TAHLEQUAH – Northeastern State Baseball is at home all week after a successful string of games in the regular season's second week, piling four wins to take an even 4-4 record into the continued homestand.

A rematch with Southeastern Oklahoma takes place tomorrow at 2 p.m. at Rousey Field, while the end of the week features meetings with Randall (Friday at 2 p.m., Saturday at 4 p.m.) and Hannibal-LaGrange (Saturday at 1 p.m.). 

The Setup
- Northeastern State baseball is guided by head coach Sunny Golloway. Golloway was hired last summer after spending a season in Ada, Okla. in the same position at East Central. He brings decades of experience at the Division I level to Tahlequah, also leading teams at Oral Roberts (1996-2003), Oklahoma (2005-13) and Auburn (2014-15). Golloway-led teams have appeared in 15 NCAA Regionals and four Super Regionals, while he led the Sooners to an appearance in the 2010 College World Series.
- NSU enters the season two removed from one of their best in program history, where the RiverHawks won 38 games and made the Central Regional in 2022. The RiverHawks were only a couple wins shy of returning last season, as one of the last three teams remaining in the MIAA tournament as part of a 25-win effort in 2023.
- This week's games commence during the team's third week of the regular season. Most of their non-conference schedule is against teams from the GAC, with 12 out of 17 taking place against teams from the conference. 

Around the Diamond
- C.D. White was the MIAA's top offensive force last week, slamming two home runs and sending 14 runners back home amid a week where the senior also had ten base hits. White's efforts saw him receive the conference's Baseball Hitter of the Week award.
- NSU saw strong performances on the bump from Christian Johnson, Jessie Moreno III, C.J. Briley and Jacob Bowman, who all were credited with wins last week. In relief, Cole White had two saves after throwing a combined 4.2 scoreless stanzas.
- Against SNU, the RiverHawks finished the three-game series with 41 runs, the most in a series since a 46-run effort against Newman in 2022.
- Isaiah Keller provided a spark in game three against the Crimson Storm, recording two hits and hitting his first home run of 2024, while also stealing two bases to give him five on the campaign.
- This week features two new matchups for Northeastern State, as they encounter both Randall and Hannibal-LaGrange for the first times in the program's history.

Northeastern State at Southeastern Oklahoma // February 13 at 2 p.m. // Live Coverage

About Southeastern Oklahoma (6-1)
- SE took a 5-3 loss to NSU last Tuesday before completing a sweep of Newman in three games, outscoring the Jets 35-16 across the weekend. 
- Zach Crabtree is in his seventh season leading the program, where he has guided twelve players to All-Conference selections and two to All-Region honors, in addition to coaching the 2021 GAC Freshman of the Year, Seth Morrow. Crabtree was the head baseball coach at Murray State College from 2011-17, while he spent time as the head coach at Ft. Towson, Caney, and Durant high schools, where he won 376 games combined.
- Both of SE's All-GAC selections from 2023 return, with second team honoree Damon Burroughs entering the campaign after a .402 batting average last year. The senior stole home for the Savage Storm's first run of last week's meeting with NSU, but went 1-of-5 the entire contest. Reid Rice was an All-GAC honorable mention last year and went 2-of-4 last Tuesday with another trip on the base paths courtesy of drawing a walk. 
- The Savage Storm were picked to finish eighth in the GAC preseason coaches poll. 

Series Notes
- SE leads the all-time series, 94-62.
- The RiverHawks will seek their third winning streak against the Savage Storm of at least three games since 1996 in this week's matchup.
- One of NSU's old OIC foes, the series dates back to 1951.

Northeastern State vs. Randall (Feb. 16 at 2 p.m., Feb. 17 at 4 p.m.) // Live Coverage

About Randall (0-3)
- The Saints go to Tahlequah after losing three straight to open 2024, all by at least five runs. Notably, a matchup with GAC foe East Central was the team's closest game with a 14-9 outcome.
- Jared Bennett is the team's head coach. Bennett spent his playing career at Tarleton State.
- Senior Lance Nunley has recorded five base hits in his first ten at-bats, while sophomore Ale Villegas and senior Reagan LaMance each have four RBI to tie for the team lead. LaMance has also hit the team's lone home run so far.
- Jett Sparks is the only pitcher with more than 3.1 innings of action, as the senior has struck out six in as many frames on the mound, while a duo of sophomores with Ryan Maynard and Keegan Jenderseck have seen starts, too.

Series Notes
- This week's meetings mark the first in program history for both sides.

Northeastern State vs. Hannibal-LaGrange // Feb. 17 at 1 p.m. // Live Coverage

About Hannibal-LaGrange (0-3)
- The Trojans will look for their first win this week after being swept by Evangel to begin the season.
- Before making the trip to Rousey Field, the team will clash with Fontbonne University in St. Louis, Mo. on Tuesday.
- David Babcock is in his second season leading Trojan baseball after spending three seasons in Minneapolis, Minn. in the same role at North Central. He leads a program that is aiming for their first winning season since 2008.
- Jackson Maxwell and Samuel Patterson are two of the team's top returning hitters and have each sent in two runs already, while Deryk Carey was a bright spot out of the bullpen for Hannibal-LaGrange last week, throwing three scoreless frames in two appearances.

Series Notes
- This week's meetings mark the first in program history for both sides.

Coming Up
Northeastern State faces Missouri Southern in non-conference play in Joplin, Mo. on Tuesday, Feb. 20 at 3 p.m. before their MIAA opener in the form of a series with Missouri Western in St. Joseph, Mo. from Feb. 23-25.