THE AGENDA
The OUAZ baseball team will quickly get back to the field after adjusting this week's schedule for their series against Arizona Christian. The teams have announced that they will open the series on Monday at 6 p.m. with a game on the Royals side of Surprise Stadium on a field to be announced. The teams will then meet on Thursday at 1 p.m. at Firestorm Field in Phoenix before playing the series finale on Friday at 6 p.m. on another Royals field to be announced.
The field assignments will be posted on the OUAZ baseball schedule at OUAZSpirit.com and made available on social media once they are confirmed.
Live stats will be available during all three games this week. OUAZ will broadcast Friday's game on the NAIA Network and through the OUAZ Game Central portal. Monday's game is yet to be determined if a broadcast will be available. Live video will also be available for Thursday's game at ACU on the NAIA Network and the ACU Game Central portal. The NAIA Network is available on Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV, and Roku devices by searching NAIA. All links for any live coverage that will be available can be found at OUAZSpirit.com/live.
ABOUT THE SPIRIT
OUAZ will enter the three-game series with Arizona Christian with a 1-2 record after an opening series against Benedictine Mesa this past weekend. The Spirit took the opener against the Redhakws before falling in games two and three.
In the opening series the Spirit hit .250 with a .315 on-base percentage and .271 slugging percentage. They scored 12 runs in the three games with two doubles. OUAZ drew 10 walks and had 22 strikeouts. They stole four bases in five attempts.
The team posted a 3.00 earned run average after allowing 35 hits and 23 runs (nine earned) in the three games. The staff recorded 24 strikeouts and 13 walks while allowing BenU to hit .304. OUAZ gave up five doubles and one triple.
OUAZ struggled in the field with 12 errors in the series. They hold a .902 fielding percentage after one series of play. The Spirit turned a pair of double plays and caught one of two base stealers.
AT THE PLATE
Sam Hamey led the team with five hits while playing just two games. He is currently batting .714 with one run scored. Hamey leads the team with two multi-hit games, including his 3-hit performance on Saturday.
Austin Shumaker picked up three hits for a .600 batting average during the opening series. He tallied a single in all three games of the series and recorded a sacrifice fly and two runs batted in. Shumaker is one of two players to end the week with a 3-game hitting streak.
Esteban Martinez is the other Spirit play on a 3-game hitting streak entering the week. Martinez hit .300 with a pair of walks against the Redhawks. He also picked up a pair of RBI and scored three runs.
Ryan Mortensen hit .500 with a pair of hits, including a double, in his two games played.
ON THE MOUND
Travis Hawkins earned the Spirit's lone win of the series. In Thursday's opener, Hawkins went 3.1 innings in relief and allowed no runs on two hits with five strikeouts. He held the Redhawks to .167 hitting and posted two walks.
Zack McLeod posted a 1.80 ERA in his start on Saturday after allowing four runs (one earned) on seven hits in 5.0 innings. He had five strikeouts and one walk in suffering the loss.
Hayden Durkiewicz started the opener and took a no decision after allowing four runs (two earned) in 4.2 innings of work. He gave up four hits with three strikeouts and two walks.
Taylor Campos gave the Spirit two appearances out of the bullpen without allowing a run. He picked up the save in game one and finished the week allowing two hits in 2.0 innings pitched.
ABOUT ARIZONA CHRISTIAN
Arizona Christian is 6-4 on the season after sweeping a doubleheader at Providence Christian on Friday. They have won six of their last eight games after an 0-2 start. The Firestorm are hitting .291 and hold a 4.63 ERA. Michael Diffley leads the team with 11 hits – two home runs – and holds a .379 average. Brett Aker is 1-1 with a 1.17 ERA in five appearance (three starts) on the mound.
OUAZ leads the all-time series with the Firestorm 4-1. The Spirit went 2-1 in the series at home last season and swept two games at ACU.
LOOKING AHEAD
OUAZ remains home to host five games next week. They have a two-game series with Okanagan on February 19-20 before playing three games against Bethesda on February 21-23.
