SOUTHERN ARKANSAS LADY MULERIDERS 9-5, 3-1 GAC	OUACHITA BAPTIST LADY TIGERS 4-9, 0-4 GAC
Saturday, February 26 | DH | 1 p.m. - Sunday, February 21 | DH | 11 a.m. Lady Mulerider Field - Magnolia, Ark.  LIVE STATS

 

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GAME NOTES | SAU 

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Leading Off
The Southern Arkansas softball team enters play this weekend with a 9-5 overall record and are 3-1 in the GAC. In their most recent weekend action, the Lady Muleriders,
thanks to poor weather in Magnolia, took what was supposed to be their home-opener on the road and played their four-game series against Northwestern Oklahoma at a
neutral site in Rockwall, Texas. The change of venue did not seem to bother the Lady Muleriders as they won the series 3-1 after sweeping the first doubleheader and roaring
back from an 8-0 deficit to win the series finale, 14-8.

The Ouachita Baptist softball team enters play this weekend with a 4-9 overall record and are 0-4 in the GAC. This past weekend, the Lady Tigers took on then-ranked No. 24 Southeastern Oklahoma and OBU would get swept in the four-game series.

Statistically, the Lady Muleriders are hitting .348 as a team and have five starters hitting .350 or better. Ashton Atwell currently leads the team in average at .481 (26-for-56). Atwell also leads the team in RBIs with 22 and homeruns with 7. In terms of pitching, SAU has 4.60 team ERA. Miranda Cuff leads the staff in wins with four and has the lowest ERA among starters at 3.98 . Jami Godwin in six appereances (two starts) has the lowest ERA (2.25).

For OBU, they are hitting .300 as a team and have six players over .300. Sarah Johnson leads the team in batting at .535 (23-for-43) and RBIs (16) while Kate Lacina leads in homeruns with 5. I n terms of pitching, OBU has a 6.44 team ERA. Macy Nantz and Delaney Bedunah lead the team in wins with two each. Nantz has appeared in seven games and has made six starts. Nantz has also gone the distance four times.

Tabbed Second in GAC
Coming off of a season in which the Southern Arkansas softball team won the Great American Conference Championship and advanced to their first-ever NCAA Regional Tournament, the Lady Muleriders were voted by the head coaches of the GAC to finish the 2015 season in second-place in the GAC. This year's team returns the services of seven position players who started over 55 games last year and three others who started at least 20 games. Additionally, the Lady Muleriders have bolstered their roster with the addition of 13 talented newcomers.

Bats on Fire at 8-State Classic
Equiped with a potent lineup, the Southern Arkansas offense got things going in their four games at the 8-State Classic as they hit .391 (43-for-110) as a team and scored 38 runs on 43 hits. Nearly half of those hits on the weekend went for extra bases as SAU hit eight doubles and hammered out 12 homeruns to help give the Lady Muleriders a .791 slugging percentage as well.

Atwell and Farfan Return Home
In what was supposed to be SAU's home-opener against Northwestern Oklahoma, the Lady Muleriders ended up moving their series to a neutral site in Rockwall, Texas. The change of venue turned into an unexpected homecoming for Rockwall natives Ashton Atwell and Audrey Farfan, who played their high school softball on that very field. Both would make the most of their homecoming with Atwell hitting .563 (9-for-16) with three doubles, two homeruns, and seven RBIs while Farfan hit .500 (6-for-12) with one double, one homerun, and six RBIs.

#BombSquad
Last season the Lady Muleriders belted 71 homeruns, ranking them second in the GAC and among the top-20 in all of NCAA Division II. This year, the Lady Muleriders, through 14 games, have hit 22 homeruns. Through 14 games last year, SAU had hit 16, putting them ahead of their record-pace in 2014.

Anderson Takes Over
Jason Anderson was named as the sixth head coach of the Southern Arkansas softball program on July 2 following the resignation of now former head coach Corey Lyon.
Anderson comes to SAU as a proven winner. In his seven previous seasons as a head coach, Anderson had garnered an outstanding career coaching record of 307-73 (.807). A NCCAA National Coach of the Yeat and five-time NCCAA Regional Coach of the Year, Anderson would guide his 2010 team at Central Baptist (NAIA) to a remarkable 52-1 (.981) record en route to winning the NCCAA National Championship. I n his past two seasons as a head coach, Anderson has been in the NCAA DII ranks and has won 40 or more games each season.

Record-Setters
Last season was one literally for the record books as the 2014 SAU softball team established, and in some cases, demolished previously-held records. In all, last year's Lady Mulerider softball team would set 54 new records. 20 of those records were team single-season records, 15 were individual season records, nine were individual career records, eight were team game records, and two were individual game records.