MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The Southern Arkansas Baseball team (15-7, 8-4 GAC) will head to Bethany, Oklahoma this weekend for a three-game weekend series versus the Southern Nazarene Crimson Storm (13-12, 5-7 GAC). Last weekend, the Muleriders lost two games in their series versus Henderson State to rank a single game back of the conference leading Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys. This weekend's games are scheduled for Friday and Saturday with the first pitch of a double header at 12 p.m. on Friday. Live coverage links will be available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.
Southern Arkansas Notes
Recent Riders: SAU has won three of their last five games including their last two against the two Arkadelphia teams. SAU most recently dismissed Ouachita 5-4 on Tuesday and had previously taken the final game of the weekend series from Henderson State 6-5.
On the Bump: The Muleriders possess the second-best pitching staff in the GAC, combining for a 4.46 ERA (182 H/ 181.2 IP). SAU has recorded a league-high 188 strikeouts and has walked the fewest batters (70) this season.
Muleriders vs. Crimson Storm: Southern Arkansas is on a seven-game winning streak versus SNU dating back to April 2019. The Muleriders swept the Storm the last time they played in Bethany, dismissing SNU 13-2, 16-2 (7), 6-2. In their last five games SAU has scored double digit runs and has combined for 78 runs while SNU only saw 13. The last time the Crimson Storm beat SAU was in a double header in April 2019 where they won both games by a single run (7-6,9-8). In their conference series last season Conner Allen hit a bomb in all three games while Brett McGee, Riley Orr and Chris Sutton also recorded home runs throughout the weekend. Sutton batted 0.538 (7-13) against SNU last year and teammates Allen, Orr and McGee additionally batted .400 or better. Three current SAU pitchers faced the storm last year in Jeremy Adorno, Wyatt Marr and Lack Liddell. Adorno tossed a complete 7.0 innings that saw zero runs on five hits and one walk while the sophomore struck out 11. Marr saw 6.0 innings of work where he allowed one run on three hits and four walks while striking out eight. Liddell tossed 3.1 innings in relief
Southern Nazarene Notes
Scouting the Storm: SNU won both games of their double header midweek matchup verses Bacone College this week which allowed the team to post a winning overall record. Their conference record does not stand in the same boat as they are one of three GAC teams to own a losing conference record. Their standing took a blow this past weekend as they dropped all three games to Northwestern Oklahoma. The Storm took the final game if the Saturday double header to 12 innings where they suffered a 7-6 loss.
Hot Bats: Southern Nazarene leads the conference with a .340 (281-826) batting average that stands .025 better than the next closest team. The Storm is the only team to have record more than 200 RBI (210) and their 281 hits represent the most of any conference team as well as their 30 home runs. Additionally, SNU posts the best on base percentage in the conference (0.452). On the other end, they have seen 194 strikeouts which is the second-most of any Great American Conference team.
On the Bump: The Crimson Storm posts the second-worst ERA in the GAC (9.56, 284 H/ 192.0 IP) with their 284 hits being the most allowed thus far. Of the 284 hits, 102 have gone for extra bases and 47 have gone yard.
Playing the Field: Of all GAC teams, the Storm has committed the most errors (57) to post a league-worst .931 fielding percentage. Alternatively, Southern Arkansas' fielders have committed the least errors (20) to rank first with their 0.973 fielding percentage.
