Eastern ties wins record heading into conference tourney
By Corey Stolzenbach, McAlester News-Capital
Eastern Oklahoma State College made history on the diamond this year.
The Mountaineers (41-15, 20-10) wrapped up their regular season on Saturday with a sweep against Arkansas Baptist College to notch its 41st win of the season and tie the program's single-season wins record set by the 2008 squad.
Eastern first took a 9-1 win with Anthony Martinez driving in three, while Cody Muncy, a Red Oak grad, and Ryan Kouba drove in two runs apiece. Muncy also hit a home run to help the Mountaineers take a 12-0 win in the second game.
The Mountaineers won their final four games of the regular season heading into the NJCAA Region II Conference Tournament in Woodward beginning on Thursday.
"I just think this group, really, they never got too high, they never got too low," head coach Kirk Kelley said. "When we won, we just moved to the next game. When we lost, we just moved to the next game, and I think the law of averages takes over when you play the game like that."
The Mountaineers are scheduled to play Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College in the first round of the tournament at noon on Thursday. Eastern went 4-2 against the Golden Norsemen in the regular season, most recently splitting a doubleheader on the road, when NEO won, 6-5, and Eastern getting them back, 13-8. The important thing, Kelley said, is preventing the leadoff man from reaching, given NEO's penchant for playing small ball. The Mountaineers, he said, are not looking any past the first game of the tournament.
"Right now, that's all we're worried about is game one," Kelley said.
Eastern will have Kouba on the mound against NEO. Kouba logged 61.1 innings on the mound in 2018, going 6-1 overall with a 2.51 ERA and 1.321 WHIP. He also finished the regular season with 50 strikeouts against 31 walks.
Two of Kouba's wins came against the Golden Norsemen, and Kelley said he has thrown well down the last stretch of the season.
Some of Eastern's freshmen have stepped up this season. The Mountaineers had to deal with catcher Cade Tucker going down to injury earlier in the year, leaving the team to convert third baseman David Vilches to handling duties behind the plate. Vilches has sported a .988 fielding percentage this season, rotating with Tucker when Tucker came back. His 15 homers led the way for a Mountaineers club which hit 71 of them. His 51 RBIs tied with Phillip Scott for the team lead, and he hit .318 with a .437 on-base percentage and .708 slugging percentage during the regular season.
Another freshman that Kelley praised was right-hander Jacob Womack, who got 87.1 innings of work in 15 games in the regular season. Womack went 12-2 with a 3.60 ERA and fanned 69 batters against 22 walks.
Kelley said he is proud of the whole freshman class and the team for its accomplishments this far. He said the Mountaineers plan to get some reps in before Thursday's game, and that it's all about just staying sharp at this time of year.
The following is the complete NJCAA Region II tournament schedule:
Game 1: Eastern vs. NEO, noon, Thursday
Game 2: Connors State College vs. Rose State College, 3:30 p.m., Thursday
Game 3: Seminole State College vs. Arkansas Baptist College, 7 p.m., Thursday
Game 4: Game 2 loser vs. Game 3 loser, noon, Friday
Game 5: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 3:30 p.m., Friday.
Game 6: Game 3 winner vs. Game 1 loser, 7 p.m., Friday
Game 7: Game 4 vs. Game 5 loser, noon, Saturday
Game 8: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner, 3:30 p.m., Saturday
Game 9: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 loser, 7 p.m., Saturday
Game 10: Game 8 winner vs. Game 8 winner, 1 p.m., Sunday
Game 11: If necessary, 4 p.m. Sunday
