Softball | 4/11/2019 4:55:00 PM

Goodwell, Okla. – It will be a busy weekend (plus one day) for the Oklahoma Panhandle State University softball team, as the squad is slated to play six road games (three doubleheaders) in a four-day span. On Friday (Apr. 12/3 p.m.) and Saturday (Apr. 13/1 p.m.) the Aggies will travel Central Christian College in McPherson, Kan., before returning to Moore, Okla., for a make-up twinbill at Mid-America Christian University on Monday (Apr. 15/2 p.m.).
 
Panhandle State (19-15, 10-12 SAC) is coming off of a doubleheader sweep at Southwestern Christian last Sunday (3-0 and 7-6). The Aggies have won four of their last six games and are currently fifth in the latest SAC standings.
 
Links for any live statistics and video for all away games can be found at: opsuaggies.com.
 
GAME NOTES

*SCOUTING THE TIGERS: Central Christian enters the weekend with an overall record of 12-21 and is 6-15 in the Sooner Athletic Conference. CCC is in seventh place in the league standings. However, the Tigers have been hot of late, currently riding a six-game winning streak (including last week's four-game series sweep over Haskell Indian Nations University.
 
*LAST TIME OUT VS.CCC: In 2018, the Aggies took three-of-four games from CCC in the series played in Goodwell. OPSU outscored the Tigers in the series, 56-23.
 
*SCOUTING THE EVANGELS: MACU enters the week 17-11 overall and 12-9 in the SAC. The Evangels are just ahead of the Aggies in the SAC's fourth spot. Prior to facing the Aggies, MACU has doubleheaders versus Langston (Apr. 11) and a non-conference date against Ecclesia College (Fri., Apr. 12) on tap. MACU has back-to-back sweeps over SAGU and Bacone for a four-game win streak, currently.
 
*LAST TIME OUT VS. MACU: A potent 1-2 pitching punch from the Oklahoma Panhandle State University softball team paved the way for a Sooner Athletic Conference doubleheader sweep at Mid-America Christian University, before weather wiped away the final two games (forcing the make-up date). The Aggies topped the Evangels by scores of 5-3 and 4-2. In game one, Jena Konieczka finished the game 3-for-4 with two RBI. Jewell Lee was 1-for-2, scoring twice, and reaching base three times to lead off an inning. In game two, Brittany Thomas was 3-for-3 in game two and Karah Ortiz was 2-for-4. Panhandle State pitchers Kaylor Battiest and Lindsay Jacobs combined for 21 strikeouts in the two victories. Battiest struck out 12 MACU batters in her complete game win. Jacobs had nine "K's" in 6.2 innings of work on the game-two win.
 
*AGGIES LAST WEEK: OPSU swept Southwestern Christian on Sunday, after losing a pair of games at nationally-ranked Oklahoma City University on Friday. Versus SCU, OPSU pitcher Kaylor Battiest picked up her eleventh (11-7) win of the year in game one and then notched her SAC-leading sixth save in game two, striking out a combined 16 batters for the day (surpassing the 100-strikeout mark for the season, with 111, currently). Kayli Grove hit a home run in each game and Jaylinn Reyes also hit a round-tripper. While there may not be any points for "moral victories," OPSU can find solace in the fact that it took the NAIA's No. 2-ranked team – Oklahoma City University – down to the wire on its home field in a doubleheader loss by scores of 7-6 and 5-3 last Friday.
 
*AGGIES WERE OK VS. OKCU: Panhandle State held Oklahoma City well below its scoring average of 11.6 runs per game and attacked the Stars' staff for more than its 1.42 runs allowed per game average.
 
*CHART TOPPER: Kaylor Battiest ranks No. 1 (along with several others) in the NAIA in both saves (6) and fielding percentage (1.000). In the SAC, Battiest is first in saves (6), No. 2 in strikeouts per game (7.13), third in total strikeouts (111), fifth in victories (11), sixth in opponent batting average (.243) and tied for first in fielding percentage (1.000).
 
*FROSH PHENOM: OPSU first-year player Brittany Thomas ranks No. 8 in the SAC batting averages at .425 (31-for-73).
 
*SAC SUPERLATIVES: Other Aggies among the SAC leaders include: RBI per Game- Jena Konieczka (9th/0.88); Doubles per Game- Kayli Grove (8th/0.29); Triples per Game- Karah Ortiz (2nd/0.13) & Kayli Grove (6th/0.09); At-Bats per Game- Jewell Lee (3rd/3.41) & Jena Konieczka (10th/3.12); ERA- Kaylor Battiest (8th/2.70);
 
*MULTIPLES: A trio of Aggies – Jewell Lee (11), Kayli Grove (11) and Jena Konieczka (10) – have double-digit multi-hit games this season. Konieczka also leads Panhandle with eight games with multi-RBI; Thomas has six.
 
*J-REY ON A ROLL: Jaylinn Reyes currently has an 11-game hitting streak for OPSU.