Baseball 4/16/2026 11:00:00 AM Chris Brannick

Central Oklahoma Hosts Fort Smith Lions

Bronchos Begin Three-Game MIAA Series Friday At Wendell Simmons Field

EDMOND – Central Oklahoma wraps up an eight-game homestand this weekend with a three-game MIAA series against Arkansas – Fort Smith at Wendell Simmons Field.

Game 1 Friday is scheduled for 4 p.m., Game 2 Saturday, which is also Alumni Day, is scheduled for 2 p.m., and Game 3 Sunday is on tap for a noon first pitch. UCO is 20-20 this season with an 11-15 record in the MIAA. Fort Smith is 5-33 overall and 4-25 in league play.

"This is an important series for us," UCO head baseball coach Robbie Rea said. "While nothing is guaranteed in baseball, this is a series we know we have a chance to win and there are two tough ones after this. So, it's important to be focused on getting this one.

"Fort Smith is capable," Rea continued. "They're coming off a big win and sometimes that's all you need to get going. We have to be ready to play each day and stay focused for all nine innings. Every inning matters at this point."

Central Oklahoma is currently in ninth place in the MIAA standings. The top 10 teams make the MIAA Baseball Championship, which is hosted this year by UCO May 6-9 at Wendell Simmons Field. The Bronchos are two games behind Washburn for eighth place and three games in front of Northeastern State at 10th place. UCO and NSU play in Tahlequah on Tuesday next week in the final game of the that month-long midweek series.

Central makes a quick trip to Tahlequah, then will be back at home next weekend, hosting No. 16 Central Missouri before finishing the regular season at No. 30 Northwest Missouri. Those two teams are second and third in the MIAA standings entering this weekend.

The MIAA Baseball Championship begins with the No. 7 & 10 seeds playing followed by the No. 8 & 9 seeds. The lowest seeded advancing team will play the No. 1 seed in the quarterfinals and the other advancing team will play the No. 2 seed. The quarterfinals, which also feature the No. 3 & 6 and No. 4 & 5 seed matchups, are scheduled for May 7. Semifinals are Friday, May 8 and the championship game is May 9.

UCO enters this weekend's series with a .289 team batting average. The Bronchos average 6.7 runs per game off 9.1 hits per game. Drake Lee leads the team with 57 hits in 36 games played. He has the second-most doubles (10) on the team and leads UCO in home runs with seven. Lee's 32 runs scored and 35 RBIs also lead the Bronchos.

Elijah Alexander (38), Colton Ayres (37), Caleb Castle (36), and Noah Smallwood (33) all are regular contributors to UCO's offense. Smallwood leads the team with 11 doubles and has a team-high four triples. Ayres has a team-high 30 walks and six sacrifice-bunts.

Central's pitching staff comes into this weekend's series with a 6.93 team earned run average. Starters Danny Satterlee (3-4), Kamden Thompson (5-3), and Logan Taylor (3-3) lead the way. Satterlee has a 9.39 ERA with 36 strikeouts in 38.1 innings this season. Thompson has a 5.83 ERA with 19 strikeouts in a team-high 54.0 innings pitched. Taylor has 34 Ks in 33.2 innings.

UAFS averages 6.0 runs on 8.3 hits per game this season. JJ Young has a team-best .319 batting average and leads the Lions with 10 home runs on the season. Fort Smith's team ERA is 13.18 and the Lions give up 12.8 on 13.0 hits per game.

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Players Mentioned

#17 Drake Lee: UT; 6' 0"; Senior; L/R

#24 Danny Satterlee: P; 6' 3"; Junior; */R

#3 Elijah Alexander: IF; 6' 2"; Senior; R/R

#10 Colton Ayres: OF; 6' 0"; Senior; R/R

#7 Caleb Castle: IF; 6' 3"; Senior; R/R

#4 Noah Smallwood: IF; 5' 10"; Senior; R/R

#32 Logan Taylor: P; 6' 1"; Junior; */R

#38 Kamden Thompson: P; 6' 0"; Junior; */R

Players Mentioned

#17 Drake Lee
: 6' 0"; Senior; L/R
: UT

#24 Danny Satterlee
: 6' 3"; Junior; */R
: P

#3 Elijah Alexander
: 6' 2"; Senior; R/R
: IF

#10 Colton Ayres
: 6' 0"; Senior; R/R
: OF

#7 Caleb Castle
: 6' 3"; Senior; R/R
: IF

#4 Noah Smallwood
: 5' 10"; Senior; R/R
: IF

#32 Logan Taylor
: 6' 1"; Junior; */R
: P

#38 Kamden Thompson
: 6' 0"; Junior; */R
: P