EDMOND, Okla. - No. 20 Oklahoma Christian continues its run through the Lone Star Conference East divisional teams when it meets Texas A&M-Kingsville for a doubleheader Friday, Mar. 28 at 4 p.m.
EAGLE OUTLOOK (21-13, 14-10 LSC)
Four of OC's last six games have come against Top-10 competition, with Texas Woman's sandwiched in between the two. Oklahoma Christian allowed just one total run against TWU, 2-0 and 6-1, as
Jill Dickson pitched a one-hit shutout in game one against the Pioneers. In the Top-20 matchups, the maroon-and-gray fell to then-No. 6 Rogers State, 7-2 and 5-3, and again against No. 1 UT Tyler, 12-2 and 8-0.
In those four losses, Oklahoma Christian hit better than .300 just once. Through 34 games, OC is 18-2 when it hits .300 or better compared to just 3-11 when hitting worse than .300. As a team, the maroon-and-gray are fifth in the Lone Star Conference with a .315 batting average. Of the eight players with at least 68 at-bats, seven of them are hitting are hitting .316 or better.
Following the 2-4 week, shortstop
Kallie Rupp has now established herself as the leading bat in the Eagle lineup with a .387 average. Rupp is tied for second with
Kiley Brewster with 10 multi-hit games this season, while
Marti Yaerger is leading the group with 11 such games. Ki. Brewster leads the way with four triples on the year, while Rupp and Yaerger both have three.
Oklahoma Christian was sporting a five-game win streak over Texas A&M-Kingsville until the Javelinas took the last meeting to take the edge in the all-time series, 11-10. The Eagles, who are 6-6 in true road games this season, have won four straight in Kingsville, with their last loss coming in 2022.
SCOUTING TEXAS A&M-KINGSVILLE (18-17, 13-11 LSC)
Texas A&M-Kingsville comes into Friday's doubleheader having dropped five of its last seven games while splitting the last four. In its last four home games, TAMUK split with divisional opponents St. Edward's and split with St. Mary's. As of Thursday, Mar. 27, Kingsville is 3-5 against the LSC East while OC is 4-4.
The Javelinas sit just behind Oklahoma Christian in the conference's pitching ranks, sitting fifth with a 3.52 ERA compared to the Eagles' 3.17 stand. Kingsville and OC are two of four teams in the entire conference with at least 200 strikeouts on the season. Controlling the circle for TAMUK is freshman Arianna Alaniz (9-7), who leads the LSC with 124 strikeouts and a 2.56 ERA.
