Baseball | 4/22/2019 8:29:00 PM
GOODWELL, Okla.— Panhandle Baseball (18-24; 9-15) will host Mid-America Christian University (17-21; 11-11) this weekend for their final home series of the regular season. The Aggies will face off against the Evangels in a Sooner Athletic Conference match-up over Friday and Saturday (Apr. 26-27).
The Aggies and the Evangels will be battling it out for the number six spot in the SAC rankings. MACU currently holds this position, but the outcome of this weekend's series will determine who officially claims the six-spot before post-season seeds and matchups are announced. The Aggies have already punched their post-season ticket.
AGGIES-AT-A-GLANCE: The Aggies are coming off a tough series loss to Oklahoma City, with game three ending a close-contest pitcher's duel as Joey Goetze held the No. 9 Stars scoreless through five innings.
The Aggies currently have two starters hitting over .350, as
Jared Mayeda and
Payton Rhodes are leading the team, hitting .353 and .352, respectively. Mayeda sits at No. 13 on the SAC batting average rankings with Rhodes just behind at No. 14.
Luis Rodriguez leads the Aggies in RBI with 33 on the year, putting him currently at No. 16 in the SAC. Mayeda still holds the No. 8 spot in fielding percentage (.996) and the No. 3 ranking in put-outs, with 250 on the year, averaging 6.25 per game, making him the top first baseman in the league.
JJ Vaught still holds three national ranks including No. 13 in assists per game (2.718) and No. 28 in total assists (106). His efforts put him at No. 2 in the SAC in both categories.
The Aggies' pitching staff is also making marks in the SAC rankings, with
Yesiel Valdez and Joey Goetze pulling in at No. 8 and No. 15 in strikeouts on the season with 77 and 50 strikeouts, respectively.
SCOUTING THE EVANGELS: The Evangels recently sealed a sweep of Central Christian, taking all three games last weekend before dropping a 10-0 shutout to No. 14 Texas Wesleyan.
The Evangels' Pichardo ranks No. 26 in the nation in both home runs per game (total 9; average .265) and runs scored per game; the team has just one player hitting above .300 on the season.
Game one of the series begins Friday with a double header at 12 p.m. with game three on Saturday at 2 p.m. Saturday's game will be prefaced by a Senior Day Recognition Ceremony to celebrate Aggie Baseball's group of graduates.
Free live stats and streaming of all three games, as well as the Senior Day Recognition, will be available on opsuaggies.com.
