SOUTHERN ARKANSAS LADY MULERIDERS (0-0)

UAH CHARGER CHILLOUT Friday, February 6 - 8 Charger Park | Huntsville, Ala. SAU WEEKEND NOTES

Leading Off
The Southern Arkansas softball team opens up their 2015 season by playing six games over three days in the regionally-renowned UAH Charger Chillout, hosted by the University of Alamaba-Huntsville. Of those six games on the slate for the Lady Muleriders, five of their opponents won 30 or more game. In addition, three maade a NCAA Regional Tournament and one won their conference tournament championship last season.

W hile their first six opponent's resumes from last year are impressive, the Lady Muleriders accomplished all of those feats as well as they enjoyed a banner year for
the program, going 37-26 overall and winning their first-ever conference championship and advancing to their first-ever NCAA Regional Tournament as well. This season, the Lady Muleriders, who were picked to finish second in the GAC Softball Coaches Preseason Poll, appear to be in position for a similar outcome as they return virtually their entire record-smashing lineup from a year ago.

Headlined among the returners is Sophomore designated player/first baseman Maddie Dow. Dow, an All-Region honoree by Daktronics and the NFCA last year, is coming off of a freshman campaign in which she hit .362 (71-for-196) while belting 21 home runs and racking up 61 RBIs; both were new SAU single-season records. In addition to Dow, the Lady Muleriders will have senior leadership in their lineup as four seniors returni in Leigha Doyle. Audrey Farfan, Sarah Higginbotham, and Chelsea Ivy. The four combined to hit .294 (190-for-646) with 34 doubles, 16 home runsand 122 RBIs.

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.

#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. Three players hit over 10 bombs with Maddie Dow leading the way with a SAU and GAC single-season record 21 homeruns. Behind Dow in homeruns a year ago was Brooke Goad who, in 36 games played before suffering a season-ending knee injury, hit 15 bombs. Goad's 15 homeruns prior to her injury were a SAU single-season record before Dow passed her later in the year.

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 fivetime 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. In 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.