MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The 2022 NCAA DII Baseball season rolls on for #11/5 Southern Arkansas this weekend as sixth-year head coach
Justin Pettigrew and the Muleriders make a return trip to central Arkansas for three games at the Henderson State Invitational from Clyde Berry Field.
Southern Arkansas (2-1) meets two familiar opponents this weekend in Northwest Missouri State (Friday, February 11 at 6 p.m.) and Missouri Western (Sunday, February 13 at 2:30 p.m.). The Muleriders topped the Bearcats 10-2 in the weekend finale at the Dugan Collegiate Invitational and put away the Griffons 12-0 for their first win of the campaign. Slotted in between those contests is a 6 p.m. first pitch with Pittsburg State on Saturday, February 12. Live coverage links of all three games are available at
www.MuleriderAthletics.com.
Following a 7-5 season-opening loss to Northeastern State, the Muleriders pushed across 22 combined runs in the aforementioned wins over the NWMSU and MWSU. SAU allowed just two runs and ten hits in its final 16 innings of play, while striking out 18. Offensively, after being held to just seven hits and five runs with four coming in the eighth inning of the loss, SAU combined for 24 hits with seven going for extra bases, while drawing 15 walks and seven HBP.
Opening weekend highlights for the Muleriders included the program's sixth no-hitter in its NCAA Era which was tossed by freshman transfer
Jeremy Adorno in the team's 12-0 blanking of Missouri Western. Adorno earned Great American Conference Pitcher of the Week honors for his hitless seven inning, seven strikeout performance against the Griffons.
Through just three games, the Muleriders rank 12
th nationally in on-base percentage (.462) and are 19
th nationally in runs per game (9.0). Five SAU players currently own an OPS (on-base plus slugging) north of 1.000 and six players have scored at least four runs. Junior
Ty Manning and freshman transfer
Jakob Machuca have each collected five hits this season. Manning is one of four Muleriders with a double and a home run. Sophomore
Will Richardson leads SAU with six RBI and junior
Conner Allen's .889 slugging percentage aids his team-leading 1.504 OPS.
Junior transfer
Wyatt Marr was very steady in his Mulerider debut. Marr scattered eight hits, allowed a single unearned run and tallied six strikeouts against Northwest Missouri. Four relievers have been utilized by the Muleriders in the team's 25 innings this season as all three starters have pitched through at least the fifth inning. Sophomore
Kade Garmany worked a scoreless inning in relief of Marr, while sophomore
Santos Sosa did not allow an earned run in an inning and a third of work in his first appearance of the season.
NWMSU (1-2) heads back to the Natural State after opening its season with three games at the Dugan Collegiate Invitational last weekend. Donovan Warren earned Dugan Invitational All-Tournament Team honors after a 5-for-10 showing with two doubles for the Bearcats.
PSU (2-1) heads to Arkansas for three games. The Gorillas beat Southwestern Oklahoma 6-4 in ten innings to open the season, lost 10-4 to Oklahoma Baptist and then defeated Northern State 12-7 to complete a three-game stint at the UCO First Pitch Classic. Kaden Fowler and Garrett McGowan each have five hits with three of the latter's coming as home runs. McGowan has eight RBI. Twelve pitchers have thrown for the Gorillas this season. Only three have thrown more than 3.0 innings and none have tossed over 5.0.
MWSU (0-2) has allowed 23 runs in just two games this season with a dozen coming courtesy of SAU. The Griffons lost 11-4 at Arkansas Tech on Monday and prepare for four games at the HSU Invite this weekend with its fourth and final game coming against the Muleriders on Super Sunday.
