EDMOND, Okla. - No. 19 Oklahoma Christian will play its first games at Lawson Softball Complex and Tom Heath Field since Feb. 24 when it hosts Texas-Permian Basin in a doubleheader Friday, Mar. 7. First pitch of the Friday twin bill between the Eagles and the Falcons is scheduled for 2 p.m.

EAGLE OUTLOOK (13-7, 6-6 LSC)
After a slow start following the first weekend of conference play, Oklahoma Christian has since gone 6-3 in LSC competition, including winning three of its last four. In their most recent doubleheader against Eastern New Mexico, the Eagles started the twin bill with a 10-0 as Grace Anderson (7-2), Payten Schibbelhute and Kadence Brewster pitched a combined two-hit shutout.

In the circle, OC is fourth in the conference with a combined 3.25 ERA. Of the maroon-and-gray's 143 strikeouts, 137 have come from 2024 All-LSC Third Team selection Anderson (79) and 2024 First Team honoree Jill Dickson (58). Anderson is currently leading the conference and seventh in NCAA Division II with 79 strikeouts, having recorded at least seven strikeouts in five of her seven conference appearances.

Oklahoma Christian is also fourth in the league in team batting average at .326 thanks to a .402 combined average (47-for-117) over its last four games. Leading the way in the offensive effort is true freshman catcher Marti Yaerger, who is currently seventh in the LSC with a .474 batting average and sporting a nine-game hitting streak - the longest such streak since 2022. Yaerger also boasts a 13-game on-base streak, leading the team with 12 walks.

The Eagles have defeated the Falcons of Texas-Permian Basin in 11 consecutive meetings, leading the all-time series, 20-4, and have never lost to UTPB on Tom Heath Field. The last time these two teams played in the Sooner State, OC won the three games by a combined score of 40-8, including a game-one 23-0 shutout. In the last meeting, the Falcons had the game-winning run at the plate before OC survived in Odessa, Texas, 3-2.    

SCOUTING TEXAS-PERMIAN BASIN (6-16, 1-11 LSC)
After dropping its first 10 conference games, Texas-Permian Basin split its most recent home doubleheader against St. Edward's. The Falcons are 1-6 on the road this season, with that one win coming against NAIA member University of the Southwest. Permian Basin has not won a road conference game since Apr. 21, 2023.

The Falcons boast two players hitting above .260 through 22 games: Junior Keri Sanford (.449) and sophomore Emery Aguilar (.387). Sanford, who also leads the team and is tied for sixth in the LSC with 31 hits, has 10 multi-hit games, including two 4-for-4 games, while Aguilar has seven such games. As a team, however, UTPB is 16th in the league with a combined .240 batting average.