SOUTHERN ARKANSAS LADY MULERIDERS 17-14, 9-10 GAC	EAST CENTRAL TIGERS 16-11, 13-6 GAC
Thursday, April 2 | DH | 2 p.m. - Friday, April 3 | DH | 1 p.m. Tiger Field - Ada, Okla. LIVE STATS

Leading Off
The Southern Arkansas softball team enters play this weekend with a 17-14 overall record and are 9-10 in the GAC. This past week, the Lady Muleriders went 3-3 in Great
American Conference play as they swept a mid-week doubleheader against Arkansas-Monticello and won the first game of their weekend series against Southeastern Oklahoma before dropping the final three games. The East Central softball team enters play this weekend with a 16-11 overall record and are 13-6 in the GAC. The Tigers have started to hit their stride in conference play over the last three weeks or so as ECU has won 11 of their last 13 conference games, propelling themselves to fourth-place in the GAC.

Statistically, the Lady Muleriders are hitting .313 as a team and have five starters hitting .300 or better. Ashton Atwell currently leads the team in average at .410 (43-for-105). Atwell also leads the team in RBIs with 36 and homeruns with 10. I n terms of pitching, SAU has 4.56 team ERA. Miranda Cuff leads the staff in wins with six. Jami Godwin leads the team in ERA at 3.39.

For ECU, they are hitting .311 as a team and have seven players over .300. Jordan VanPelt leads the team in batting at .379 (32-for-85). VanPelt is also the team leader in homeruns with 10 and RBIs with 35.  I n terms of pitching, ECU has a 3.98 team ERA. Marissa Shaffer leads the team in wins with six and has the lowest ERA at 2.94.

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. This year, the Lady Muleriders, through 31 games, have hit 36 homeruns. Through 31 games last year, SAU had hit 33, 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.
A nderson 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 Year 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. 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.

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.

Dow Career Record Holder: HRs
A s a sophomore, Lady Mulerider designated player Maddie Dow has set a significant career record at SAU as she is now the top homerun hitter in program history after she blasted her 28th career longball in game two against Arkansas-Monticello on Wednesday, March 25.

Rain, Rain, Go Away
I n what has been one of the wettest springs in some time across the Natural State, the Southern Arkansas softball schedule has been turned on its head as the team tries to get games in. Nine games so far have been canceled due to the weather and when the games have not been forced to be canceled, re-aranging of the schedule has had to take place. In fact, the Lady Muleriders have not played a weekend conference series as scheduled yet this season. Their only Friday-Saturday series was moved from Magnolia to Rockwall, Texas in order to get the games in against Northwestern Oklahoma.