MAGNOLIA, Ark. - The final weekend of action before Great American Conference play commences is here. #16 Southern Arkansas makes the first of four regular season trips into the Sooner State with this weekend's destination marked Oklahoma City. The Muleriders, under ninth-year head coach Jason Anderson are set for five games across three days at the Raising Cane's Softball Festival hosted by the University of Central Oklahoma and Southern Nazarene University. 

Live Coverage: https://muleriderathletics.com/coverage 

*The Muleriders (9-0) are off to their best start to a season since 2018. SAU is one of 11 unbeaten teams in the country.

*On Tuesday, the Muleriders jumped up ten spots from its No. 26 ranking in the preseason poll and landed inside the Top 25 at No. 16 in the first weekly rankings delivered by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA).

*It marks the sixth time under Anderson that the Muleriders have held a spot in the NFCA's Week 1 rankings.

*This weekend's travel into Oklahoma is the first of consecutive trips across state lines as SAU meets East Central in Ada next weekend to open league play.

*SAU has fared nicely in the Sooner State. In the nine seasons under Anderson, the Muleriders are 69-24 in the state of Oklahoma which includes postseason play. 

*SAU is hitting .360 as a team with 28 extra base hits and is currently +43 in run margin. The Muleriders own a staff ERA of 1.72 with 57 strikeouts to just nine walks in 61.0 innings pitched.

MILLER TIME

*For the second straight week, junior outfielder Alyssa Miller earned Great American Conference Player of the Week honors.

*She hit .700 (7-for-10) with a double and a triple, scored five runs and delivered four RBI. In Saturday's action against Truman State and William Jewell, she went a combined 6-for-6.

*For the season, Miller is hitting .750 with an OPS of 1.843 and a slugging percentage of 1.083. She has recorded 18 hits and 10 RBI, scored eight runs, and totaled 26 bases. 

*Sophomore third baseman Gracie King is a career .345 hitter for the Muleriders and is having a hot start to her sophomore season. 

*King is hitting .522 with an OPS of 1.558. She has collected a dozen hits and leads the team in RBI with 11. 

*Grad transfer Ariana Rolle has nestled nicely into the Mulerider order. 

*Rolle is hitting .500 with 13 hits, a team-leading 10 runs scored and four RBI. She owns an OPS of 1.077.

*Five more Muleriders have recorded at least six hits this season. 

*Emily Shipman leads the team in doubles with four and is third on the team in RBI with 9.  

*Jaxynn Dyson, Regan Dillon and Haley Nillen have all left the yard twice this season. 

*Dyson and Dillon have combined for 15 of the squad's 34 walks drawn through nine games. 

*Sophomore right-hander Sydney Ward's 2023 season is off to a hot start as well. 

*Ward carries a 0.95 ERA and a .92 WHIP to OKC.

*She has won all five of her starts this season, logging three complete game efforts, which includes her second career no-hitter, totaling 29.1 innings pitched.  

*Ward has tallied 26 strikeouts to just three walks and has allowed just six extra base hits.

*Baylie Thornhill and Morgan McAlexander each have two wins in the circle this season. 

*Both pitchers protect ERAs below 2.50. 

*The pair has combined for 30 strikeouts and allowed just five walks over a collective 29.2 innings of work. 

*True freshman Maci McJunkins has appeared twice with a strikeout and one walk. 

NEBRASKA-KEARNEY
Friday, February 17 | Yukon HS | 1:30 p.m.

*The Lopers are 4-4 on the season which includes a win over Southwestern Oklahoma and a 2-3 mark against UC-Colorado Springs. 

*SAU and UNK meet for the second time all-time after SAU won 4-2 last season in the first meeting between the two programs. The game was contested as part of the OKC Softball Festival. 

*UNK is currently -9 in runs scored margin and owns a team batting average of .268. 

*Sydney Thomason' .370 average and ten hits lead the team. Carly Dembowski follows with a .348 average. Both players, along with Lyndsey Roth, have scored seven runs. Dembowski and Katie Gosker have each delivered seven RBI. Gosker's three HRs this season pace a squad that has hit nine in eight games.

*The Lopers' staff ERA is currently 6.38 over 52.2 innings pitched. Thomason leads with a 4.20 ERA with 17 strikeouts to just six walks in 16.2 IP. Faith Gaynor leads in IP (17.2), appearances (7) and wins (3).

FORT HAYS STATE
Friday, February 17 | Yukon HS | 4 p.m.

*Fort Hays is four games into its 2023 season. The Tigers are 3-1 with all three wins coming against Great American Conference opposition. 

*Friday's matchup will be the fifth between the two programs who first met on the diamond in 2013; a contest that FHSU won 7-0. SAU has won the last three meetings including last season's 3-2 victory at Piedmont HS which was a part of the OKC Softball Festival. 

*The Tigers are averaging six runs a game and are currently +15 in run scored. FHSU is hitting .358 as a team which lands the offense inside the top 20 in the country through the first three weeks of play. 

*Fort Hays carries a team on-base percentage north of .430 which ranks inside the top 25 nationally. 

*Six players, all of which have started all four games for the Tigers, are hitting above .300. Sarah Tiffany and Madison Pierce lead the offense. Tiffany paces the club in hits (8) and stolen bases (4-for-4). Pierce is tops in OPS (1.571), doubles (3), RBI (8), total bases (12) and slugging percentage (1.000)

*Morgan Schmidt tossed a five-inning, two-hitter against Southwestern Oklahoma in her lone start of the season. She fanned ten. 

*Savanah Egger has appeared in three games with two starts totaling 14.0 innings. She has recorded 19 strikeouts to just three walks. 

#1 ROGERS STATE
Saturday, February 18 | Gerry Pinkston Stadium | 10 a.m.

*The Muleriders will get a shot at the defending national champions on Saturday morning. 

*RSU is unbeaten at 6-0 and sits atop the NFCA DII Top 25 Coaches Poll. The Hillcats swept a season-opening DH against Cameron and own wins over Harding and Southeastern Oklahoma.

*The matchup will be the seventh all-time between the two teams who first met in Wichita Falls, Texas in 2014. SAU leads the series 4-2, but RSU won last year's meeting in OKC 2-1. 

*The Hillcats boast five players with averages north of .300. Bridgett Morales leads the team with a .588 average (24th in DII), an OPS of 1.573 and in hits (10), doubles (3), RBI (9), total bases (16), slugging percentage (.941) and on-base percentage (.632).

*Lana Gass and Marissa Smith have each recorded five hits. Gass and Paxton Donaldson lead the team in runs scored with six. 

*Eight players have recorded at least two RBI. Gass and Smith follow Morales with five RBI each.

*In the circle, the defending national champs have relied on Sara Llamas-Howell who is 3-0 in 16 innings pitched with a 0.56 ERA. She has recorded 13 strikeouts to just two walks. Harley Culie carries a 1.50 ERA in four appearances totaling 12 innings. She has won twice and opponents are hitting a staff-low .154 off of her. Culie's 3.50 hits allowed per seven ranks inside the top 30 nationally. Jade Sanders leads in strikeouts with 14, but has allowed seven earned runs in 11 innings. Sanders' strikeouts per seven of 8.9 is a top 40 statistical mark in DII.

#6 CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
Saturday, February 18 | Gerry Pinkston Stadium | 3:30 p.m.

*UCO enters the weekend as the No. 6 ranked team in the country and is off to a 4-2 start which includes wins over ranked foes Angelo State and UT-Tyler. 

*Saturday's meeting will be the tenth all-time between the two programs and the seventh time the two teams have met in the regular season. UCO has won the past two games. 

*SAU and UCO played twice last spring. The Bronchos won 3-2 on February 7 in Conroe, Texas and then beat the Muleriders 3-2 over three months later in the Central Region Tournament in Edmond. 

*The Bronchos are +10 in run margin and hitting .274 as a team. 

*Jacee Minter paces the squad with a .450 average and an OPS of 1.400. She leads the team in hits (9), doubles (4), RBI (7), total bases (18), slugging percentage (.900) and on-base percentage (.500).

*Three other players are swinging over .300. Rylee Lemos and Shayla Harper each have six hits and both have scored a team-leading six runs. Harper and Tatum Long have recorded five RBI. Eighteen of the team's 43 hits have went for extra bases.

*Three arms have made three appearances in the circle this season. Jordyn Pipkin's 2.90 ERA is a staff best. Corrina Rivas leads with 17.1 innings pitched, two wins and nine strikeouts. She carries a staff-low .250 opponent batting average. Terin Ritz's 4-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio leads the team. 

MISSOURI SOUTHERN
Sunday, February 19 | Yukon HS | 1 p.m.

*The Lions enter the weekend 6-3 overall with all six wins coming against Great American Conference opponents. 

*It will be the 11th meeting all-time between the two opponents in a series that goes back to 2000. SAU is 8-2 against MSSU and has won five of the past six games. 

*MSSU is +22 in runs scored and are hitting .310 as a team. The Lions' 12 home runs and 39 walks are both top ten marks nationally.

*Six players boast an average of .320 or better led by two players, Yazmon Vargas (.455) and Leighton Withers (.438), that are both swinging at .400+.

*Withers leads the team with 14 hits (3 HR), 13 RBI, 26 total bases and a slugging percentage of .813. Vargas' dozen runs scored are a team-best as is her on-base percentage of .538. 

*The Lions carry a staff ERA of 4.41 and have totaled 50 strikeouts in nine games.

*Opponents are hitting .266 off of Lion pitchers and have collected 17 extra base hits.

*Avery Tallman has started four of the team's nine games and leads the staff in ERA (1.16), WHIP (.90), wins (5), appearances (6), complete games (2), innings pitched (31.0), strikeouts (22) and opponent batting average (.193). 

*Two other arms, Natalie Bates and Bailey Lacy, have both logged 10+ innings, have combined for 21 strikeouts and 34 hits allowed and both own ERAs north of 6.50.