MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The 2022 Regular Season Great American Conference Champions in the #4/6 Southern Arkansas University Baseball team 36-9 (26-4) will close out their regular season this weekend, as they will head east to Monticello to take on the University of Arkansas-Monticello 21-21 (15-15 GAC) in a three game GAC series.

The Muleriders come into this weekend red hot as they have won their last seven games in a row. SAU has put 10+ runs in each of their last five outings and have outscored their opponents 82-15 in those five games, while also posting 72 hits. The Muleriders swept Southern Nazarene last weekend to win their 10^th GAC series of the season, and their sixth GAC sweep of the year.

The Weevils have won their last two GAC series in a row as they took a series 2-1 from SNU, followed by a 2-1 series win over Oklahoma Baptist last weekend. UAM took down Mississippi College 3-1 on Tuesday evening.

SAU comes into this final weekend of GAC play with a team batting average of .319. The Muleriders have eight players that have a .300 avg or higher with at least 75 at bats. Riley Orr leads the team with a .381 average, followed by Ty Manning with a .361. Chris Sutton (.341), Brandon Nicoll (.337) and Jakob Machuca (.336) all are batting .335 or better. Tucker Burton (.323), Chris Lyles (.320), and Brett McGee (.304) round out the Muleriders with a .300 average or higher.

The Mulerider have four players with 50+ hits as Nicoll leads the team with 65. Sutton ranks second on the team with 56 hits, followed by Manning with 52 and Burton with 50. Orr has 48 base knocks on the season, while McGee has 45 and Machuca has 44. Nicoll and McGee are tied for the team lead in RBI with 58, followed by Burton with 48. Orr has 44 RBI followed Manning with 40.

SAU has outscored its opponents 456-203 on the season. Sutton leads the team with 61 runs scored, followed by Nicoll (56) and Manning (53). The Muleriders have three players with 10+ home runs as Burton leads the squad with 13, followed by McGee with 11 and Nicoll with 10. Nicoll leads the team with 21 doubles and he is the only Mulerider with 100+ total bases as he has 118.

Base hits haven't been the only way SAU has been getting on base, as five players have drawn 25+ walks and three have been hit by 15 or more pitches. McGee leads the team in walks (43) and hit by pitches (23). Sutton, and Burton have both been walked 38 times, followed by Orr (25) and Jacob Martinez (25). Manning has been belted by 20 baseballs this season, while Sutton has been hit nine times. Manning leads the team with 19 stolen bags followed by Orr with 10.

Jeremy Adorno continues to dominate the GAC has he leads the league in every major pitching category as well as the country in some categories. The right-handed junior college transfer leads the league in ERA (2.01), opposing batting avg (.182), innings pitched (80.2), strikeouts (112), strikeouts looking (37) and wins (12). The freshman has only allowed 20 runs (18 earned) on 52 hits. Adorno's 12 wins and 112 strikeouts sit atop of the leaderboard in NCAA DII.

Right behind Adorno is Wyatt Marr who is tied for fourth in the league with a 7-0 record. Marr's 3.34 ERA is the second best among starters in the GAC, only behind Adorno. The Texas native has pitched 62.0 innings on the season and has allowed 28 runs (23 earned) on 61 hits.

Jack Liddell has been one of the top arms out of the pen for the Muleriders, as the Canadian has made nine appearances in relief to also go along with three starts. Liddell is 3-1 on the year with one save under his belt. He has pitched in 24.1 innings and has allowed 18 runs (11 earned) while striking out 16. Parker Abrego and Isaiah Haynes have both collected 20+ strikeouts in relief action, as Abrego has 21 while Haynes has 20. Abrego has tossed 14.2 innings and carries a 1-0 record with a 1.84 ERA. Reed Osborn picked up his second win of the season on Tuesday night against Texas A&M Texarkana to move to 2-0 on the year. The senior had a career outing as he pitched three innings in relief and did not allow a hit while striking out three.

UAM has three players with a .300 batting average or better, and those same three players lead the team in hits as they all have 55+. Chase Crips leads the team with a .372 average and 64 hits, followed by Cade Thompson who is batting .371 to go along with 62 hits. Jordan Johnson is batting .322 and has 55 hits, he also became the GAC's leader in hit all-time on Tuesday afternoon as he collected his 262^nd career base knock.

Johnson leads the Weevils with 54 RBI and ranks second on the team with 11 home runs. Thompson leads the team with 12 home runs, 49 runs and ranks second on the team with 49 RBI.

The UAM pitching staff has a team ERA of 6.25. UAM's top two starters in Spencer Johnston and Mason Philley have done a nice job of working deep into ballgames as they have both pitched 69.0 innings this season. UAM's third starter Derek Potts has pitched 68.0 innings and leads the team with a 5-5 record. Philley and Charles peacock are both 4-1 on the season. Johnston's 4.83 ERA leads the team.

The series will start tomorrow afternoon at 12:00 p.m. with a double-header, followed by a single game on Saturday at noon to close out the series. You can find live links to this weekend's series here.