By: Jacob Pumphrey
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SOUTHERN ARKANSAS
MULERIDERS
14-7 (8-4 GAC) |
SOUTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA
BULLDOGS
14-9 (9-3 GAC) |
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GAME NOTES (PDF)
Leading Off
Coming off a 12-7 midweek victory over #21 Arkansas-Monticello on Tuesday night, Southern Arkansas looks to keep the momentum going as they head back to the Sooner State for a pivotal three game Great American Conference set with Southwestern Oklahoma State (14-9); who enters the third weekend in March among the top teams in the Great American Conference with a 9-3 mark in league play which currently puts the Bulldogs in second place. The Muleriders (14-7, 8-4 GAC) are currently in a three-way tie for third in the league standings with Henderson State and Oklahoma Baptist.
Through 21 games, Southern Arkansas is hitting .265 as a team and owns one of the top pitching staffs in the GAC as the Muleriders' staff-ERA of 3.95 leads the league, while the unit's 201 strikeouts rank second.
Three Muleriders are hitting .300 or better with senior
Jake Tisevich owning a team-best .397 average.
Jacob Richardson's 27 hits and 22 runs scored lead the team as do his seven round-trippers, which rank second in the GAC. Richardson is slugging a team-best .671, while senior
Mark Fontenot ranks in the top three of the team in hits, doubles, home runs, runs scored, RBI, total bases, walks, average, slugging percentage and on-base percentage. Fontenot and junior
Dakota Wright have each registered a team-leading 21 RBI. Wright ranks behind Richardson and Fontenot in home runs with five this season.
On the mound, senior southpaw
Kenneth Tabor owns a 4-1 record and a staff-best 2.45 ERA. Tabor and fellow senior starter
Hunter Vasquez have combined for 77 strikeouts led by Vasquez's staff-best 44 K's. Senior
Jacob Stroder has won four games this spring and his 35 strikeouts rank second on the team. In six appearances out of the bullpen, junior
Eric White has been impressive in picking up three saves, while allowing just three hits and a walk in 10.0 innings of work. Fellow bullpen mate
Nick Starr has fanned a bullpen-best 19 batters in 12.2 innings of relief, while also registering a pair of saves.
Southwestern Oklahoma boasts an offense with a team batting average of .317; the third-best average in the GAC. Six lineup regulars are hitting over .300 with three of those players owning averages north of .400. The Bulldogs are led at the plate by Bryan Miranda who is swinging .449 with team-highs in hits (44), triples (6), runs scored (30), slugging percentage (.663) and stolen bases (13). Miranda leads the league in hits, runs scored, triples, stolen bases and total bases.
Daniel Richardson leads the league with eight home runs. Alex Pimentel leads the team with 29 RBI and Richardson follows with 27. Both RBI totals rank in the top 5 in the GAC.
On the mound, the Bulldogs' staff owns a 5.95 team-ERA with three complete games and four saves in 184.2 innings pitched. Brendan Peitsmeyer boasts the best ERA in relief at 2.57. He owns three of the team's four saves in 14.0 innings over ten appearances. Jake Cowan is the wins leader with four and Cooper Cantwell follows with three victories. Both pitchers own ERAs over 3.70. Drew Grubb leads the staff in innings pitched with 30.1 and his 28 strikeouts rank second on the team behind Cowan's 32.
It will be the seventh series meeting all-time between Southern Arkansas and Southwestern Oklahoma. The Muleriders lead the series with 11 wins, including a league tournament victory in 19 games played. SAU swept the Bulldogs last season in Magnolia, but on the road in Weatherford, Southwestern Oklahoma has won five of the nine meetings.
