By: Jacob Pumphrey
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#27 SOUTHERN ARKANSAS
MULERIDERS
16-8 (10-5 GAC) |
NORTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA
RANGERS
13-14 (7-8 GAC) |
vs. Northwestern Oklahoma
Saturday, March 24 | 1 p.m. | DH
Walker Stadium at Goodheart Field - Magnolia, Ark.
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GAME NOTES (PDF)
Leading Off
After producing a 3-1 effort last week which included a pivotal in-region win over league-rival #21 Arkansas-Monticello in non-conference action and a series win over Southwestern Oklahoma State on the road, #27 Southern Arkansas looks to build off of its recent successes as the team returns to Magnolia to begin an eight-game home stand inside Walker Stadium at Goodheart Field. With the second half of the regular season beginning this weekend, the Muleriders (16-8, 10-5 GAC) are two games back of first-place and are currently tied for third in the league standings with SWOSU, but hold the tiebreaker by virtue of the Muleriders' series win in Weatherford.
On Friday, Northwestern Oklahoma comes to town with a 7-8 record in GAC play and a 13-14 mark overall. The Rangers, 5-5 in their last ten games, currently sit in seventh-place in the league standings; three games back of the Muleriders.
Southern Arkansas is hitting .270 as a team through 24 games and ranks in the Top-30 in the nation offensively in home runs (30 | 21st), home runs per game (1.25 | 27th), and walks (116 | 24th). SAU owns one of the top pitching staffs in the GAC as the Muleriders' staff-ERA of 3.71 leads the league, while the unit's 225 strikeouts rank second. The Mulerider staff's 3.21 strikeout-to-walk ratio leads the GAC and is the sixth-best mark in the nation. Additionally, SAU leads the league in Walks Allowed per Nine Innings (3.17), in Hits Allowed per Nine Innings (8.02) and in WHIP (1.24). The staff WHIP ranks 14th nationally, while the walks clip ranks 18th in the country and the hits clip ranks 20th.
Senior
Jake Tisevich, the GAC's reigning Player of the Week, is slashing .389/.438/.611 in 72 at-bats this season. His average is tops for the Muleriders and is the sixth-highest in the league among players with 70 or more at-bats, while his 10 doubles this season lead the Great American Conference. Senior
Jacob Richardson, in a team-leading 93 at-bats, owns a slash of .344/.421/.645. Richardson's slugging percentage leads the team as do his 32 hits, 23 runs scored, seven home runs and 60 total bases.
Senior
Mark Fontenot ranks in the top three of the team in doubles, home runs, runs scored, RBI, total bases, walks, and slugging percentage. Junior
Dakota Wright has registered 21 RBI on 22 hits, including five home runs and four doubles. Redshirt sophomore
Zach Muldoon leads the team in on-base percentage with a clip of .451.
Three Mulerider starters have won at least three games for Southern Arkansas this spring. Senior southpaw
Kenneth Tabor is tied for the league-lead in wins with five and owns a GAC-best 1.98 ERA in 36.1 innings pitched. Opponents are hitting just .145 off of Tabor. Fellow senior starter
Hunter Vasquez is 3-1 this season with a pair of complete games and owns a team-best 51 strikeouts; currently tied for the second-most in the conference. Senior
Jacob Stroder has won four games this spring and his 40 strikeouts rank second on the team.
The Mulerider bullpen has been strong this season led by three key arms that have had success in the back end of games. Junior hard-throwing, right-handers
Eric White and
Nick Starr along with redshirt freshman righty
Tanner Vaught have formed a formidable trio as the three have combined for 45.1 innings of relief in a collective 22 appearances. White owns four of the trio's seven saves, and has allowed just a single unearned run, while fanning 18 in 14.0 innings of work. Starr's 21 strikeouts lead all pitchers coming out of the bullpen and Vaught has allowed just two extra base hits in a pen-high 64 opponent at-bats.
Northwestern Oklahoma enters hitting .297 as a team with a 6.10 team-ERA. Five everyday bats in the Ranger lineup are swinging at a clip of .300 or better, led by Judah Zickafoose's .358 average. Zickafoose owns team-highs in home runs (7), slugging percentage (.716) and on-base percentage (.470). Daschal Johnson's 35 hits and 30 runs scored both lead the team. His 30 runs scored are tied for the third-most in the GAC. Five players have scored twenty or more runs and four have collected 30 or more hits. Four hitters have recorded twenty or more RBI led by Johnnuelle Ponce's 27 and Justin Bundy's 26.
On the mound, the Rangers are led Walker Wharton's perfect 5-0 record and second-best ERA at 2.19. Wharton's 33 strikeouts led the team as do his 49.1 innings pitched this spring. Cole Jackson and Ryan Marcoccia have each won a pair of games and have combined for 48.1 innings of work. The pair have combined for 32 strikeouts. Matthew Bickford, in a dozen relief appearances, is responsible for half of the Ranger staff's six saves this season.
It will be the sixth series meeting all-time between Southern Arkansas and Northwestern Oklahoma. The Muleriders hold a 12-3 advantage in the series dating back to the first weekend meeting between the two programs in 2013. Southern Arkansas did not lose any of the first five series' against the Rangers, while also having claimed a pair of series sweeps. SAU is 5-1 when playing NWOSU in Magnolia and overall the Muleriders have won four-straight and five out of the past six meetings against Northwestern Oklahoma.
