After playing the last six games at home, the East Central University baseball team will hit the road for a three-game Great American Conference series at Arkansas-Monticello, March 29-30.  A double-header is on the schedule for Saturday, March 29 at 1 p.m. and a single game, Sunday, March 30 at 1 p.m.  The Tigers will also face Oklahoma Christian, Tuesday, April 1 at home starting at 2 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-Monticello
The Boll Weevils are currently ranked No. 25 in the nation and are 21-10 overall and 11-7 in the GAC after winning their last four games.  The streak includes three wins over Harding last weekend.  UAM has been idle since the Harding series because they were forced to cancel their double-header against Lyon College Tuesday.

The Boll Weevils have a team hitting percentage of .273, but are allowing their opponents to hit at just a .265 mark for the season.  UAM has a clear advantage in runs (181/123), but is close to its opponents in hits (261/258).  The difference comes in extra-base hits where they have tallied 70 to 62.

Ben Agredano is the team's leader at the plate with a .372 average.  He has tallied 45 hits, 25 runs and 26 RBIs.  Alex Lang adds a .305 average, 25 hits and 12 RBIs.  Logan Johnson and Kade Garlington are the key pitchers for UAM.  Johnson has seen action in 53.2 innings, with a 4-2 record, 65 hits and 31 runs allowed and 24 K's.  Garlington adds 45.0 innings of work, 41 hits and 18 runs allowed and 28 strikeouts.

Against the Boll Weevils
UAM earned wins in two-of-three games last season at Tiger Field.  This weekend's trip to Monticello, Ark., is the first time the teams will meet outside of Ada since the creation of the GAC.

Senior Ethan Gold is the top returner for the Tigers, with a .667 average, two hits and three RBIs from the series.  Senior Levi Keeton earned a win on the mound in one inning of work.  Senior Robert Buitrago suffered a loss in 5.1 innings, with three strikeouts.

D'Marco Poindexter is the key returner for the Boll Weevils, with a .556 average, four runs, five hits and four RBIs.  Logan Johnson earned a win on the mound, with four hits and two runs allowed and four strikeouts.

Scouting Oklahoma Christian
The Eagles are 16-8 overall and 10-5 in the Heartland Conference after winning their last five games.  OCU will face McMurry for a three-game series this weekend before making the trip to Ada.

The Eagles have a .281 team batting average and allow just a .248 mark from the opposition.  They have a clear advantage in runs scored at 156 to 114 and hits 216 to 187.

OCU is led by Blake Stringer, with a .375 average, 33 hits, 20 runs scored and 26 RBIs.  Brandon Pierce has seen the most action on a very large pitching staff.  Pierce is 4-2 on the season, with a 2.37 ERA in 38 innings.  He has allowed 28 hits and 10 runs, while striking out 39 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.

Writing in New Records
The Tigers are currently on a 10-game winning streak at dates back to March 11.  The streak accounts for the longest in the record books that date back to the 1996 season.  The previous longest streak was seven games during the 2012 season (March 17-March 27) and 1999 (Feb. 27- March 4).

Lavender Coming Up Big
Senior Josh Lavender may have a .282 overall batting average, but he has been coming up big at key moments for the Tigers.  He has a .371 mark with runners on base, .550 average with two outs, .440 mark with runners in scoring position, .556 with runners in scoring position and two outs, and a .875 average with the bases loaded.

Donohoe Earns GAC Player of the Week
Junior Garrett Donohoe was been named the Great American Conference Player of the Week for March 10 after helping the Tigers to a 2-1 record over the weekend against Harding.

Donohoe started the weekend series by hitting .857 in the double-header March 7.  Donohoe hit for the cycle in the games, with two singles, two doubles, a triple and home run, while garnering six RBIs.  The Lake Forest, Calif., native added six put outs and four assisted outs.  He ended the weekend with a .636 batting average, seven hits and six RBIs.

National Strikeout Leader
Junior Icezack Flemming has made an immediate impact for the Tigers on the mound, recording 72 this season.  His total not only puts him at the top of the GAC category, but he is the NCAA's Division II Strikeout leader as of March 23.    The next person on the list has 65.  For his efforts he is currently ranked No. 1 in the GAC in strikeouts (72), No. 1 in complete games (6) and No. 3 in innings pitched (53.1) and No. 1 wins (6).

Taking Down Ranked Teams
The Tigers had a strong road GAC weekend, Feb. 28-March 1, earning a 2-1 record against then-No. 17 Arkansas Tech.  ECU fell in the opening game 2-12, but rebounding to win 9-1 and 7-3 in Saturday's double-header.

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.

GAC Preseason Poll
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
Tuesday's game will start a nine-game home stand for ECU that will account for the final games at Tiger Field this season.  The stand continues through April 15 when St. Gregory's comes to town.  After OCU is at Tiger Field, Southern Arkansas will come to Ada for a three-game GAC series April 4-5.