By COLLIN STORK
Student Writer
The first pitch of the 2018 Northwestern baseball season will be thrown on Saturday, as the boys in red travel to Memphis, Tennessee, to take on Christian Brothers University.
The Rangers have been picked 10th preseason, ahead of East Central and Southern Nazarene and look to improve drastically on that position. During the offseason, Ryan Bowen took the reins of the program, leaving his lead assistant position at Southeastern Oklahoma State University.
Bowen has been establishing a new culture and trying to get the returners to buy in after going just 14-34 last season.
“We are just ready to get out and play somebody else after playing each other for six months,” Bowen said.
Another new addition to the coaching staff is Tyle Hankins, who will serve as the Rangers new hitting coach. Hankins had his work cut out for him as Northwestern hit just .238 a season ago with a conference low 16 homeruns. New additions to the team and coaching staff along with hours and hours of hard work will be tested this weekend.
“I expect them to be hungry,” Bowen said, referring to Christian Brothers University, “They’re going to have guys that are high energy, hustle and play hard.”
Be on the lookout for the boys from Alva to charge up the rankings this spring with new confidence instilled in them through coach Bowen.
The Ranger’s first home game will take place on February 6, as the Fort Hays State University Tigers come to Myers Stadium.
The Lady Ranger softball team will kick off its 2018 campaign at the North Texas Softball Bash on February 9, as they will play five different opposing teams in a three-day schedule.
The ladies are seated in 10th place, ahead of Oklahoma Baptist and SWOSU in the preseason rankings after a mediocre 18-38 season last spring. Although they were only a few games out of the postseason, the ladies lost their first six games leading to a 2-8 start.
Jill Webb-DeVries was named head coach after last spring where she served as interim head coach for nearly two months following the resignation of Charlie Zeilman.
Coach Webb-DeVries looks to continue on the fundamentals she instilled last season while the team looks to ride their standout pitching and heavy-hitting to a successful season.
The ladies’ first home series won’t be until March 2 and 3, when they will host the Savage Storm of Southeastern Oklahoma State University.
