Baseball Draws Top-Seeded Oklahoma Wesleyan to Open KCAC Tournament

McPHERSON, Kan. (macbulldogs.com) --- The McPherson College baseball team will face No. 3-ranked Oklahoma Wesleyan University to kickoff the 2017 Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) Baseball Tournament on Wednesday, May 3, at the Great Bend Sports Complex in Great Bend, Kansas.
 

---

---

First pitch between the sixth-seeded Bulldogs (24-28, 12-14 KCAC) and top-seeded Eagles (44-9, 20-6 KCAC) will be at 11 a.m.

(Game preview provided by the KCAC Office)

Game No. 1: Wednesday, May 3 - 11 a.m.
No. 1 Oklahoma Wesleyan University (44-9, 20-6) vs. No. 6 McPherson College (24-28, 12-14)
 
The Eagles and the Bulldogs last met on March 25, where Oklahoma Wesleyan took the first two games (6-3, 4-3), before McPherson won game three 13-9 in Bartlesville. The Eagles were 13-2 in the month of April, while the Bulldogs were 11-6.  
 
The winner of this matchup will take on the loser of Game No. 3 (Sterling vs. Friends) on Thursday, May 4, at 3 p.m. The loser will play the loser of Game No. 2 (Tabor vs. York) in an elimination game at 11 a.m. Thursday.
 
Players to watch:
Oklahoma Wesleyan's Chris Acosta-Tapia leads the team in batting average (0.456), while Will Price is the team's leader in total RBI's (73), and Scott Weaver leads the Eagles with nine stolen bases this season. On the mound, Carlos Aldana currently has the best ERA for the Oklahoma Wesleyan pitching staff, coming in at 2.90 in 14 games and 68.1 innings pitched. Acosta-Tapia is currently ranked first in the NAIA in total bases per game (3.302), total hits (88), total bases (175), and slugging percentage (0.907). 
 
Lane Fleming leads McPherson with a 0.395 batting average and 49 RBI's this season, while Dylan Klava leads the team with 10 stolen bases. Fleming is 23rd nationally in total putouts (355), 40th in putouts per game (7.100), and 49th in home runs (12). From the mound, Matthew Green has been the Bulldogs most dominant pitcher, with a 3.49 ERA and five wins to his name. Green finished the regular season fifth in the KCAC for ERA, and third in opponent batting average (0.255).