LINCOLN -- With the Lincoln student body looking on, senior Lexington Dobbs signed a national letter of intent Monday to play women's college softball for Quachita Baptist University located at Arkadelphia.
Dobbs, a 5-feet-4 senior, plays softball, basketball and volleyball, plus has been a cheerleader. She was selected as the 2016 Homecoming queen.
Ouachita Baptist University, located in Arkadelphia, is quick to tell visitors what makes OBU different with the following statement: "For more than 125 years, Ouachita has been committed to encouraging a love of God and a love of learning." OBU's enrollment is 1,500 with students from 30 states and 30 nations. Men make up 47 percent of students with women at 53 percent. The average age of an OBU student is 20. OBU is considered a liberal arts institution with a student-to-faculty ratio of 12:1 and an average class size of 19. The seven academic schools include: business, Christian studies, education, fine arts, humanities, natural sciences, social sciences. OBU is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Universities and has other accreditation in business, dietetics, education and music. OBU is for the most part, a residential campus with 96 percent of students living on campus.
Like its name, OBU's religious affiliation is with the Arkansas Baptist State Convention. The university endeavors to incorporate athletics as an integral part of the Ouachita Baptist campus. According to the university's website, more than 20 percent of Ouachita's students compete on one of the university's 14 intercollegiate sports teams. Ouachita student/athletes are encouraged to strive for excellence on and off the playing field, court or pool. OBU joined the NCAA Division II Great American Conference at its inception in 2011-12.
Dobbs will join former Farmington Lady Cardinal Paige Purifoy at Quachita Baptist, who contributed with 16 hits, 9 runs batted in, 10 runs scored and a .276 average in 31 starts last season with 58 at-bats. Defensively, Purifoy recorded an .878 fielding percentage and was charged with only 5 errors during the course of the season. Last season, the Lady Tigers finished 19-32 with an 11-30 league record in the Great American Conference. They primarily used three pitchers and finished with a team earned-run average of 5.74 while their opponents' ERA stood at 3.18. The team fielding percentage was .937 compared to .962 for their opponents. The Lady Tigers suffered 93 errors, 38 more than teams playing against them. Their batting average was .270, lower than the .344 attained by opponents.
The Ouachita Baptist softball program will hold a winter camp on Saturday, Jan. 21. According to the university's website, the event will be a recruiting and skills camp instructed by OBU coaching staff under the direction of Quachita Baptist head coach Mike McGhee. The recruiting and skills camp will include detailed instruction covering all aspects of competitive softball including: offensive drills, infield drills, outfield drills, catching and pitching. The camp is open to high school players, grades 9 - 12. Check-in is at 8:30 a.m. with the camp to be conducted from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The cost of attending the one-day camp is $50, which includes lunch. Locations for the winter camp will be on the OBU campus at Sully Anderson Field and Crews Indoor Facility.
Campers must provide their own equipment such as glove, bat, helmet, tennis shoes, and cleats. Campers must bring turfs or tennis shoes as some portions of the camp will be indoors. The camp schedule is divided into two sessions with the morning session from 9 a.m. to noon with an hour break for lunch in the OBU cafeteria and an afternoon session from 1:15 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Those interested in attending the winter camp may register at ouachitatigers.com/winter-skills-and-drills-camp.
Sports on 11/16/2016