The Braves swept its eighth conference series and won its 10 conference series this season with its 11-4 victory over the University of Saint Mary on Tuesday in Leavenworth.
Ottawa leads the KCAC by three games over McPherson College and clinched at least a share of the KCAC Championship, its first since 2010, with the win over Saint Mary.
OU is 39-5 overall and 27-3 in the KCAC. Through 44 games, OU has scored 406 runs and hit 77 home runs. The Braves have a .332 batting average, a .443 on base percentage, and a .584 slugging percentage. Ottawa is on a 16 game winning streak and is 11-2 on the road this season.
Ottawa has three pitcher with 90 or more strike outs this season.
Hector Sepulveda and
Stephen Norrell have 90 strike outs.
Tyler Bryant has 94. Norrell had 125 strike outs in 2021, which is the school record for strike outs in a season. The Braves have only three pitchers with 100 strike outs in a single season in program history. OU has a chance this season to have Sepulveda, Norrell, and Bryant named to the list. It would be the second time that Norrell has had 100 strike outs in a season and he would be the first Brave to do accomplish it twice.
Stephen Norrell (125) in 2021, Eric Cordell (107) in 2009, and Brian Woods (102) in 2005.
Ottawa set four new single season team school records last weekend in the series against Tabor College. Wins (38), home runs (77), walks (220), and stolen bases (125). OU's 16 straight victories is the longest winning streak in program history.
Holland Boan became the program's new home run king with six home runs last weekend against Tabor. He has 26 home runs in 2022.
Boan was named the KCAC Player of the Week for the fourth time this season. He had a .636 (7-for-11) batting average, scored seven runs, hit six home runs, drove in 11 runs, had a 2.273 slugging percentage, was walked four times, only struck out once, and had a .733 on base percentage in OU's three game series last week against no. 22 Tabor College. He hit three home runs in game one, two in game two, and one in game three against Tabor.
Boan was also named NAIA Player of the Week for the second time this season. He is the first player to repeat at NAIA Baseball Player of the Week this season.
Holland Boan leads the Braves in batting average (.464) and RBI (66).
Tyler Bryant leads OU in ERA (2.30) and leads the team in strike outs (94).
Sterling College is 15-31 overall and 11th in the KCAC with a mark of 7-23. The Warriors have a record of 11-15 at home this season. SC enters this weekend's series coming off a 2-1 series loss to the University of Saint Mary. Warriors won the final game of the series, 6-2 after falling 10-8 in game one and 12-2 in game two. Prior to that game three win, the Spires had lost four straight.
Through 46 games, the Warriors have scored 252 runs and hit 28 home runs. Sterling has a .233 batting average, a .383 on base percentage, and a .348 slugging percentage.
Micky Nunes leads Sterling in batting average (.364), Ike Brown is SC's leader in RBI (30), Gio Ramos leads the team in ERA (4.35), and David Lira leads SC in strike outs (58).
