#25 SOUTHERN ARKANSAS MULERIDERS 18-9, 8-4 GAC	HENDERSON STATE REDDIES 13-7, 6-5 GAC
Saturday, March 21 | 4 p.m. - Sunday, March 22 | DH | 1 p.m. Bears Stadium - University of Central Arkansas | Conway, Ark. LIVE STATS | | LIVE AUDIO

 

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GAME NOTES | SAU | HSU

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Leading Off
The Southern Arkansas baseball team enters play this weekend with an 18-9 overall record and are 8-4 in the GAC. The Muleriders are coming off of a series win against Ouachita Baptist after SAU took the final two games of the series last weekend in Arkadelphia. The first of those wins was an 8-0 shutout which was highlighted by
Landon Simpson's four-hit shutout on the mound. The second was a thrilling come-from-behind win as SAU scored eight runs over the final two innings to edge OBU, 9-7. In mid-week action, SAU out-lasted OBU in an extra-innings slugfest as the Muleriders came away with a 15-14 win thanks to a walk-off HR by Byron Reichstein.

The Henderson State baseball team enters play this weekend with a 13-6 overall record and a 6-5 mark in the GAC. This past weekend, the Reddies played just two game
against Arkansas-Monticello and HSU fell in both games to UAM to drop the series.

Statistically, the Muleriders are hitting .294 as a team and have five starters hitting .300 or better. Chase Harvey currently leads the team in average at .330 (35-for-106). Billy Germaine leads the team in RBIs with 25 and homeruns with five. Jon Phillips leads in doubles with 12. In terms of pitching, SAU has a 3.26 team ERA and their three conference starters have ERAs in under 3.75. Preston Gray and Landon Simpson lead the staff in wins with four each. Simpson also has the lowest ERA at 1.89. Among relievers, Travis Johnson sports the lowest ERA at 1.00. In 18.0 innings pitched, Johnson is limiting opponents to a .190 batting average against.

For HSU, they hit .287 as a team and have four players over .300. Claude Johnson leads the team in hitting at .351 (27-for-77). Johnson also leads the team in RBIs (20) and homeruns (3). In terms of pitching, HSU has a 2.76 team ERA. Cody Jones (4-1) leads the team in wins with four and strikeouts with 22 in 26.1 innings pitched. Luke Tebbetts currently leads the team in ERA at 1.53 in 17.2 IP.

Preseason Favorites 
For the fourth-straight year, the Southern Arkansas baseball team has been picked by the head coaches of the Great American Conference to finish the season as the top team in the league. The top-nod comes on the heels of the Muleriders' thrid-consecutive GAC Tournament Championship and also in the return of six All-GAC players from last year's team.

Reichstein Walks-Off OBU
Junior outfielder Byron Reichstein ended one of the wildest games of the season for the Muleriders this past Tuesday (3-17) against Ouachita Baptist as he hit a walk-off homerun the opposite way down the left field line. The homerun was the first this season for Reichstein.

Backend Bullpen Strength
The Muleriders have received some strong outings out of the backend of their bullpen and in particualr from junior transfer Travis Johnson. On the year, Johnson has appeared in 11 games, is 2-1 with three saves, has a 1.00 ERA, and is limiting opponents to a .190 batting average with 10 punchouts in 18.0 innings pitched.

Simpson National POW
Southern Arkansas junior right-hander Landon Simpson was named as the National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association (NCBWA) National Pitcher of the Week (3-16) as it was announced by the NCBWA. T he national honor for Simpson is the first in his career and comes as a result of his most dominant start of the season so far after he tossed a four-hit shutout while striking out a season-high 10 batters in game two of the series against Ouachita Baptist, an 8-0 SAU win. The shutout against OBU was Simpson's second this season and in the process lowered his season ERA to 1.89, ranking him in the top-5 in the GAC. Additionally, the 10 strikeouts moved Simpson to second in the GAC.

Germiane GAC POW
SAU junior tranfer Billy Germaine was named GAC Player of the Week (2-24) after a monster week at the plate. In each game against SNU, Germaine would record multiple hits, culminating with an impressive 5-for-5 (all singles) effort in the series finale. Additionally, Germaine scored multiple runs in each game while also registering at least one RBI per contest. All told for the week, Germaine would go 9-for-13 with eight runs scored, one double, two homeruns, and six RBIs.

A"Ward" Winning Debut
True freshman Trevor Ward made his collegiate debut for SAU against Lincoln on Feb. 14. In his debut, Ward would get hits in each of his first three at-bats and was inches away from hitting for the cycle as well in his last at-bat after Lincoln's right fielder made a diving catch on a would-be double.