MAGNOLIA, Ark. - The Southern Arkansas University baseball team is hitting the road for their first true mid-week game of the season as they travel to Cleveland, Miss. to take on former conference rival, Delta State University. Since switching conference affiliations prior to the 2012 season, SAU and Delta State have met 11 times and in that time, the Muleriders hold a slight edge 6-5.
 
The Muleriders head into the contest at Delta having won three-straight games after sweeping Southeastern Oklahoma this past weekend in the opener of the GAC schedule. Statistically, the Muleriders will enter play this evening hitting .298 as a team and have a 3.86 team ERA. Through the first nine games, the Muleriders have scored 57 runs offensively while the pitching staff already lays claim to a combined shutout.
 
Individually, the Muleriders have three players hitting over .350 with newcomer Mark Fontenot leading the club at .440. Senior outfielder Trevor Rucker is next in hitting at .419, and he and Fontenot are tied with the team lead in homeruns with three. Cory Gallegos is the final batter over .350 with an average of .357 through eight games played.
 
On the mound, Dalton Algiene and Kenneth Tabor lead the team in wins with two each. Jacob Stroder and Hunter Vasquez have accounted for the other Mulerider victories while Eric Schildt has the lone save to this point. Algiene leads the team in strikeouts with 20 and he also has the lowest ERA among pitchers with at least 10 innings pitched at 1.69.
 
For Delta State, they enter with a 7-2 overall record and are hitting .272 as a team with 13 doubles, a triple, eight homeruns, and 49 runs scored. On the mound, they have a 5.49 team ERA and have struck out 77 opposing batters while issuing 34 bases on balls.
 
Their leading hitter is Juwan Burney at .389. The leading RBI man is Zack Shannon with eight and Tyler Brown and Clay Casey are tied for the team lead in homeruns with two apiece. On the mound, Zach Osbon has the lowest ERA as he has yet to allow an earned run 9.2 innings pitched, earning a pair of saves as well. The starting rotation has remained the same with three hurlers splitting three starts each across Delta's first nine games of the season.