Leading Off

Currently the top two teams in the Great American Conference and ranked in the top-15 nationally, this weekend's series between No. 4 Southern Arkansas and No. 13 Arkansas Tech is undoubtedbly one of the premier and pivotal series that will take place anywhere.

The Muleriders are coming off a weekend in which their impressive streak of consecutive GAC series won was brought to an end

at 20 by the hands of Harding. The Wonder Boys are coming off of a 2-1 series win over No. 28 Arkansas-Monticello in their most recent GAC action. Both teams won their mid-week game this week with SAU taking down Ouachita Baptist by a score of 7-5 and ATU beating Rogers State, 13-1.

Statistically, the Muleriders are hitting .303 as a team and have five starters hitting over .315. Jon Phillips currently leads the team in average at .385 (42-for-109). Tyler Cameron leads the team in RBIs with 32. Carver Rademacher has the most homeruns with five. In terms of pitching, SAU has 3.85 team ERA and four of their regular starters have ERAs in the three's. Timothy Buchanan has the most wins at five. Dylan Lynn has the lowest ERA among starters with a 3.11 ERA. Preston Gray has been the Muleriders' closer and he has six saves on the year.

For Tech, they hit .286 as a team and have three players over .300. Mike Kattula leads the way with a .385 average (37-for-96). Patrick Castleberry leads the team in HRs (5) and RBI (22). In pitching, Tech has a 3.58 team ERA. Aaron Johnson leads the starters in wins with four and ERA with a 2.87 ERA. Randy Vallejo has been the closer and has five saves.