TAHLEQUAH – Northeastern State Baseball returns to Tahlequah with four home games this week, starting with a midweek test against Central Oklahoma and a three-game series with Pittsburg State later.

The RiverHawks gear up for the last month of the regular season after winning two games last week against Emporia State in Emporia, Kan. 

The Setup
- Northeastern State baseball is guided by head coach Sunny Golloway. Golloway was hired last summer after spending a season 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 entered 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.
- The team continues their 33-game MIAA schedule. 

Around the Diamond
- The RiverHawks continued to build back up the MIAA ladder with last week's series win over Emporia State, their second straight winning series. At 6-10 in conference play, the team is part of a four-way tie for seventh in the MIAA standings.
- C.D. White was a regular part of a productive weekend, claiming four base hits across the series with ESU and striking out nine batters from the mound to take the win in the series finale. White's last three starts have seen him make it at least six innings and allow no more than three earned runs per appearance, while he owns the third-best batting average (.325) across NSU's regulars, a share of the team's home run crown (four) and the RBI title (37). 
- CJ Briley and Kyle Duffey continued their recent success as a day one duo, striking out a combined eight ESU hitters and only allowing a single run across the series opener last Friday with the Hornets. Duffey went on to add another great effort in relief to his list for the campaign, tossing a scoreless frame in the finale on Saturday.
- Ty Van Meter homered for the first time this season on Saturday in a 10-3 win over the Hornets. With a two-hit performance, Van Meter picked up his 11th multi-hit game of the season, second on the team only behind Tyson Fourkiller, whose three-hit showing in the opener on Saturday was his 12th in 2024.
- With one month left in the regular season, Tyson Fourkiller leads the MIAA in HBPs (16), while Isaiah Keller leads the conference in stolen bases (19). 

Northeastern State at Central Oklahoma (Mar. 26 at 5 p.m.) // Live Coverage

About Central Oklahoma (23-7, 10-6 MIAA)
- The Bronchos dropped two out of three last week to Pittsburg State on the road.
- John Martin is in his ninth season leading baseball at the University of Central Oklahoma, where he's won over 250 games, highlighted by five seasons of 30+ victories and the program's first MIAA Championship in 2018. Martin previously held the same role at Coffeyville Community College (2012-15) and has previous playing and assistant coaching experience with Emporia State, where his efforts across his collegiate playing career led him to being a 24th-round selection by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2006.
- Carson Carpenter highlights the UCO offense with ten homers, 34 RBI, a .337 average, eight doubles and two triples. All of those totals either tie or lead the team among their regulars.
- The Bronchos are tenth in batting average (.273) and scoring (184 runs), while ranking in the eighth position in home runs (26). UCO's pitching staff holds the league's lowest earned run average (4.44) with a league-best 12 saves, despite placing tenth in strikeouts (203).

Series Notes
- Central Oklahoma leads the all-time series 71-26.
- The Bronchos won all three 2023 encounters, though each game was decided by four runs or less.
- After two initial contests in 1951 and 1952, the teams did not meet until 1997, though they've faced each other on an annual basis since.

Northeastern State vs. Pittsburg State (Mar. 28-29 at 5 p.m., Mar. 30 at 1 p.m.) // Live Coverage