MAGNOLIA, Ark. – For the first time since the 2018 season, NCAA postseason baseball returns to Magnolia and Walker Stadium at Goodheart field this weekend, as the Southern Arkansas University baseball team will host a four team NCAA DII Central Regional Tournament, with the winner advancing to the NCAA DII Central Super Regionals. The tournament will start on Thursday afternoon and run through Saturday with two games each day at 2:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. Sunday's if-necessary game is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.

SAU enters the four-team double elimination sub regional as the No. 2 seed, while Henderson State comes in as the No. 3 seed, followed by Northeastern State (No. 6) and Washburn (No. 7). HSU (38-15) will take on NSU (37-16) to start the regional on Thursday at 2:00 p.m., followed by SAU (41-11) and WU (33-20) at 6:00 p.m.

The Muleriders who are headed to the postseason for the 14^th time in program history and for the second straight season, enter the postseason as the Great American Conference Regular Season Champions, and the GAC Tournament Champions. SAU went 4-0 in the GAC Tournament and topped HSU 17-9 to win the title last Tuesday.

SCOUTING THE MULERIDERS

SAU enters the Central Region Tournament with the second highest team batting average of the four teams in attendance with a .314, while NSU leads the group with a .330. Seven Muleriders are batting .300 or higher as Riley Orr leads the team with a .379, followed by the GAC Tournament MVP in Chris Lyles who is batting .361. Ty Manning is third on the team with a .345 average, while Jakob Machuca is hitting .336. Chris Sutton (.323), Brandon Nicoll (.320), and Tucker Burton (.312) round out the Mulerider .300+ hitters.

Nicoll leads the team with 71 hits, followed by who Sutton has collected 61 base knocks, while Manning is third on the team with 58 hits. Orr has hit safely 55 times, followed by Burton with 54 hits. Brett McGee and Machuca both have 51 hits on the season. Nicoll and McGee are tied for the team lead in RBI with 64 apiece, followed by Burton (56 RBI) and Orr (50 RBI).

Of the Muleriders 531 hits this season, 94 of them have left the yard, which smashes the old record of 86 home runs in a season that was set in 2009. Four players have double-digit home runs, as Burton leads the squad with 16. McGee has left the yard 13 times, while Nicoll has connected on 11 bombs. Machuca ranks fourth on the team with 10 home runs, while Conner Allen just needs one more home run to hit double-digits.

The Muleriders come in scoring 9.9 runs per game which leads the four teams in the tournament, as they have outscored their opponents 515-240 on the year. Sutton leads the team with 67 runs, followed by Nicoll who has crossed home plate 61 times. Manning has scored 58 runs, followed by McGee (57) and Orr (55).

SAU's pitching staff enters postseason play with a 4.56 staff ERA, which is the second best amongst this weekend's competition, only behind HSU's 4.28. The Muleriders have seen Jeremy Adorno (14-0) and Wyatt Marr (8-1) dominate as starters all season. Adorno leads the team with 95.2 innings of work and 124 strikeouts, as he has allowed just 25 runs (23 earned) on 56 hits. Marr ranks second on the team with his eight wins and 72.1 innings pitched. The lefty has allowed 40 runs (34 earned) on 75 hits.

Jack Liddell (4-2), Santos Sosa (1-2) and Parker Abrego (2-0) have been some of the top arms out of the pen as they all pitched 20.0+ innings. Liddell has made 14 appearances with five of them being starts. The lengthy Canadian ranks fourth on the team with 33.1 innings pitched, as he has allowed 25 runs (23 earned) on 38 hits to go along with 20 strikeouts. Abrego's 24 strikeouts ranks fourth on the team, while his 2.28 ERA is the second best on the squad.

SCOUTING THE REDDIES

HSU enters the tournament as the No. 3 seed after falling in the GAC conference title game and taking second place overall in the GAC regular season only behind SAU in both. HSU last made the Central Region Tournament last season. The Reddies come into the regional with the lowest team batting average with a .288. HSU has four players with a .300 average or higher, as Dillon Thomas leads the team with a .406, followed by Cade Tucker with a .363. Greyson Stevens leads HSU with 71 hits, followed by Kaden Argenbright with 65. Stevens also leads HSU with 47 RBI, followed by David Vilches with 45 RBI. Vilches holds the team lead in home runs with 17.

The Reddies 4.28 staff ERA is the best in the tournament. HSU has been led by Spencer Taack (8-1), Ryan Galvan (6-0), and Cade Tucker (4-3). Taack has pitched 85.2 innings and leads the club with 74 strikeouts. Galvan ranks second on the team with 68.2 innings pitched, while Tucker ranks second with 62 strikeouts. Andrew Howard holds a 6-3 record with 19 appearances in relief in 41.2 innings of action.

SCOUTING THE RiverHawks

NSU will be making their first ever postseason appearance as they enter this weekend's tournament as the No. 6 seed. The RiverHawks come into the central regional with the highest team batting average of all four teams with a .330. They have hit 117 home runs this season which is a new MIAA record. Blake Freeman leads NSU with a .416 average, followed by C.D. White (.372) and Brayden Rodden (.338). Freeman leads the team with 89 hits, while White is second with 74. Brock Reller holds the team lead in home runs with 27, RBI with 82 and runs with 69. Collin Kingensmith is second on the team with 55 RBI, while Matt Kaiser ranks second on the squad with 19 home runs. The RiverHawks are scoring 9.5 runs per game, which ranks second best in the Central Regional Tournament.

NSU carries a staff ERA of 5.26. Jonathan Smithey leads the team with a 7-3 record and he also leads the team in innings pitched 76.1 and strikeouts (65). Lee Callison ranks second on the team with 54.2 innings of action as he holds a 4-3 record with 58 strikeouts. Smithey has an ERA of 3.18, while Callison is sitting at a 5.76 ERA. Cohen Bell has a 4-0 record, as he has made 29 appearances in relief, which leads the team.

SCOUTING THE Ichabods

Washburn will also be making their first ever trip to the big dance as they enter into the regional as the No. 7 seed. The Ichabods went 4-2 in the MIAA conference tournament and advanced to the Championship game before falling to Central Missouri. WU carries a .301 team batting average and they are led by Brett Ingram who leads the team in hits (80) and average (.365). Cal Watkins ranks second with 63 hits, while Parker Dunn ranks third with 59 base knocks. Dunn leads WU with 59 RBI, followed by Ingram with 35. Dunn has hit 17 home runs for the Ichabods while Ingram has connected on 11 bombs. WU is averaging 8.0 runs per game.

The Ichabod pitching staff has the highest team ERA of the four teams in the Regional, as they are currently sitting at a 5.78 ERA. Casey Steward has been the top arm for WU as he leads the team with a 5-2 record and 72.0 innings. He has allowed 62 runs (51 earned) on 74 hits while striking out 74. Dalton Huggins leads the team with 84 strikeouts, and he also leads the team in appearances with 27 out of the pen and one start. He has pitched 68.1 innings and holds a 5-2 record, as he has allowed 33 runs (29 earned) on 59 hits with a 3.82 ERA. Jack Brimacombe has made 13 starts and pitched 54.1 innings to earn a 2-4 record.

You can find live links and more information such as the bracket, rosters and team statistics on the NCAA DII Central Region Tournament here.