|
|
|
#2 SOUTHERN ARKANSAS
LADY MULERIDERS
10-2 (0-0 GAC) |
EAST CENTRAL
TIGERS
9-3 (0-0 GAC) |
at East Central
Friday, February 24 | 1 p.m. | DH
ECU Softball Field - Ada, Okla.
LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO
|
|
at East Central
Saturday, February 25 | Noon | DH
ECU Softball Field - Ada, Okla.
|
GAME NOTES (PDF)
LEADING OFF
After a 3-1 stint at the UAM 8-State Classic that pushed their overall record to 10-2 on the season, the Southern Arkansas Lady Mulerider Softball team jumped to No. 2 in the nation in the latest NFCA Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll.
#2 Southern Arkansas (10-2) begins Great American Conference play on the road this weekend in Ada, Oklahoma, with a four-game series against East Central (9-3).
The Lady Muleriders, preseason favorites in the GAC, will play twelve of their next sixteen games on the road, with all such contests being league affairs.
Of Southern Arkansas' league-leading 10 wins, four have come via the run-rule as the Lady Muleriders have scored ten or more runs in six games this season. SAU has claimed a pair of one-run wins so far this season with its two losses also coming by a single run each.
A key part of Southern Arkansas' success through its first dozen games of the 2017 campaign has been its high offensive output. The Lady Muleriders are leading the GAC in slugging percentage (.622), on-base percentage (.461), runs scored (115), hits (122), RBI (109), doubles (23), home runs (22), total bases (217), walks (61), and hit-by-pitch (14), while producing the second-highest totals in batting average (.350) and triples (3).
Jill Roye is pacing the club with a league-best .532 batting average (25-for-47) and owns league-highs in hits (25) and RBI (27). Roye's .560 slugging percentage and 33 total bases rank second in the league.
Maddie Dow is leading the GAC in slugging percentage at 1.139 and NCAA DII's active career home runs leader has also seen a league-high seven home runs leave the park so far this season. Dow's .444 average is the second-highest for SAU and fourth-highest in the conference and the senior also ranks in the league's top three in runs scored (18), hits (16), and RBI (21).
Both Roye and Dow have claimed GAC Player of the Week honors as well as a Fastpitch News National Player of the Week accolade. Preseason All-America selection
Brooke Goad leads the GAC in on-base percentage (.615), runs scored (21), and walks (14), while placing in the top five in nine other offensive categories.
In the circle,
Victoria Taylor and
Kaylee Garner have combined for SAU's 10 wins, led by Taylor's league-high seven. The freshman is also leading the team with a 2.17 ERA in 42.0 innings pitched and the league's second-most strikeouts with 54. Garner owns a team-best .265 opponent batting average and ranks in the top seven in the league in five additional categories. SAU owns a 3.33 team-ERA, which is the sixth-lowest mark in the conference.
First-pitch for tomorrow's conference-opening doubleheader from Ada, Oklahoma, is slated for 1 p.m. Saturday's doubleheader is scheduled for a noon start.
Be sure to visit www.MuleriderAthletics.com for continuing coverage of Lady Mulerider Softball including recaps of all the action in Ada.
SCOUTING EAST CENTRAL
East Central enters the first weekend of Great American Conference play with a 9-3 record overall and fourth in the league standings. Of those nine wins, five came at the Southeastern Regional Invitational, while the remaining four games came last weekend at the UAM 8-State Classic.
The Tigers own a team-batting average of .315 (5th | GAC), with a .386 slugging percentage (8th | GAC) and a .363 on-base percentage (8th | GAC). ECU's 101 hits (2nd | GAC), 55 RBI (T-3rd | GAC), and 63 runs scored (4th | GAC) are all in the league's top five.
Four Tigers, with at least 15 at-bats, are hitting .350 or better led by Alissa Taylor's .475 average (2nd | GAC). Taylor's average is second in the GAC and she currently owns the seventh-highest marks in slugging percentage (.725) and on-base percentage (.512). Taylor's 19 hits lead ECU and are the second-most in the conference and her 29 total bases are ranked fourth in the league.
In the circle, the Tigers have relied on four pitchers with four or more appearances, sub-2.50 ERAs and sub-.250 opponent batting averages. ECU ranks third in the GAC in ERA (2.13) and opponent batting average (.219). Karlie Milburn is 4-2 with a 2.33 ERA in a team-high 24.0 innings pitched. Kelbie Crelia owns a 3-1 record with a 1.94 ERA (8th | GAC) in 21.2 innings pitched with a team-high 14 strikeouts. Lindsey Wade's 0.57 ERA in 12.1 innings leads the league as
does her .125 opponent batting average.
COACH
Destini Anderson is in her 11th season and entered the 2017 season with a career-record of 282-255-1. Anderson has led ECU to a third-place finish or better in the GAC regular season three times, while leading the Tigers to the 2015 Great American Conference Tournament Championship.
LAST SEASON
East Central and SAU met five times last season in the span of six days. The Lady Muleriders swept the regular season series in Magnolia by a combined score of 16-4.
Four days later, the two programs squared off in the first round of the Great American Conference Tournament and needed 12 innings to decide a winner. SAU's
Darian Harris delivered with an RBI-double in the bottom of the 12th as #18 Southern Arkansas survived the seventh-seeded Tigers 3-2 in the longest game in GAC Tournament history.
