RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – The Great American Conference continued its month-long release of the league's all-decade teams with the announcement of the top baseball players in the conference's first nine seasons. Representing the Muleriders, who were tabbed as the GAC's Program of the Decade, are former standouts David Harris (2013), Jacob Richardson (2017-18), Trevor Rucker (2014-17) and Kenneth Tabor (2015-18).
 
Despite just playing one season in Magnolia, Harris has an immediate and memorable impact on the 2013 Muleriders. That year, the Houston, Texas, native was named the unanimous GAC Player of the Year and an All-GAC First Team selection after a 54-game season that resulted in a .358 average and 78 total hits with 40 going for extra bases (.679 SLUG%) which included 22 doubles (T5th; SAU single season), six triples (T5th; SAU single season) and a dozen home runs. His prowess at the plate led to 65 RBI and with an additional 21 walks and nine hit-by-pitch, Harris scored 57 runs and finished as the Division II statistical leader in total bases with 148 (9th; SAU single season).
 
Harris was named a second team all-region performer by American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA), Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association of America (NCBWA). Additional accolades for the power-hitting shortstop included being named a GAC Player of the Week twice, a semifinalist for the Tino Martinez Division II Player of the Year Award, a finalist for the Josh Willingham Division II Most Valuable Player Award, and the Natural State Baseball All-Arkansas Collegiate Player of the Year.
 
Following his final collegiate season, Harris was selected in the 36^th round, pick #1,075^th overall, of the 2013 MLB First-Year Player Draft by the Toronto Blue Jays. Following four years in the Blue Jays' farm system, Harris joined the Canberra Cavalry of the Australian Baseball League where he was named a 2015 ABL All-Star as an outfield member of the World Team in his lone year with Canberra. Since, Harris has experienced stints in the Frontier League, Mexican Pacific Winter League, Mexican League and most recently the Canadian-American Association as a member of the New Jersey Jackals.
 
Richardson enjoyed two highly successful years as a Mulerider in 2017 and 2018. The Rison, Arkansas, native, finished as a two-time All-GAC First Team honoree and as a senior was tabbed as the league's Player of the Year as well as being named a consensus all-America selection after being honored by the ABCA (2^nd Team), the D2CCA (3^rd Team), and the NCBWA (3^rd Team) with first team all-region nods coming from all three outlets.
 
Additionally, Richardson was named the Natural State Baseball All-Arkansas Collegiate Player of the Year and academically he was named a Google Cloud Academic All-District 7 honoree which preceded a Google Cloud Academic All-America Third-Team honor. Following his time in Magnolia, Richardson signed professionally with the Evansville Otters of the Frontier League.
 
During the aforementioned league player of the year campaign, Richardson recorded top five single season program marks in hits (89), at bats (238), doubles (23), and total bases (153). As a junior in 2017, Richardson set the GAC hit streak record as he recorded a base knock in 30-consecutive games.
 
In two seasons in Magnolia, Richardson recorded 168 hits with 63 going for extra bases which included 40 doubles, two triples and 21 home runs. With a career slash of .369/.444/.604 for SAU, Richardson played in all 115 possible games for the Muleriders and delivered 117 RBI and scored 113 runs behind 49 walks and 16 HBP. His 40 doubles are tied for the 8^th-most in a career in program history and are the second-most by a Mulerider with two or fewer years of playing service.
 
One of the most notable Mulerider Baseball players of the past decade, Rucker was the consensus 2017 Central Region Player of the Year as well as a consensus all-America selection with first team nods coming from the D2CCA and the NCBWA. Rucker also received first team all-region honors from all three major outlets during his senior season. Additionally, Rucker was selected as one of 12 finalists for the Tino Martinez Division II Player of the Year Award as well as one of 14 finalists for the Josh Willingham Division II Most Valuable Player Award and was named the Natural State Baseball All-Arkansas Collegiate Player of the Year.
 
In terms of Great American Conference accolades, Rucker ended his rookie year as a Mulerider as the league's 2014 Freshman of the Year and capped an impressive four-year run in the conference as its unanimous Player of the Year in 2017. In between were four All-GAC honors, including a first team selection as a senior, five GAC Player of the Week plaudits, and an honor as the 2016-17 GAC Male Athlete of the Year.
 
Rucker ended his senior season as one of just four (4) players in all of NCAA College Baseball to reach the 20 or more mark in Home Runs and Doubles as he hit exactly 20 in each category. The other three to achieve the incredible feat hail from the DI ranks. While being a 20-20 player was impressive and put Rucker in elite company with DI players, the Prescott, Ark. native used another one of his plus tools to make him stand alone in college baseball as he also stole 20 bases to make him the only player in all NCAA College Baseball this season with at least 20 doubles, 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases.
 
He finished his senior season atop seven (7) major offensive categories in the GAC - slugging %, on-base %, runs scored, doubles, home runs, total bases, and hit-by-pitch.
 
For his career as a Mulerider, Rucker hit .341 (261-for-766) with 200 runs scored, 54 doubles, 11 triples, 42 home runs, 154 RBIs, 100 stolen bases, a slugging percentage of .604 and an on-base percentage of .430. His 42 home runs are the most in program history and he ranks in the top five all-time in 11 career categories including games played, games started, hits, at-bats, runs scored, and RBI among others. He also ranks in the top five all time in four single season categories.
 
Rucker signed with the Frontier League's Southern Illinois Miners following his collegiate career.  
 
The GAC Baseball All-Decade Team would not complete without the league's all-time leader in wins. Tabor, a native of Plano, Texas, was a three-time All-GAC performer with a first team recognition coming in his final season of 2018; a year in which he notched nine wins to become the league's career leader in victories with 29; the third-most in SAU Baseball history.
 
As a junior, Tabor was named an All-Central Region Second Team performer by the D2CCA and an Honorable Mention selection by the NCBWA. That season, Tabor posted an 11-2 record in 16 appearances, all starts (second-most by a Mulerider pitcher in a single season), totaling 96.0 innings; all of which are career-highs. He finished with a career-best 82 strikeouts. His 11 victories that year are the fourth-most ever in a single-season by a Mulerider.
 
For his career, Tabor was 29-9 in 51 total appearances (7^th all-time at SAU) which included 44 starts (3^rd all-time at SAU) and nine complete games in 273.0 innings pitched; the fourth-highest workload by a Mulerider pitcher. He totaled 251 strikeouts, the fifth-most in program history, with a 3.96 ERA, while opponents hit just .224 lifetime against him. In his final season, opponents managed just a .180 batting average and 21 extra base hits; both career-best marks for Tabor.

Southern Arkansas Muleriders | GAC Baseball Program of the Decade | 380 wins
(4 GAC Regular Season Titles; 5 GAC Tournament Titles)
 
2010 | HC Allen Gum | 47-10 (18-2 GSC) | GSC West Division Champions | NCAA South Region Tournament
2011 | HC Steve Browning | 36-16 (15-6 GSC) | GSC Tournament Champions | NCAA South Region Tournament
2012 | HC Steve Browning | 37-17 (17-7 GAC) | GAC Regular Season & Tournament Champions | NCAA South Central Region Tournament
2013 | HC Steve Browning | 42-17 (23-8 GAC) | GAC Regular Season & Tournament Champions | NCAA South Central Region Tournament
2014 | HC Steve Browning | 39-19 (18-12 GAC) | GAC Tournament Champions | NCAA Central Region Tournament
2015 | HC Steve Browning | 40-18 (20-10 GAC) | GAC Regular Season & Tournament Champions | NCAA Central Region Tournament
2016 | HC Steve Browning | 30-20 (19-14 GAC) | GAC Tournament
2017 | HC Justin Pettigrew | 39-16 (28-5 GAC) | GAC Regular Season Champions | NCAA Central Region Tournament
2018 | HC Justin Pettigrew | 41-19 (22-11 GAC) | GAC Tournament Champions | NCAA Central Region Tournament
2019 | HC Justin Pettigrew | 29-20 (21-11 GAC) | GAC Tournament
 
SAU Baseball By-The-Numbers (2012-19)
 
1 – Number of individual Academic All-America honors received by Mulerider Baseball Players
 
3 – Number of individual Regional Player of the Year awards by Mulerider Baseball players
 
3 – Number of individual Rawlings/ABCA All-Region Gold Glove awards by Mulerider Baseball players
 
6 – Number of 35+ win seasons
 
10 – Number of GAC Superlative Award Winners
 
10 - Number of individual All-America honors received by Mulerider Baseball players
 
46 – Number of individual All-Region honors received by Mulerider Baseball players
 
54 – Number of individual All-GAC honors received by Mulerider Baseball players
 
148 – Number of total bases by GAC All-Decade member David Harris; total led NCAA Division II in 2013