Baseball 3/15/2018 10:09:00 AM Chris Brannick

Central Visits Fort Hays State

HAYS, Kan. – The University of Central Oklahoma baseball team hits the road this weekend for a three-game Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association series with Fort Hays State, beginning Friday evening at 5 p.m. at Larks Park. The teams will also play Saturday at 3 p.m. and wrap up the series Sunday at 1 p.m.

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Central Oklahoma heads to Fort Hays with a 15-8 record overall this season, and a 7-2 mark in MIAA competition. Hays is 9-12 overall and 1-8 in league play.

"We're going to have to be ready to play every day up there," UCO head baseball coach John Martin said. "We need to be more consistent both at the plate and on defense. We've done well in both aspects of the game, but we've also not played very well at both. We need to get to a consistent level."

UCO is hitting .311 as a team through 23 games this season. The Bronchos rank fifth in the league in team batting average. That is one of the lower rankings for Central's offense however.

UCO is first in the MIAA in at-bats (805), hits (250), runs (202), home runs (33), runs batted in (173), and stolen bases (56). The Bronchos are second in the league in doubles (57), hit by a pitch (31), and attempted stolen bases (65). And UCO is third in the league in walks (100) and team slugging percentage (.514).

Kyle Miskovsky leads the charge on offense for the Bronchos. He has hit either lead-off or in the two-hole in every game he has played this season and has a team-high .421 batting average to show for it.

Miskovsky, a senior from Oklahoma City, also leads the team with 40 hits, 24 runs scored, 11 doubles, and 14 stolen bases. He has reached base safely in 21 of 22 games played this season.

Jake Dyer will alternate with Miskovsky in the lead-off position in the Broncho batting order, though he moved down to the five-hole in UCO's two mid-week games. The move did not deter the senior outfielder, who is on a 19-game hit streak.

Dyer has a hit in 20 of 21 games played this season. He has nine multi-hit games during his 19-game streak, including two hits in each of the past two games. Dyer had nine hits in a three-game series at Nebraska-Kearney two weeks ago, including his season-best four hits in one game.

Dyer ranks in the top-five in more than 10 offensive categories for the Bronchos this season. One of those marks is at-bats, where his 93 ABs rank second on the team. Dyer also has 506 career at-bats, which ranks ninth in school history.

Central's pitching staff looks to settle in to more consistent results this weekend. The Bronchos have a team earned run average of 5.81, which ranks 11th in the MIAA. UCO's top-three starters though do have a 10-2 combined record.

JJ Rogers is 3-1 with a 4.10 ERA. He has 19 strikeouts in 26 1/3 innings pitched. Ryan Lemoine is 4-1 with a 4.54, and has 23 Ks in a team-high 35 2/3 innings. And Tyler Culver is 3-0 with a 7.82 ERA. Culver has a team-high 25 strikeouts in 25 1/3 innings pitched.

Despite giving up 122 earned runs this season, third-most in the league, Central's staff also has 181 strikeouts, which is third-most in the league.

Fort Hays State ranks last in the MIAA with an 8.28 team ERA. Offensively, Hays is seventh in the league with a team batting average of .289.

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Players Mentioned

#12 Tyler Culver: P; 6' 3"; Senior; */R

#4 Jake Dyer: IF/OF; 6' 1"; Senior; R/R

#5 Kyle Miskovsky: 2B; 5' 9"; Senior; R/R

#26 JJ Rogers: P; 5' 9"; Junior; */R

#6 Ryan Lemoine: P; 6' 4"; Senior; */R

Players Mentioned

#12 Tyler Culver
: 6' 3"; Senior; */R
: P

#4 Jake Dyer
: 6' 1"; Senior; R/R
: IF/OF

#5 Kyle Miskovsky
: 5' 9"; Senior; R/R
: 2B

#26 JJ Rogers
: 5' 9"; Junior; */R
: P

#6 Ryan Lemoine
: 6' 4"; Senior; */R
: P