NO. 4 SOUTHERN ARKANSAS MULERIDERS 39-16	NO. 3 EMPORIA STATE HORNETS 39-14
Thursday, May 14 | 11 a.m. Joe Faber Field - St. Cloud, Minn. LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE AUDIO (SAU Radio Feed)

 

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GAME NOTES | SAU | EMPORIA STATE

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Leading Off
For the eighth-straight year, the Southern Arkansas baseball team will appear in a NCAA Regional Tournament as they earned the Great American Conference's automatic postseason bid by capturing their fourth-consecutive GAC Tournament Championship last week.

Equiped wth the tournament and regular season titles in the GAC in hand for the thrid time in four years, the Muleriders will enter the Central Region Tournament, which is being played in St. Cloud, Minn. and hosted by top-seeded St. Cloud State, as the No. 4-seed and will take on No. 3-seed Emporia State on Thursday, May 14 at 11 a.m.

Statistically, the Muleriders head into the Central Region Tournament hitting .302 as a team and have five starters hitting .300 or better with two other lineup regulars hitting at
least .294. Chris Quinn currently leads the team in average at .342 (51-for-149) while Billy Germaine leads the team in virtually all power categories with 62 RBIs, 11 homeruns, 15 doubles and .613 slugging percentage.

In terms of pitching, SAU has a 3.61 team ERA. Landon Simpson leads the staff in wins with nine victories while also sporting the lowest ERA among starters at 2.69. Simpson, an All-GAC First-Team Pitcher and 2015 GAC Tournament MVP has thrown a GAC-best four shutouts on the year. Among the relievers, the Muleriders have built depth at the backend of the bullpen as Travis Johnson and Jared Fielden both own ERAs right at 3.00. The two have combined for 12 saves and 32 strikeouts in 42.0 innings. Additionally, the two are holiding opponents to a .240 batting average.

All-GAC Honorees
SAU was once again well-represented in the first round of post-season honors as seven Muleriders were named to All-GAC teams following the conclusion of the 2015 regular season. Receiving the highest recognition were juniors Billy Germaine (OF) and Landon Simpson (SP) as each earned All-GAC First-Team honors. Next were juniors Travis Johnson (RP) and Carver Rademacher (UTL) with All-GAC Second-Team honors while seniors Chase Harvey and Korey Keith along with sophomore Trevor Rucker hauled in All-GAC Honorable Mention plaudits.

Regular Season Champs
For the third time in the four-year history of the Great American Conference, the regular season baseball championship resides in Magnolia with the Southern Arkansas baseball team. This season, unlike the previous three championship campaigns, was arguably the most impressive regular season run as the rain-soaked spring that wrecked havoc on the GAC schedule forced the determination of the regular season championship to come down to winning percentage in the GAC and not necessarily 
the most wins. Despite that, SAU was able to play all 30 GAC scheduled games while also posting a .667 winning percentage in the league going 20-10 to finish with the higgest percentage mark in the GAC. An even more incredible note on the championship was the fact that SAU was third in the GAC going into the final weekend.

4-for-4 GAC Tourny Champs
SAU is now 4-for-4 in Great American Conference Tournament Championships as they captured their fourth-straight GAC Tournament crown last week in Enid. SAU is the only baseball team to win the GAC Tournament Championship in the league's brief history

Who's Hot (Last 10 Games)

Individual

• Chris Quinn is currently riding a 16-game hitting streak and over his last 10 games is hitting .441 (15-for-34) with nine runs scored, a double, a homerun, and four RBIs.
• Yumezo Densaki has started three games and logged 17.2 innings going 3-0 with a 2.55 ERA and 16 strikeouts. Opponents are also hitting .188 off of Densaki in that time.
• Jared Fielden has made three releif apperances with all resulting in a save. Additionally, he has allowed just one hit and struckout six batters in 5.1 innings of work

Team

• Getting Offensive | The Muleriders are averaging 7.0 runs/game and 10.4 hits/game, having scored 70 runs and racked up 104 hits
• Stealing is a Good Thing | SAU has swipped 12-of-16 bases
• Freebies | The Muleriders have gotten on-base 45 times without the benefit of a hit or error as they have drawn 38 walks and been hit by 7 pitches