The Temple College Leopards will host Grayson College on Friday to complete their four-game Northern Texas Junior College Athletic Conference series.
The doubleheader at the Danny Scott Sports Complex will start at 12 noon on Friday.
Temple is coming off a pair of tough losses in Denison, having lost in six innings, 12-2, and in 11 innings, 9-7.
Through 41 games, the Leopards are hitting .264 with an on-base percentage of .387 and slugging percentage of .392. TC has scored 224 runs on 307 hits, 58 doubles, 5 triples, 27 homers, 198 runs batted in, 193 walks, been hit 49 times, and have stolen 60 bases in 68 attempts.
Kade Davis (.336 BA, .396 OBP, 3 HR, 27 RBI, 10 doubles), Lance Cantrell (.316 BA, .424 OBP, 3 HR, 27 RBI, 8 doubles, 24 walks), Andrew Ermis (.304 BA, .474 OBP, 7 HR, 28 RBI, 20 HBP, 18 walks), and Ryder Rutledge (.292 BA, .419 OBP, 2 HR, 19 RBI, 17 walks) have been among the productive Leopards this season.
Temple's staff earned run average this season is 6.48, with 288 strikeouts and 184 walks in 294 2/3 innings.
Patrick Collopy (5-2, 2.76 ERA, 70 strikeouts, 19 walks in 58 2/3 IP), Eric Tenery (4-3, 4.21 ERA, 42 strikeouts, 28 walks in 51 1/3 IP), Tobin Eschief (3-6, 5.29 ERA, 51 strikeouts, 24 walks in 47 2/3 IP), and Davis (3-4, 7.20 ERA, 30 strikeouts, 25 walks in 35 IP) have been the starting four in the rotation for Temple.
Through 44 games, Grayson is hitting .308 with an on-base percentage of .423 and slugging percentage of .505. The Vikings have scored 323 runs on 400 hits, 76 doubles, 10 triples, 53 homers, 301 runs batted in, 222 walks, been hit by 514 pitches, and have stolen 70 bases on 88 attempts.
Easton Paxton (.388 BA, .505 OBP, HR, 14 RBI), Austin Goodwin (.380 BA, .456 OBP, 4 HR, 41 RBI, 14 doubles), Chase Womack (.349 BA, .460 OBP, 8 HR, 40 RBI), Nik Sanders (.343 BA, .460 OBP, 8 HR, 25 RBI), Sloan Barrett (.340 BA, .447 OBP, 5 HR, 31 RBI, 13 doubles, 17 steals), Caleb Hoover (.339 BA, .506 OBP, 16 HR, 49 RBI, 38 walks), and Brandon Creek (.305 BA, .436 OBP, 4 HR, 27 RBI, 26 walks, 12 steals) are among the offensive leaders in the Grayson offensive arsenal.
Grayson's pitching staff has an earned run average of 4.87, having allowed 180 earned runs, struck out 354 and walked 196 in 332 2/3 innings.
Kade Neuenschwander (6-4, 2.33 ERA, 6 complete games, 2 shutouts, 60 strikeouts, 20 walks in 58 innings), Braydon Risley (3-1, 4.01 ERA, 70 strikeouts, 17 walks in 51 2/3 IP), Kai Parker (1-2, 4.13 ERA, 40 strikeouts, 21 walks in 32 2/3 IP), and Chase Davis (2-4, 4.34 ERA, 25 strikeouts, 15 walks in 29 IP) are the main starters for the Vikings.
Heading into Friday's conference action, Weatherford (20-6) holds a one-game lead over Grayson (19-7). McLennan (15-7) leads Vernon and Cisco (14-10) for third place by two games. Temple (7-15) is in sixth place, six games out of the final playoff position with ten games to play.