Fresh off a 3-1 series win against No. 5 McLennan Community College, the Temple College Leopards will face their second No. 1 opponent of the season on Wednesday as they take on Weatherford College.
Game times at Roger Williams Ballpark will be at 1 pm and 4 pm.
The Coyotes won three of four in their 2024 series, with Weatherford having TC in Temple 5-4 and 8-3, split in Weatherford with the Leopards having won 3-1 and Coyotes having bounced back for a 9-2 victory.
Last week, the Leopards took three of four from No. 4 MCC. Weatherford took three of four from NCTC.
Through 21 games, Temple is hitting .296 and has an on-base percentage of .391.
The Leopards scored 116 runs on 155 hits, 28 doubles, 14 home runs, 106 runs batted in, 93 walks, 36 stolen bases, and have been hit by pitches 26 times.
Ryder Rutledge (.396 BA, .500 OBP, two homers, ten RBI), Lance Cantrell (.386 BA, .470 OBP, HR, 17 RBI), Andrew Ermis (.373 BA, .536 OBP, two HR, 12 RBI), Brayden Simmons (.350 BA, .500 OBP, HR, ten RBI, 13 walks), and Kade Davis (.318 BA, .434 OBP, two HR, 12 RBI) have been the offensive leaders most of the season.
Temple staff ERA is 6.38, thanks in part the final game of the MCC series where the Highlanders took advantage 30-mile-per-hour gusts to push across 23 runs (19 earned) after being limited to nine earned runs in the first three games. The Leopards have struck out 152 batters and walked 99.
Tobin Eschief (3-3, 4.94 ERA, two complete games, 31 strikeouts, 13 walks), Kade Davis (2-3, 7.00 ERA, complete game shutout, 16 strikeouts, 14 walks), Eric Tenery (3-0, 2.91 ERA, 18 strikeouts, 16 walks), and Patrick Collopy (2-1, 3.54 ERA, 37 strikeouts, 14 walks) have the four-game series starters.
Through 21 games, Weatherford has hit .329 with an on-base percentage of .467, have scored 186 runs on 189 hits, 43 doubles, six triples, 23 homers, 160 RBI, walked 145 times, stolen 38 bases, and have been hit 17 times. The Coyotes have eight players that have walked at least ten times.
Trace Mazon (.444 BA, .563 OBP, five HR, 25 RBI, 19 walks), Jax Marshall (.409 BA, .622 OBP, HR, ten RBI, 12 walks), Manuel Salas (.403, .512 OBP, HR, 22 RBI, 15 walks), and JC Davis (.397 BA, .534 OBP, HR, 17 RBI, 13 walks) are among the current offensive leaders. Uriah Walters (.270 BA, .370 OBP, four HR, 25 RBI) is among the leaders in homers and runs batted in.
When it comes to staff ERA, the Coyotes are ninth in the country at 3.24. They have 169 strikeouts and 75 walks.
Evan Brandt (6-0, 1.36 ERA, 28 strikeouts, five walks), AJ Miera (4-2, 3.10 ERA, 34 strikeouts, eight walks), Noah Bentley (2-0, 3.52 ERA, 25 strikeouts, 11 walks), and Cooper Strawn (2-0, 3.86 ERA, 19 strikeouts, 15 walks) are the starters for the Coyotes.
The second half of the four-game series will be on Saturday at the Danny Scott Sports Complex.