MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The #7 Southern Arkansas University baseball team 32-9 (23-4) will wrap up their 2022 home schedule this weekend, as they are set to take on Southern Nazarene University 11-31 (6-21 GAC) in a three game Great American Conference series at Walker Stadium at Goodheart Field. The series will get underway on Friday afternoon with a double-header that is slated for a 3:00 p.m. first pitch. The series will conclude on Saturday at noon with senior day prior to the start of the game.
The Muleriders will honor
Tucker Burton,
James Janco,
Cameron Lang,
Jacob Martinez,
JJ Martin,
Reed Osborn,
Josh Walker and
Jacob Womack prior to Saturday's first pitch.
SAU picked up a 14-4 win on Tuesday afternoon as they took on Mississippi College at Walker Stadium. The Muleriders posted 14 hits and four home runs in the victory and will look to keep the bats hot this weekend in Magnolia. SAU carries a team batting average of .308 and they are outhitting opponents 411-323, while also outscoring them 388-192.
First year Mulerider
Brandon Nicoll added three RBI to his season totals on Tuesday afternoon to give him a team high 54 RBI this year, to go along with a team leading 59 hits.
Tucker Burton added four hits in the win over MC to give him 47 hits on the year which ranks second on the team, followed by
Ty Manning with 46. Burton also added another home run to his name in to give him a team leading 13 on the season. Nicoll left the yard for his 10
th big fly of the year in the victory which ties him with McGee who has also hit 10 home runs.
Chris Sutton also has 46 hits this season, while
Riley Orr (42), McGee (41), and
Jakob Machuca (40) all have 40+ hits for SAU. Sutton leads the team with 52 runs scored, followed by Nicoll with 49.
Jeremy Adorno continues to light it up for the Muleriders on the mound as the freshman also gloved some major hardware at last night's Fifth Annual Mulespy Awards, taking home the Auburn Smith Male Player of the Year Award. Adorno's 11-0 record, 2.20 ERA, 101 strikeouts, five complete games, three shutouts, only 20 runs given up (18 earned) in 73.2 innings of work are a good indication of why the Freshman took home the coveted hardware.
In addition to Adorno, the Muleriders also have two other arms with undefeated records that have 3+ wins as
Wyatt Marr is 6-0 on the year, while
Chance Bolter is 3-0. Marr has started in 10 games and appeared in 11 and has pitched 56.0 innings and has struck out 39 batters, while allowing 27 runs (22 earned) on 58 hits. Bolter has been solid out of the bullpen as his 1.00 ERA is the lowest on the Mulerider staff. He has made nine relief appearances totaling 9.0 innings, and also has one save. Womack matches Marr with six wins on the mound and ranks second on the team in strikeouts (81) and innings pitched 67.1.
SNU comes into the weekend having been outscored 445-308. They have collected 395 hits as a team, while giving up 545. The Crimson Storm are hitting .294 as a team, and are led EJ Taylor. Taylor leads the team in batting average (.448), runs (52), hits (65), and home runs (15). Brian Brown leads the team with 50 RBI and ranks second with 52 hits.
The lowest ERA on SNU's pitching staff is a 7.30 and it belongs to Payne Maga, who also leads the team with a 4-4 record, and in innings pitched with 53.0. Casey Minchey is second on the team with 52.0 innings, of work and holds an 8.13 ERA to go along with a 1-8 record. He also leads the staff in strikeouts with 36. SNU's staff ERA is a 10.08.
You can find live links to this weekend's series
here.
