The East Central University baseball team will hit the road for four games in the next week.  The Tigers will first head to Russellville, Ark., to face No. 17 Arkansas Tech, Feb. 28-March 1 for a three-game Great American Conference series.  There is a single game scheduled for Friday, Feb. 28 at 2 p.m. and a double-header set for Saturday, March 1 starting at 1 p.m.  ECU will then travel to face Oklahoma Christian, Tuesday, March 4 at 6 p.m.

Game Notes

The Coverage
Fans who can't be at the game can find links to live stats, live video (if available) on ECUTigers.com.  Go to the baseball schedule page.

Scouting Arkansas Tech
The Wonder Boys have had a strong start to the 2014 season, earning a No. 17 national and No. 3 regional ranking after starting 11-3 overall and 3-0 in the GAC.

ATU has a team batting average of .289 and is allowing just a .233 mark by the opposition.  The Wonder Boys also have a 122 to 99 advantage in hits.

Mike Kattula leads ATU at the plate, with a .438 average.  Kattula has tallied 21 hits, scored eight times and has 15 RBIs.  Jay Johnson is next on the team with a .319 average, 15 hits and five RBIs.

Zach Skelton is the top pitcher for the Wonder Boys, with a 3-1 record.  Skelton has a 6.10 ERA, allowed 21 hits and struck out 28 batters.

Against the Wonder Boys
Last season, the Tigers fell in all three games to ATU at Tiger Field.

Senior Michael Mariano is the top returner at the plate for ECU, with a .333 batting average, four hits and one RBI.  Senior Robert Buitrago threw 5.1 innings against the Wonder Boys, allowing nine hits and striking out four.

Scouting Oklahoma Christian
The Eagles are 4-5 overall and 1-2 in the Heartland Conference after losing their last three games.  OC will have a chance to improve its record before facing the Tigers, as they travel to play Texas A&M International this weekend for a three-game series.

The Eagles have a .277 team batting average and are allowing their opponents to hit .303.

Cameron Keener is the team's batting average leader, with a .600 average.  Caleb Price adds a .462 average, with six hits and four RBIs.

Brandon Pierce is OC's top pitcher, with 12 innings of work.  He has a 1-1 record, allowed 13 hits and struck out 12 batters.

Against the Eagles
The Tigers and OC meet three times last year, with ECU earning a 2-1 record.  The Tigers won one game at home and went 1-1 on the road.

Senior Ethan Gold is the top returner from the series, with a .333 batting average.  Senior Josh Lavender added a .300 average, with three hits and three RBIs.

Blake Stinger is the key returner for the Eagles, with a .556 average on five hits and one RBI.  Luke Sandoval earned a win on the mound in seven innings of work.  He allowed three hits and struck out two.

Home Run Performance
The Tigers had a strong weekend at the plate against Henderson State, recording five home runs, including a grand slam.  The weekend total surpasses what ECU put together all of the 2013 season (4).

Pomales Pounding Away
Junior Luc Pomales had a strong week for the Tigers, with seven hits, four RBIs and two runs scored against Ouachita Baptist and Texas Wesleyan.  Pomales tallied one home run, a slugging percentage of .667, a .467 hitting percentage, stole a base and was 8-for-8 in the field.

Batters Fanning at Flemming
Junior Icezack Flemming has had a strong start to his Tiger career in his first two appearances.  Flemming has tallied a total of 41 strikeouts and thrown two complete games.  His strikeout total was bolstered with 15 against Newman.  For his efforts he is currently ranked No. 1 in the GAC in strikeouts (41), No. 1 in complete games (3) and No. 5 in innings pitched (25.0) and No. 7 in opponent batting average (.204).

Opening Weekend Pitching
Junior transfers Lucas Kaplan and Icezack Flemming combined for a good opening weekend for the ECU pitching staff.

Kaplan threw a complete game in the first game of the season and finished with a 1.29 ERA.

Flemming ended the second game with seven strikeouts.

GAC Preseason Poll
ECU has been retooled and is ready for the 2014 season.  The Tigers have 23 newcomers on the roster and just nine returners from a season ago.

ECU will have a lot to prove, as the Tigers were picked to finish 11th (13 points) in the 2014 Great American Conference Preseason Poll, as voted on by the league's head coaches.

Southern Arkansas was a clear top choice with 100 points and 10-of-11 first-place votes.  Arkansas Tech was the only other team to receive a first-place vote, finishing second with 88 points.  Southwestern Oklahoma State was picked third (78 points), Arkansas-Monticello fourth (63), Henderson State fifth (61), Harding sixth (55), Ouachita Baptist seventh (50), Southeastern Oklahoma state eighth (46), Northwestern Oklahoma State ninth (25) and Southern Nazarene 10th (19).

Up Next
The Tigers will return home for a weekend series with Harding, March 7-8 and then play a non-conference road game at St. Gregory's March 11.