MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Southern Arkansas Baseball moves into mid-April with a tight grip on a pair of top 12 rankings nationally as both the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) and Collegiate Baseball Newspaper (CBN) have the Muleriders slotted among the top dozen teams in the country. Sixth-year head coach Justin Pettigrew's squad ranks No. 9 in the latest NCBWA DII Top 25 and holds a No. 11 ranking in the CBN DII Top 30.
 
In the NCBWA's Central Region rankings, the Muleriders (26-7) held on to a single first-place vote to total 72 points overall. SAU sits behind Central Missouri, NCBWA No. 4, which received seven first-place votes and 79 of 80 possible points.
 
Southern Arkansas dropped four spots in the CBN DII Top 30 to just outside the top ten nationally. The Muleriders received 29 fewer points than in last week's poll which had the squad slotted at No. 7. UCM ranks No. 5 in the latest CBN poll and Augustana moves ahead of the Muleriders in the regional rankings to No. 9 nationally at 21-4-1 overall. Just behind the Muleriders in the national Top 30 is Minnesota State at No. 13; just eight points back of SAU.
 
The Muleriders prepare for another tough test this weekend as a three-game Great American Conference series awaits SAU in Searcy. Harding enters the weekend in fifth place in the league standings and just a single game back of three teams currently tied for second. Friday's opener is slated for a 6 p.m. start with Saturday's doubleheader scheduled for a 1 p.m. first pitch.