56 RBIs. Kiraly's best game against CCC came in game three of the series going 3-for-4 with two runs scored and three RBIs.
- Darian Duhon comes in hitting over .350 and is Top-10 in the SAC for runs scored with 42. Duhon enters this series going 1-for-4 with 2 runs scored and 2 BBs in the Stars' games against Sterling.
- Second baseman Hunter Lenochan holds a .335 batting average and is third on the team in On-Base% (.464) and runs (31).
- Reese Ratchford has solidified himself as the team's leadoff hitter batting .345 this year and ranks third on the team with eight doubles. Ratchford enters recording a hit in two out of the last three games including going 2-for-3 in game three against CCC with two BBs.
- Aiden Van Rensum enters the weekend's series fifth on the team in runs scored with 38, third in HRs with 8, second for RBIs with 46, and is a perfect 4-for-4 on stolen base attempts.
- Andrew Limbaugh comes off a win in his last start against CCC where he went 7.0 Innings while surrendering only 1 hit with 0 earned runs allowed, recording 11 Ks. Limbaugh carries a 3.52 ERA into the series with a 1.11 WHIP, seeing his best performance come in his most recent start.
- Chad Pike has been the primary closer for OCU in 2024 and picked up his SAC-leading tenth Save on April 11th against USAO in a 3-2 win against the Drovers while allowing no hits and no walks.
- Oklahoma City ranks first in the Sooner Athletic Conference in home runs as the Stars have seven players with five or more and two players with fifteen or more HRs hit.
Wayland Baptist
Key Hitters
- So | #14 - Arcadio Frausto - .328 AVG, 6 2B, 28 R, 7 HR, 30 RBIs, 13 XBH
- Jr | #24 - Felix Polanco - .318 AVG, 8 2B, 34 R, 11 HR, 38 RBIs, 20 XBH
- Jr | #1 - Cooper Jauz - .303 AVG, 6 2B, 19 R, 2 HR, 30 RBIs, 9 XBH
Key Pitchers
- So | #34 - Tyson Potts - 3-5, 54.0 IP, 6.00 ERA, 9.00 K/9, 1.72 WHIP, 54 SO
- So | #44 - Branin Seibert - 5-5, 48.2 IP, 6.47 ERA, 7.95 K/9, 1.58 WHIP, 43 SO
About the Pioneers
- Wayland Baptist enters this series with an overall record of 21-22 with a 10-11 record in SAC play. The Pioneers are coming off a series sweep against Southwestern Christian and currently hold a four-game winning streak. Before stringing together four wins, WBU lost 11 games in a row.
- Through conference play, WBU has won four of their seven conference series.
- Felix Polanco enters as the top Pioneer hitter for the squad posting a .318 batting average with a team-leading 8 doubles and 38 RBIs. Polanco has recorded a hit in three out of his last four games with a 3-for-4 day ( 1 2B, 1 HR) in the Pioneers' win against Southwest (NM), Felix tallied 4 runs and 2 RBIs along with a SB.
- Delvis Claudio leads WBU in doubles hits with 11 and extra-base hits (22) despite batting just .281 this season. Claudio went 3-for-7 with 4 runs scored in the Pioneers' three-game series against SCU.
- Arcadio Frausto and Cooper Jauz round out the .300 plus hitters on the team as the duo have combined for 47 runs, 60 RBIs, and 22 XBH.
- On the pitching side for Pioneer hurlers with at least 50 IP and 10+ appearances, Nathan Baca is the team leader in ERA (3.24). Of the four WBU pitchers with 45+ IP, the righty owns the least amount of hits allowed.
- Juan Gil-Franco, a junior out of Venezuela follows just behind Baca with a 3.83 ERA in 47.0 innings. So far this season, Gil-Franco has struck out at least 5 batters in two out of his last three starts and has gone 6.0 innings in five of nine starts.
Series History
- Oklahoma City holds an 8-game win streak against WBU dating back to 2021. Overall, the Stars are 37-12 against the Pioneers. In last year's series, Trent Kiraly went 7-for-11, totaling 4 runs scored. In game one of the 2023 series against WBU, Andrew Limbaugh went 6.1 IP while surrendering 1 ER with 6 Ks.
Game Update
- Due to incoming weather, this series has been moved to Apr. 28-29 where the doubleheader will be played on Sunday at Piedmont High School, where the Stars opened the season with a sweep over LSU-Alexandria.
- The final game will be played on Monday with the location to be determined between Piedmont and Oklahoma City University.
Senior Day
- Oklahoma City will be recognizing six seniors on Sunday evening before the first game which include:
What's Next
- Oklahoma City will be one of two hosts for the Sooner Athletic Conference tournament which will take place May 3rd through May 6th.
