SOUTHERN ARKANSAS MULERIDERS 23-12, 11-7 GAC	ARKANSAS TECH WONDER BOYS 19-14, 6-8 GAC
Friday, April 3 | 7 p.m. - Saturday, April 4 | DH | 1 p.m. Walker Stadium at Goodheart Field | Magnolia, Ark. LIVE STATS | LIVE AUDIO

Leading Off
The Southern Arkansas baseball team enters play this weekend with a 23-12 overall record and are 11-7 in the GAC. The Muleriders are coming off of a 2-1 series win over Harding this past weekend and an impressive 9-3 mid-week victory over NAIA No.16-ranked LSU-Shreveport. At 11-7 in the GAC, the Muleriders are in third-place, one game back in the loss column to second-place Henderson State and one game back in the win column of Ouachita Baptist who leads the GAC at 10-3.

The Arkansas Tech baseball team enters play this weekend with a 19-14 overall record and a 6-8 mark in the GAC. This past weekend, the Wonder Boys dropped the series, 2-1, to Arkansas-Monticello, but came back in mid-week action to out-slug then-NAIA No. 8 and future GAC opponent, Oklahoma Baptist.

Statistically, the Muleriders are hitting .289 as a team and have five starters hitting .300 or better. Jon Phillips currently leads the team in average at .331 (42-for-127). Billy Germaine leads the team in RBIs with 30 and homeruns with six. Phillips also leads in doubles with 14.

In terms of pitching, SAU has a 3.28 team ERA and their three conference starters have ERAs in under 3.30. Preston Gray and Landon Simpson lead the staff in wins with five each. Simpson also has the lowest ERA at 1.72. Among relievers, Travis Johnson sports the lowest ERA at 1.25. In 21.2 innings pitched, Johnson is limiting opponents to a .203 batting average against.

For ATU, they hit .297 as a team and have seven players over .300. Patrick Castleberry leads the team in hitting at .365 (42-for-115). Castleberry also leads the team in homeruns with 11 and RBIs with 45. As a team, the Wonder Boys have hit 32 homeruns. In terms of pitching, ATU has a 5.85 team ERA. Cody Jones leads the team
in wins with five. Trent Armstrong has the lowest ERA among starters at 3.35.

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
T he 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 14 games, is 2-2 with five saves, has a 1.25 ERA, and is limiting opponents to a .203 batting average with 14 punchouts in 21.2 innings pitched.

A"Ward" Winning Debut
T rue 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.

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 at the time lowered his season ERA to 1.89. Simpson currently ranks second in the league in ERA and has current ERA of 2.01

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.