EC Kansas News

Ottawa moved its winning streak to eight games with a sweep of Kansas Wesleyan University on Wednesday afternoon at Salina South High School. The Braves have now swept its first three KCAC opponents. OU won game one, 10-3 and rallied in the top of the seventh to take game two, 8-7. In the two games, the Braves had a .328 batting average, drove in 15 runs, had a .469 slugging percentage, a .413 on base percentage, and walked nine times. The OU pitching staff had a 4.00 ERA in the two games, striking out five in 14 innings. KWU hit .273 against the Braves.

Against Kansas Wesleyan on Wednesday, Madison Bunfill hit four doubles, one home run, drove in six runs, had a .625 batting average (5-for-8), a 1.500 slugging percentage, and a .625 on base percentage.

Madison Bunfill leads the Braves in batting average (.421) and RBI (29). Ashlynn Mercer is OU's leader in ERA (3.09) and strike outs (39).

The Braves are 21-4 this season, have a 6-0 record in the KCAC, are 10-1 at Alumni Park, and are ranked no. 20 in the NAIA Top 25. Through 25 games, OU has a .323 batting average, a .400 on base percentage, a .489 slugging percentage, has hit 19 home runs, and has scored 165 runs.

At Alumni Park, the Braves have a .349 batting average and are averaging 6.8 runs per game. In OU's 21 victories this season, the Braves are hitting .343 and averaging 7.5 runs per game. In its four losses, Ottawa is hitting .206 and averaging 1.7 runs per game.

The Braves are 10-26 against Avila University but are on a two game winning streak against the Eagles. Last season, Ottawa went 1-1 against Avila in the regular season. The Eagles won game one, 5-2 but OU rebounded to take game two, 11-8 at The Z in Kansas City, Mo. The two teams met at the KCAC Tournament in Great Bend, Kan. on May 7. Ottawa won the game, 7-4. The last time the teams met at Alumni Park was on April 17, 2021. Ottawa won game one, 6-2 and took game two, 7-4. The very first time the two teams played was on March 11, 1996. Avila took the double header, 11-8 and 10-2.

Avila University is 17-10 this season, has a record of 4-0 in the KCAC, is 4-4 on the road this season, and has won four straight games. The Eagles enter Saturday's double header coming off sweeps of the University of Saint Mary (3-1/15-3) on March 21 and Sterling College (10-1/9-3) on March 22.

Through 27 games this season, Avila has a .327 batting average, a .384 on base percentage, a .476 slugging percentage, has hit 14 home runs, and has scored 172 runs.

Chelsea Kurtz leads Avila in batting average (.444), Brook Belflower is AU's leader in RBI (25), Chaunelle Penn leads the Eagles in ERA (2.63), and Payton Walter is the team's leader in strike outs (33).

In Avila's eight road games, the Eagles have a .275 batting average and are averaging 4.8 runs per game. In its 17 wins, Avila is hitting .369 and scoring 9.1 runs per game. In its 10 losses, the Eagles are hitting .243 and averaging 1.6 runs per game.

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