By: Jacob Pumphrey
GAME NOTES (PDF)
Leading Off
The journey to the NCAA Division II College World Series continues tomorrow as DII regional action begins around the country. For the eight teams vying for the Central Region Championship, the road to Cary, North Carolina, runs through Magnolia and specifically Walker Stadium at Goodheart Field as the No. 12/14 ranked Muleriders are the region's top seed for the third time in school history and are tournament hosts for just the second time as Division II members.
Southern Arkansas (36-17) enters NCAA postseason play for the 12th time since 2004 after claiming the Great American Conference's automatic bid as a result of climbing out of the loser's bracket to take the title in Enid for the fifth time in school history. It marked the program's ninth conference championship since 2006.
Joining SAU in Magnolia will a bevy of contenders looking to advance to DII Baseball's biggest stage. No. 2 Central Missouri, No. 3 Central Oklahoma, No. 4 Pittsburg State, and No. 8 Emporia State, the Muleriders' opening round opponent, all come to Southwest Arkansas from the MIAA. No. 5 Augustana and No. 6 St. Cloud State represent the NSIC, while No. 7 Oklahoma Baptist, GAC Tournament Runner-Up, provides the most familiarity to league-foe Southern Arkansas.
First-pitch with Emporia State on Thursday is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. The Muleriders and Hornets faced off in the season opener at the Air Hogs DII Classic with Southern Arkansas topping ESU 6-1.
Four Muleriders are hitting .300 or better led by GAC Tournament MVP
Austin Baker who is swinging the hottest bat in the SAU order with a .358 average (76-of-212) and leads the team in stolen bases (18) and runs scored (59). Senior
Jacob Richardson, the Great American Conference's Player of the Year, follows Baker in average (.357) and hits (74) and owns team-leading marks in RBI (66), doubles (18), home runs (11), slugging percentage (.614) and on-base percentage (.436). Senior
Jake Tisevich is a .341 hitter with 25 extra-base hits, 41 runs scored and 40 RBI. Junior
Dakota Wright (.304) rounds out the Muleriders hitting over .300 and impressively has four grand slams on the season to go along with the team's second-most RBI at 52.
In terms of pitching, the Muleriders own one of the top staffs in the region and have posted top-10 marks in the region in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.64 | 5th), strikeouts per nine innings (9.4 | 5th), WHIP (1.35 | 6th), and team-ERA (4.40 | 7th).
The starting staff has been anchored by a trio of seniors in
Jacob Stroder,
Hunter Vasquez, and
Kenneth Tabor. Vasquez's ERA of 2.57 is the fifth-lowest of Central Region pitchers that will be in Magnolia, while Tabor's 5.61 hits allowed per nine innings mark in the second lowest in the region. The duo have combined for a 14-7 record, while Stroder has tallied a 10-2 record with his victories total ranking ninth in the country. Vasquez leads the league in strikeouts with 101 and is just the fourth pitcher in program history to record 100 strikeouts in a single season.
The bullpen features a pair of power arms in juniors
Eric White and
Nick Starr. Both have combined to save 14 games with White putting the finishing touches on eight games and Starr on six. They also have combined for 75 strikeouts in 53.2 innings.
Emporia State (33-22) is led by four hitters that swing better than .300 including MIAA First-Teamer Bryce Fischer who leads the club in average (.404), hits (82), doubles (17), home runs (13), RBI (65), runs scored (61), total bases (140), slugging percentage (.690), walks (45), and on-base percentage (.517). Five players have recorded 65 or more hits and five have registered ten or more doubles. Seven Hornets have plated 20 or more runs and six players have scored more than 30 runs.
Staff ace Seth Holman, the MIAA's Pitcher of the Year, holds a 3.39 ERA with 117 strikeouts in 109.0 innings pitched. Tanner Cairns owns an 8-1 record in 14 starts. Four pitchers have recorded at least two saves for the Hornets, including Trey Taylor and Nathan Gieber, who have combined to appear in 46 games.
