MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Merriam-Webster defines it as "a favorable juncture of circumstances." Cambridge's definition is "an occasion or situation that makes it possible to do something that you want to do or have to do, or the possibility of doing something." That's opportunity. And for Southern Arkansas, the Central Region's No. 2 seed and a consensus top eight team nationally, the opportunity for the illustrious program to earn its maiden trip to the NCAA DII Baseball Championship in Cary, North Carolina has never been bigger. The stage is set and the matchup is super as the spotlight shifts back to Magnolia for this weekend's best-of-3 Central Super Regional between sixth-year head coach Justin Pettigrew's Muleriders and perennial power Augustana, the region's No. 5 seed.
 
First pitch in Friday's opener is set for 6 p.m. with Saturday's second game scheduled for a 2 p.m. The if-necessary game will be played 30 minutes following game two. Live coverage links are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.
 
The Muleriders (43-11) enter super-regional play on the heels of a wild weekend inside Walker Stadium at Goodheart Field. SAU used a seven-run eighth inning to rally past No. 7 Washburn 12-11 in its NCAA postseason opener, exploded offensively to rout No. 3 Henderson State 28-5 and advanced to the best-of-3 series on a walk-off solo home run by senior all-region DH Tucker Burton that downed Henderson State 12-11. In its NCAA postseason opener, Augustana (47-11-1) knocked off No. 4 Minnesota State 10-9 in what was the sixth matchup between the two league foes in less than two weeks. The Vikings then topped No. 8 Ouachita 12-7 and after losing 7-3 to top seed and host Central Missouri which forced the if-necessary game, AU beat the Mules 9-5 to advance to the super regional.
 
This weekend's series marks the fifth time in the program's NCAA Era that the Muleriders have advanced to the regional finals, however it's the program's first in the super-regional format which began at the Division II level in 2019. Southern Arkansas previously advanced to the final day of a regional postseason tournament in 2004 (South Regional – Cleveland), 2010 (South Regional – Tampa), 2018 (Central Regional – Magnolia) and 2021 (Central Regional – Warrensburg).
 
In Southern Arkansas' two most recent postseason trips, the Muleriders have faced Augustana. SAU beat the Vikings 8-6 in last season's NCAA postseason opener in Warrensburg. In 2018, Augustana advanced to Cary through Magnolia topping the host Muleriders 6-3 in the if-necessary game after SAU handed the Vikings its lone loss of that postseason in a 5-3 decision. Augustana would go on to win the 2018 NCAA DII Baseball Championship. The first matchup between the two programs came in 2014 when the Muleriders hosted AU for four games, winning three, to open the 2014 season.
 
The Muleriders carry a hot offense into this weekend's high stakes affair. Southern Arkansas has pushed across 12-plus runs in five of its seven postseason games and its 567 total runs this campaign are the fifth-most nationally and fourth-most in a single season in program history. Sophomore Chris Sutton's 74 runs scored, tied for the sixth most in a single season, leads four other teammates that have crossed at least 60 times this spring.
 
The run production has come in a variety of ways. SAU's team batting average of .319 is a top 35 mark in Division II, while the club's 575 hits this season land in the top 30 nationally. Junior all-region shortstop Riley Orr leads seven other Muleriders with averages north of .300 at a clip of .382. Freshman Brandon Nicoll, an all-region third baseman, paces the club with 78 hits and 76 RBI. Four other Muleriders join Nicoll with at least 60 hits, while Burton and McGee are the other Muleriders with at least 65+ RBI this season.
 
Nicoll's 24 doubles are the second most in Division II this season. Burton's 19 home runs lead a Mulerider squad that has set the single season record for long balls with 106. Three other players have surpassed ten and five additional Muleriders have left the yard at least six times. SAU's slugging percentage of .577 is eighth nationally.
 
Most notably, however, the Muleriders lead the country in walks drawn with 330 and rank second in hit-by-pitch with 115. Facilitating those top marks is McGee who's 57 walks are a nation's best, while his 26 HBP rank fifth nationally. Sutton is just behind McGee in the plunk category with 24, while Sutton's 44 walks are inside the top 20 in Division II. The Muleriders own an on-base percentage of .448 which ranks seventh in the country.
 
As a staff, Southern Arkansas holds a 4.71 ERA and a WHIP of 1.47. The Muleriders' arms have accrued 437 strikeouts and opponents are hitting .249 collectively. SAU's 8.64 hits allowed per nine are a top 25 mark nationally.
 
The Muleriders have been led by Central Region Pitcher of the Year Jeremy Adorno who leads the country in wins behind an unbeaten mark of 14-0. Adorno, who carries a 2.65 ERA in 98.2 innings pitched, ranks second nationally in strikeouts with 128, third in complete games with 7 and is sixth in hits allowed per nine innings with a mark of 5.93. Fellow starter Wyatt Marr is 9-1 on the season and has tossed 79.1 innings and has struck out 55.
 
A big key to the Muleriders' successes last weekend was the work of the bullpen. SAU received quality bullpen work over the course of three days most notably the efforts of freshman Hayden Hable (5 IP, 1H, 4K) who proved a formidable stopper against Washburn in the opener and sophomore Santos Sosa who allowed just one hit over the final two innings in Saturday's clincher. Sophomores Isaiah Haynes and Chance Bolter and junior Maddux Solomon also recorded valuable appearances in relief in the sub-regional round.
 
The Vikings are hitting .328 as a team, rank in the top 15 nationally as a team in hits (628, 11^th) and home runs (90, 12^th), rank 20^th in stolen bases (107) and runs scored (467) and are 22^nd in the country in slugging percentage (.538). AU enters averaging 7.9 runs per game. Augie's Carter Howell leads the club in average at .397, while three other Vikings are hitting north of .360. Howell, along with teammate Jordan Barth, have each collected 87 hits this season and both have seen 15 of those hits leave the yard to pace the Vikings in long balls. Both hold a toughest-to-strikeout rate above nine.
 
Howell leads the team in runs scored with 65 and in RBI with 70. His slugging percentage of .680 leads all players that will be active on Saturday. Additionally, Howell has stolen 23 bases this spring.
 
As solid as the Vikings are at the plate, they are even more dominant on the hill. As a staff, Augustana leads the country in hits allowed per nine innings (6.94), ranks second in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.53) and WHIP (1.11), ranks third nationally in ERA (3.16) and holds the sixth-best strikeouts per nine (10.7) clip.
 
Augie arms Ryan Jares and Tanner Brown each hold a sub-2.50 ERA. Jares' 2.26 ranks 19^th in DII. Jares' 6.33 hits allowed per nine ranks behind only Adorno in terms of pitchers that will be in action this weekend. Jares leads the country in WHIP at 0.88 and Caleb Saari follows at 0.98. Jares (7.64) and Saari (7.27) each rank in the top 10 nationally in strikeout-to-walk ratio and Brown follows with a K-to-BB ratio of 5.00. Brown and Jares are each over the century mark in strikeouts and both are inside the top 20 in strikeouts per nine at 12+.
 
Strength vs. Strength.