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SOUTHERN ARKANSAS
MULERIDERS
25-11 (17-7 GAC) |
HARDING
BISONS
20-19 (11-13 GAC) |
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GAME NOTES (PDF)
Leading Off
Southern Arkansas (25-11, 17-7 GAC) heads to Searcy for a three-game set with Harding (20-19, 11-13 GAC) beginning with a single game on Saturday at 5 p.m. and a twin bill on Sunday scheduled for a 1:30 p.m. start.
SAU has won four straight games overall and seven-consecutive in league play, including series sweeps over Northwestern Oklahoma and Ouachita. HU won its series with both Southeastern Oklahoma and East Central in GAC play, before dropping a non-conference match-up on Tuesday to the No. 3-ranked team in the nation, Delta State in a 8-3 final decision.
The Mulerider offense has plated nine or more runs in six of their past twelve games and is collectively slashing .283/.388/.473 in 36 games this season.
Five players are swinging at .300 or better led by a pair of seniors in
Jacob Richardson and
Jake Tisevich. Richardson owns the top average at .355 and is leading the team with 49 hits, nine home runs, 47 RBI, and nine hit-by-pitch. Tisevich ranks in the top three on the team with 37 hits and 62 total bases, and is top five on the team in slugging percentage (.554), RBI (25), and on-base percentage (.402).
Sophomore
Austin Baker has seen his average rise 80 points in the last month of play and he has hit safely in 18-consecutive games. Baker leads the team with 37 runs scored and is second on the club with 42 hits, while also being one of five players with six or more doubles. His twelve stolen bases lead the team. Redshirt sophomore
Zach Muldoon (.308) and junior
Dakota Wright (.303) are both hitting over .300. Muldoon owns a team-leading .483 on-base percentage and Wright currently holds top three marks on the team in hits, doubles, slugging percentage, RBI, home runs, and total bases, with an impressive mark of three grand slams on the year.
The Mulerider pitching staff has proved to be one of the best in the region as the unit leads the Great American Conference in team-ERA (4.28), saves (9), and strikeouts (311) and is second in the conference in fewest hits allowed (273) and walks allowed (116).
Seniors
Kenneth Tabor and
Hunter Vasquez have been largely responsible for the staff's success this season as the duo ranks 1st and 2nd respectively in ERA. Tabor (2.19 ERA) and Vasquez (2.58 ERA) have combined for a 13-3 start to the season, while fellow weekend starter
Jacob Stroder has tallied a 6-2 start. Vasquez leads the league in strikeouts with 78 and Stroder is in a three-way tie for second with 67 punch outs.
Junior
Eric White has been dominant in relief this season. The hard-throwing righty owns almost a 5-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio and has allowed just one earned run in 11 appearances over 20.1 innings. White has tallied a pen-best six saves and opponents are hitting just .149 against him. Classmate
Nick Starr has picked up three saves this spring and a win, and his 29 strikeouts this season is the second-most from the bullpen behind White's team-best 30 strikeouts.
Harding is currently slashing .287/.388/.392. The Bisons pitching staff holds a 6.13 team-era and has arguably one of the best defenses in the league as the team's fielding percentage (.963 FLD%) ranks in the top three in the Great American Conference, along with a league-best putout mark at 947.
Offensively, Grant Guest leads the team with a .372 average and owns team-best marks in hits (55), runs (37), total bases (79), slugging percentage (.534), on-base percentage (.434), RBI (32), and stolen bases (11).
On the mound, a pair of starters own ERAs below 3.90. Tanner Smith is the team-leader in ERA at 3.34, while Jackson Ward (3.86 ERA) leads the staff in strikeouts (41), and lowest opponent batting average (.244), and has allowed the fewest hits (47), runs and earned runs (22) among pitchers with 50 or more innings pitched.
Since 2012, when the two programs became charter members of the Great American Conference, Southern Arkansas owns a 16-7 record against the Bisons. In Searcy, the series is even at 5-3. The two programs have met in the postseason four times where they have posted an even record, 2-2. In conference play, SAU leads the series 10-5.
