MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The second half of the 2021 NCAA Division II Baseball regular season begins this weekend as head coach
Justin Pettigrew's nationally-ranked Muleriders look to stay hot with a trip to Clark County for a three-game series with Henderson State up next for a Southern Arkansas club that has won eight straight games and 11 of their past 12. SAU enters the sixth Great American Conference series of the season with a share of the league lead as Arkansas Tech and Oklahoma Baptist also have a grip on the top spot with an 11-4 conference record.
The series begins Friday night, April 2 with a 6 p.m. first pitch from HSU's Clyde Berry Field. Saturday's doubleheader is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start. Live coverage links are available at
www.MuleriderAthletics.com.
Southern Arkansas (15-5, 11-4 GAC) and Henderson State (13-8, 9-6 GAC) opened the season against each other with a seven-inning doubleheader on February 12. The action was split with the Reddies winning 4-3 in eight, while the Muleriders claimed the second game 7-2.
Since the two longtime in-state rivals both joined the GAC in 2011-12, SAU holds a 32-14 lead in the series. The matchup is much closer in Arkadelphia where the Muleriders have won a dozen of the 20 meetings between the clubs over the past ten years. SAU has won six of their past seven road games against the Reddies. Prior to that, HSU claimed nine of the previous ten matchups against the Muleriders in Arkadelphia including a pair of wins in the league tournament in 2017.
The Muleriders' eight-game winning streak is the longest non-start to a season win streak (SAU won the first 11 games to start the 2020 season) since 2017 when that year's 'Riders rattled off 16 victories in a row from March 3 through March 28.
Senior
Kobe Morris is leading the Muleriders at the plate as he holds the team-lead in average (.413), hits (31), doubles (6), RBI (17), total bases (49), slugging percentage (.653) and on-base percentage (.516). He ranks second on the team in runs scored (22), home runs (4), walks (16) and stolen bases (10). Senior
Austin Baker is hitting .360 and leads the team in runs scored with 23 and stolen bases with a dozen. Five other Muleriders have scored at least a dozen runs this season and four other Muleriders have at least 15 hits, while five other players join Morris with double-digit RBI.
On the mound, senior
Zach Smith has lowered his season ERA to 2.53 after an impressive complete game effort last weekend. Smith along with junior
Jacob Womack and freshman
Santos Sosa have all recorded three wins this campaign. Smith's 31 strikeouts lead all pitchers, while six other arms have recorded at least a dozen Ks this spring. Sosa, along with sophomores
Remy Bilodeau and
Maddux Solomon have allowed no more than four earned runs this season as all three have tossed at least ten innings with the former two having pitched 14+ innings.
HSU's Kaden Argenbright leads the team in average (.375) and hits (30), while Joe Myers holds team-best in slugging percentage (.667) and on-base percentage (.478). Myers leads the league with 29 runs scored, 28 RBI and eight hit-by-pitch.
Matthew Baker leads HSU starters with a 3.99 ERA. Spencer Taack's four wins leads the team as does his 25 strikeouts. Three players have logged at least seven appearances with no starts and 11+ innings.
