University of Central Oklahoma Athletics

UCO Heads To Missouri For Weekend Classic

3/16/2017 11:25:00 AM

No. 9-ranked Central Oklahoma treks to St. Joseph, Mo. this weekend to play six games in the 2017 Hy-Vee Classic hosted by Missouri Western.

The Bronchos, 13-3 and riding a seven-game winning streak, will play two games Friday, Saturday and Sunday against Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference opponents.

UCO starts Friday with a noon contest against Augustana (9-6) before facing Winona State (16-3) at 4 p.m., with both games at Heritage Park. The Bronchos return Saturday to take on Upper Iowa (4-8) at 10 a.m. at Griffon Softball Field and Wayne State (4-14) at Heritage Park.

Central wraps up the tournament Sunday against Mary (5-14) at 9 a.m. and Sioux Falls (12-7) at 1 p.m., with both games back at Heritage Park.

"It's a big weekend for us since we're playing six games against regional teams and those are all big when it comes to the end of the season," head coach Cody White said. "We've had several long breaks between games so far this year and it will be good to see how we do playing six games in three days."

The Bronchos have prospered behind a potent offense and strong pitching corps through 16 games.

UCO is hitting .329 as a team, averaging 8.9 hits and 6.6 runs per game.

Four players are batting over .400, led by Carrie Abrams' .487 average. Morgan Heard is hitting .436 with seven home runs and 18 runs batted in, while Tori Collet has a .413 average, five homers and 16 RBI.

Carli Jones rounds out UCO's .400 hitters with a .405 mark. JoBi Heath leads the team in RBI (23) and is hitting .358.

Peyton Walker tops the pitching staff with an 8-1 record, one save and a 1.02 earned run average in a team-high 54 2/3 innings. Jayden Chestnut has been dominant of late and is 3-1 with one save and a 2.18 ERA, having struck out 43 batters in 25 2/3 innings.

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