The East Central University baseball team will open an eight game home stand, Friday, Feb. 19 when they face Northwestern Oklahoma State starting at noon for a double-header at Ken Turner Field.  ECU will then host the Rangers for a single game Saturday, Feb. 20 at noon.  The final game for the next week will be a non-conference game against Oklahoma City, Tuesday, Feb. 24 at 2 p.m. at Ken Turner Field.

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 Northwestern
The Rangers are 6-4 overall and 1-2 in the Great American Conference after the opening weekend of league action.  NWOSU has a .287 team batting average and is allowing just a .267 mark.

Jeff Martin leads the Rangers at the plate, with a .415 average.  Martin has eight runs, 17 hits, nine RBIs and has been struck out just once.  Logan Porter adds a .316 average on nine runs, 12 hits and five RBIs.

Matthew Bickford has seen the most action on the mound, with 16 innings.  He has allowed 17 hits, five runs and struck out 11, while going 2-1.  Alexander Svetgoff is 2-0 on the year in 10 innings of work.  He has allowed just five hits and four runs and struck out nine.

Against the Rangers
Last year, the Tigers went 1-2 with NWOSU on the road, with two of the games being decided by just one run.

Senior Bryce McKee led the Tigers at the plate, with a .550 average.  Fellow senior Nick Spini added a .417 average, with five hits, three runs and two RBIs.  Lucas Kaplan picked up the win on the mound for ECU in seven innings of work.  He allowed eight hits and four runs, while striking out five.

Jeff Martin and Logan Porter are the top returners for the Rangers in the series.  Martin hit .455, with five hits and Porter added two hits and four RBIs.  Zack Postoak is the only returning pitcher who saw action in the series, throwing two innings and striking out two.

The Series
Since 2010, the Tigers and NWOSU have meet 15 times, with ECU holding a 9-6 lead in the series.  This includes a 2-4 mark when playing as GAC foes and a 3-2 mark when playing in Ada.

Scouting Oklahoma City
The Stars are currently 6-2 overall, but will have four games at home before making the trip to Ada to face ECU.  Tuesday's game will be the first road trip for OCU on the season.

Connor Lynch is the top producer for the Stars, with a .522 average.  Lynch has 12 hits, six doubles, and six RBIs for the year and has not been struck out.  Jared Baker adds a .458 average on 11 hits and 11 RBIs.

Dustin Cook and Matt Young have seen the most action for OCU on the mound.  Cook has a 2-0 record, with a 0.69 ERA in 13 innings.  He has allowed seven hits and just one run, while striking out 16.  Young adds 16 K's in 12.1 innings of work.

Against the Stars
The teams played a home-and-home series in 2014, with ECU earning wins in both games.  ECU had a strong performance at the plate, with a .413 average and held OCU to a .102 mark.

Senior Luc Pomales led the Tigers with a .625 batting average, five hits and five RBIs.  Senior Casey Chenoweth added three hits and three RBIs.  Seniors Jake Wellington and Oscar Gomez each earned a win on the mound.  Wellington pitched eight innings and allowed zero runs and struck out 15.  Gomez added two hit free innings.

The Series
Since 2001, the Tigers and the Stars have gone 2-3, with ECU winning one of three at home.

Sweeping Southwestern
The Tigers opened the GAC portion of the season with a sweep of Southwestern Oklahoma State, marking the first sweep of the Bulldogs since at least 2000 and the first sweep to open GAC play.

McKay Pitcher of the Week
Senior Cam McKay picked up the first GAC honor of the season for the Tigers, being named the GAC Pitcher of the Week for Feb. 17.

McKay locked down a series sweep of SWOSU as he tossed seven scoreless innings in the finale against the Bulldogs. He struck out three and allowed only five base runners in earning the first shutout of his career. The Tigers completed their first road three-game sweep of a conference opponent since joining the GAC.

Winning Start
For the first time since the 2010 season, the Tigers opened the season with a win in the first game when they defeated Cameron 6-1.  The last opening game win was a 7-2 decision against West Texas A&M (Feb. 15, 2010).

Kaplan Completing Games
Senior Lucas Kaplan came out ready to pitch, and earned his fourth career complete game in the 6-1 win over Cameron.  It also marked the second complete game for Kaplan against the Aggies.  Kaplan allowed three hits, one run, two walks and struck out five.

Bryce Belting Away
Senior Bryce McKee came to the plate ready to start the season.  McKee garnered two hits and two runs in the first two games of the season, including the first home run of the year for the Tigers.  So far in 2015 he has a .387 batting average, 12 hits, six doubles, two home runs and eight RBIs.

Returning Power
The Tigers will be looking to continue the success they started in 2014 and will have a strong chance to do so as they return 22 players, including eight starters from the roster.

ECU saw six members of the 2014 squad earn All-GAC honors, the most representatives in a single season.  Four of those players will return for 2015, with juniors Garrett Donohoe, Luc Pomales, Nick Spini (All-GAC Second Team) and Andrew Ayrado (honorable mention) on the roster.

GAC Preseason Poll
After finishing tied for seventh a season ago, ECU has been picked to finish tied for sixth in the 2015 Great American Conference Baseball Preseason Coaches' Poll.

The Tigers, who were 26-23 overall and 14-16 in the GAC in 2014, earned 50 points in the poll and were tied with Ouachita Baptist for sixth.  Southern Arkansas was picked to finish first, with 97 points and seven first-place votes.  Arkansas Tech was a close second with 93 points and four first-place votes.  Arkansas-Monticello was third (76), Southwestern Oklahoma State fourth (67) and Harding fifth (60).

Rounding out the final four spots in the poll are Southeastern Oklahoma State in eighth (45), Henderson State in ninth (34), Northwestern Oklahoma State 10th (20) and Southern Nazarene in 11th (13).

Up Next
The Tigers will continue their home stand next weekend with a home series against Ouachita Baptist Feb. 27-28 and then a home game Tuesday, March 3 against Hillsdale Baptist.