MAGNOLIA, Ark. – #4 Southern Arkansas prepares for its first trip into the Sooner State this season as the Muleriders head to Weatherford for a three-game Great American Conference series against Southwestern Oklahoma State. The league set will be contested on Sunday and Monday with the day one doubleheader set for noon and Monday's finale also scheduled for 12 p.m. Live coverage links for all of the action are available at
www.MuleriderAthletics.com.
The Muleriders (8-1, 3-0 GAC) hold a top five NCBWA national ranking for the second straight week and have won eight straight games after dropping the season opener. SAU dismissed Northwestern Oklahoma State last weekend in Magnolia averaging over 11 runs per seven innings of play, while 16 of the team's 26 hits went for extra bases. SAU allowed only four runs to the Rangers and struck out 29.
Southwestern Oklahoma (6-5, 2-1 GAC) is coming off a series victory against Arkansas-Monticello on the road. The Bulldogs took two of three from the Weevils as they combined for 25 runs across the three-game set. SWOSU won the opener 11-0, dropped game two 12-4 and claimed the league-opening series with a 10-8 victory in the finale.
Since 2012, the first season of GAC Baseball, the Muleriders hold a 19-12 advantage in the series. It will be SAU's third consecutive trip to Weatherford and in the previous two trips SAU has claimed four of the previous six games and both series.
Through nine games, the Muleriders are scoring an average of 9.3 runs per game which leads the GAC. SAU has collected 88 hits with four players having recorded ten or more and three players tied for the team lead with 11. Juniors
Riley Orr,
Brett McGee and
Ty Manning are all a hit shy of a dozen. Orr's average of .393 paces the team, McGee's 1.098 OPS is the best on the squad, and Manning is one of two players with five extra base hits this season.
Senior
Tucker Burton, sophomore
Will Richardson and freshman
Brandon Nicoll have accounted for 11 RBI this season. The trio has combined for a dozen extra base hits with half of those leaving the yard. Sophomore
Chris Sutton leads the team in runs scored with 13 and in walks with nine. McGee's seven HBP this season are the fourth-most through the season's early going. SAU's .453 on-base percentage leads the GAC and ranks 17
th nationally.
On the mound, Southern Arkansas has been impressive. Highlighted by freshman right hander
Jeremy Adorno's hot start, the Muleriders are one of only three teams in the country with three complete games, rank fourth nationally in shutouts with two and rank in the top ten in Division II in WHIP (1.03, 5
th), hits allowed per nine (5.96, 6
th) and ERA (2.41, 8
th). SAU's 11.7 strikeouts per nine ranks 14
th and the staff's 3.54 strikeout-to-walk ratio is currently 17
th. All previously listed statistics lead the GAC.
Adorno is the nation's leader in strikeouts with 32, averaging just under 11 an outing. He holds top 20 national rankings in hits allowed per nine (2.25, 13
th) and WHIP (0.65, 19
th). Adorno enters the weekend as the reigning three-time GAC Pitcher of the Week and the NCBWA DII National Pitcher of the Week. Junior
Jacob Womack follows Adorno is strikeouts with 27. The pair rank first and second in the GAC in the category.
Santos Sosa and
Kade Garmany have combined for 5.1 innings pitched and seven strikeouts with no earned runs allowed out of the bullpen.
SWOSU is averaging 7.5 runs per game, ranks second in the league in sacrifice bunts (21) and stolen bases (21). The squad's 60 walks this season are second in the GAC and rank 21
st nationally. As a staff, the team's 4.35 ERA ranks fifth in the GAC and its 2.19 strikeout-to-walk ratio ranks third. Zach Baxley's .439 batting average leads the team and ranks second in the GAC. Nate Postlethwait's 17 strikeouts lead SWOSU.
