#25 SOUTHERN ARKANSAS MULERIDERS 23-9 (16-5 GAC)	HENDERSON STATE REDDIES 21-12 (15-6 GAC)
at Henderson State Saturday, April 7 | 5 p.m. Clyde Berry Field - Arkadelphia, Ark. LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO | SAU RADIO at Henderson State Sunday, April 8 | 2 p.m. | DH  Clyde Berry Field - Arkadelphia, Ark. LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO | SAU RADIO

 

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GAME NOTES (PDF)

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Leading Off
No. 25 Southern Arkansas (23-9, 16-5 GAC) stares down its biggest Great American Conference series of the 2018 season as it heads to Arkadelphia for a three-game set with Henderson State (21-12, 15-6 GAC). The Muleriders and the Reddies both sit near the top of the league standings and this weekend's matchup from Clyde Berry Field carries heavy postseason implications.
    
SAU has won four straight games overall and seven-consecutive in league play, including series sweeps over Northwestern Oklahoma and Ouachita. HSU swept both Southeastern Oklahoma and East Central in GAC play, before dropping two of three to league-leading Arkansas-Monticello last week. 
    
The two teams met earlier this season in Magnolia with Southern Arkansas taking the midweek tilt 20-6 in seven innings. 
    
Four games separate UAM and Southwestern Oklahoma; who would enter the GAC Tournament in Enid, Oklahoma, as the sixth and final seed if the season ended today. In the middle of the tight race in the regular season's final month sits SAU in second place; a game back of first, and HSU in third place; two games back of the top spot. 
    
The Mulerider offense has plated nine or more runs in five of their past eight games and is collectively slashing .280/.389/.473 in 32 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 .364 and is leading the team with 44 hits, nine home runs, 40 RBI, a slugging percentage of .669 and eight hit-by-pitch. Tisevich ranks in the top three on the team with 34 hits, 24 runs scored, 56 total bases, a .583 slugging percentage and a .422 on-base percentage.
    
Sophomore Austin Baker has seen his average rise 80 points in the last month of play and he has hit safely in 14-consecutive games. Baker leads the team with 33 runs scored and is second on the club with 38 hits, while also being one of five players with six or more doubles. His ten stolen bases lead the team. Redshirt sophomore Zach Muldoon (.304) and senior Sam Mrstik (.302) are both hitting over .300. Muldoon owns a team-leading .494 on-base percentage and Mrstik currently holds top three marks on the team in doubles, slugging percentage and on-base percentage.
    
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 (4.35) and saves (9) and is second in the conference in fewest hits allowed (238), walks allowed (102) and strikeouts (311).
    
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 (1.94 ERA) and Vasquez (2.58 ERA) have combined for a 12-2 start to the season, while fellow weekend starter Jacob Stroder has tallied a 6-2 start. Vasquez, the two-time reigning GAC Pitcher of the Week, leads the league in strikeouts with 72 and Stroder ranks fourth with 62 punch outs.
     
Junior Eric White has been dominant in relief this season. The hard-throwing righty owns almost a 9-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio and has not allowed an earned run in ten appearances over 18.0 innings. White has tallied a pen-best six saves and opponents are hitting just .130 against him. Classmate Nick Starr has picked up three saves this spring and a win and leads is the bullpen leader with 29 strikeouts.
    
Henderson State is currently slashing .262/.390/.381. The Reddies own one of the best pitching (4.75 team-ERA) and fielding (.966 FLD%) teams in the Great American Conference.
    
Offensively, Jordan Harris leads the team with a .355 average and owns team-best marks in hits (43), runs (31), doubles (11), total bases (66), slugging percentage (.545) and stolen bases (12). Brandon Pollock and Zack Gray are the lone Reddies that have played and started all 33 games for the club this spring. Pollock ranks near the top of the team in most major statistics, while Gray is the team's leader in home runs (6), RBI (26), and walks (31). 
    
On the mound, a trio of starters own ERAs below 3.70. Daniel Sprinkle is the team-leader in ERA at 3.21, while Zach Eschberger (3.62 ERA) and Bryant Haralson (3.68 ERA) have each collected five wins this spring and have combined for eight complete games. Haralson leads the team in strikeouts with 61 and owns a team-low .226 opponent batting average among starters. Taylor Langston's 1.04 ERA is a bullpen-best and in 17.1 relief innings, he has claimed a league-high seven saves and 23 strikeouts, while opponents are hitting .177.
    
Since 2012, when the two programs became charter members of the Great American Conference, Southern Arkansas owns a 22-11 record against the Reddies. In Arkadelphia, the series is even at 6-6. In conference play, SAU leads the series 12-6.