MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The Southern Arkansas University softball team (4-6) will head to the greater Oklahoma City area this weekend, as they are set to play in five games over the course of three days in the OC/UCO tournament. SAU went 3-2 last weekend at the Alvy Early Memorial Classic. This will be the final tournament for the Muleriders before they return to Magnolia for their home opener on Tuesday.
The Muleriders will open play on Friday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. as they are set to take on West Texas powerhouse in Lubbock Christian University (7-2). SAU will play two games on Saturday as they will take on No. 14 Rogers State University (10-1) at 12:45 p.m. followed by a matchup with No. 15 Oklahoma Christian University (7-2) at 5:15 p.m. The Muleriders will close out the OC/UCO tournament with two games on Sunday afternoon, as they are set to take on Fort Hays State University (2-6) at 10:00 a.m. followed by a contest with Nebraska-Kearney (2-3) at 12:15 p.m. All five games will be in-region contests for the Muleriders.
Utah Valley transfer
Jade Miller has helped pace the Mulerider offense so far with the bat this season, as she leads the team with 17 hits and carries a .415 batting average. Miller leads the team in runs (9), she tied on the team with three other players with three homeruns and has collected six RBI. In 41 at bats Miller has only struck out twice.
Sarah Evans has been the top run producer for SAU as she leads the team with nine RBI on nine hits, including three homeruns.
Tiare Lee, who made her SAU debut this past weekend played very well for the Muleriders in Bentonville as she finished the weekend with eight hits, eight RBI and three homeruns.
Jaxynn Dyson has also been a big part of the offensive attack as she is third on the team with seven RBI to go along with seven hits and three homeruns. SAU has outscored their opponents 41-37 in 10 games this year.
Junior College transfer
Sydney Ward has led the Muleriders in the circle as she currently holds a 3-2 record with a 1.87 ERA. In 30.0 innings pitched, ward has struck out 24 batters while allowing 22 hits on eight earned runs.
Kiana Pogroszewski picked up the first win of her career after coming into relieve ward in last weekend's extra innings win against Northwest Missouri State. Pogroszewski tossed 7.0 innings while striking out six batters and giving up two runs. In 14.0 innings pitched on the season, Pogroszewski has struck out 17 batters.
Macie Welch has also shown good signs in the circle has she has struck out 21 batters in 19.2 innings pitched.
Friday afternoon's game will be played on the campus of Southern Nazarene in Bethany, while both of Saturday's games will be played on the campus of Oklahoma Christian in Oklahoma City. Both of Sunday's games will take place at Piedmont High school in Piedmont.
You can find live stat links to both Friday and Saturday's game
here. There will be no live coverage for the two contests on Sunday.
