Bronchos host Kearney in final regular season series

5/3/2017 5:00:00 PM | By: Chris Brannick

Central Oklahoma senior Holden Capps leads the Bronchos with six wins this year and has a team-high 73 strikeouts. UCO hosts Nebraska-Kearney at 3 p.m. Friday. [UCO Photo Services]

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EDMOND – The University of Central Oklahoma baseball team is hosting Nebraska-Kearney for a three-game Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association series and is the final series of the regular season for the Bronchos.

First pitch is scheduled for Friday at 3 p.m. The teams will also play Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at noon. Sunday's regular season finale will also include a brief pre-game ceremony to honor 13 seniors playing in their final game at Wendell Simmons Field.

The Bronchos come into the weekend with a 27-17-1 record and a 17-16 mark in conference play. Nebraska-Kearney is 14-32 overall and 7-26 in the MIAA.

UCO is in the midst of a jumbled up mess that is the MIAA standings. With one weekend to play, the Bronchos can finish the season anywhere from fifth to ninth place. The best case scenario of course includes the Bronchos winning their final three contests, and that's all that matters to them at this point.

"We can't worry about what everyone else is doing," UCO head coach John Martin said. "There are a lot of different things that can happen but the only thing that matters is that we focus on trying to win our games."

The Bronchos swept Nebraska-Kearney in a three-game set last season in Kearney, Neb. UCO scored an average of nine runs per game that weekend. Central is currently on a four-game winning streak during which it is averaging nine runs per game.

Jake Dyer leads the bunch for the Broncho offense. The junior outfielder has all season, but last week, Dyer had an offensive outburst unmatched this season. He hit .643, going 9-of-14 with eight runs scored, five doubles, and five RBIs in leading UCO to four conference wins at a time when the games can almost be considered "must wins."

In the four wins for the Bronchos last week, UCO got wins on the mound by four different pitchers – a sign of the versatility of the Broncho pitching staff.

Greg Hyde, Gibson Russ, and J.D. Cameron all won in relief work, while Holden Capps won in a start. Those four are the top-four pitchers for the Bronchos this season, combining for 17 wins.

Russ, the Broncho closer who also happens to have four wins, also earned his 11th save of the season last week. That mark set a new school record for most wins in school history for one season. Russ had three saves as a junior, giving him 14 four his career at UCO. That is also a new school record.

Nebraska-Kearney comes to Edmond with four batters hitting .300 or above. All four of them also have scored at least 20 runs this season. Dallas Schramm leads the team in both categories. The junior catcher has a .371 batting average and has scored 35 runs this season, playing in every game for the Lopers. Schramm is the leader on offense in virtually every category. He also leads the team in hits (65), RBIs (53), doubles (18), and home runs (13).

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