Hall of Fame
Gary Wilson played baseball for the Muleriders from 1973-75. He came to SAU from Camden Fairview, and set four school records as a Mulerider pitcher. Wilson still has the best earned run average for a career at SAU with an impressive 1.51, and the best ERA in a season with a sparkling 0.79 in 1975. He and the Mulerider pitching staff led the NAIA with a 1.16 ERA in 1975. Wilson set the school record for strikeouts in a season (105) in 1974, before it was broken this past spring by Cody Jones (115), and held the career strikeout record (256) until Chris Pozza whiffed 285 from 1998-01.
Wilson, as a junior, was the first Mulerider drafted by a major league team. He skipped his senior season at SAU when he was the second player taken in the 1975 supplemental draft by the Houston Astros. Wilson went on to pitch in the majors for Houston. While in Class AA professional baseball, he defeated the Atlanta Braves as the starting pitcher of an All-Star team.
For SAU, Wilson pitched in nine games in 1973, throwing 42 innings as a freshman, with a 4-2 record, 53 strikeouts, and a 1.50 ERA. As a sophomore in 1974, he finished with a 7-6 record and a 2.06 ERA. In 13 games, he threw 87 1/3 innings, striking out 105. As a junior, he went 7-2 with a 0.79 ERA in 11 appearances, throwing 68 innings with 98 strikeouts. The Muleriders won the AIC championship that season.
Wilson was a member of the USA All-Star Team in the summer of 1975 that played in the Orient against Taiwan and Korea. While at SAU, he hurled a scoreless stint as the starting pitcher for the AIC All-Stars in 1975 against the Class AA Arkansas Travelers. He credits his mother, Ann Wilson, for his success.
