MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The Southern Arkansas University Softball team (23-10, 11-6 GAC) will travel to Arkadelphia for a weekend series against GAC rival Ouachita Baptist (10-24, 4-13 GAC). The Muleriders seek to improve their conference record after dropping two of three games to Oklahoma Baptist this past weekend. The teams are scheduled to play one on Friday at 4 p.m. before finishing out the series with a Saturday double header beginning at 11 a.m. Live coverage links will be available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.
Southern Arkansas Notes
Recent Riders: Southern Arkansas dropped two of three to the Oklahoma Baptist Bison last weekend in Shawnee, Oklahoma. The Bison shut the Muleriders out in game one on Friday before returning Saturday for the series double header where the Muleriders claimed the first game 9-5 and were walked off in the final game of the weekend to lose 6-5.
In the Polls: Southern Arkansas was most recently ranked 24th in the NFCA top 25 coaches' poll. They fell from their most recent ranking of 17th, but remain in the polls for the seventh straight week.
Rider in the Ranks: Alyssa Miller ranks fourth in the GAC with her .392 (38-97) batting average while teammate Ariana Rolle's .367 (33-90) average ranks seventh. Jaxynn Dyson posts the second best on base percentage in the conference, coming into the weekend at .484. Sydney Ward posts the third best ERA in the Great American Conference (2.14) and additionally holds batters to the third lowest average (.211). The sophomore has struck out 85 batters, 26 looking, which both stand as the second most.
Muleriders versus Tigers: Three of the Muleriders last five wins against the Tigers have been accomplished in fewer than seven innings. In the conference weekend series last season in Magnolia, the Muleriders claimed all three games, winning 11-1 in five innings and 10-1 in six innings in the day one double header before completing the sweep the next day with a 11-4 win to top off the weekend. The last time the Muleriders lost a game to Ouachita was in the 2021 series in Arkadelphia. The loss represents just one of two regular season losses to the Tigers dating back to 2016. Dating back to 2002, the Muleriders ate 49-27 against OUA and are 24-17 on the Tigers' home field. Southern Arkansas got the opportunity to play Ouachita in the GAC tournament in Bentonville last season where they won 5-1. Through the four regular season and postseason games last year, Jaxynn Dyson went off, batting 0.538 after recording at least a single hit in all four games. Sydney Ward saw two outings and didn't let up more than a single earned run in either game.
Ouachita Baptist Notes
Recent Tigers: Ouachita Baptist has won a sole conference weekend series, the GAC opening weekend against Southwestern Oklahoma State where they took two of three. Two of their GAC series losses have been handed to them in the form of a sweep including last weekend's losses to Southeastern Oklahoma. The Tigers lost 1-0 and 8-1 in the day one double header and 4-1 in the Sunday series finale. This past Tuesday, the Tigers took on the Delta State Lady Statesmen. DSU took both games from the Tigers, winning 7-2 and 6-4 to fall to 5-14 at home.
Scouting the Tigers: Erin Williams tops the Tigers with her .343 average while teammate Hope Waid is batting .313 to represent the only Tigers to post batting averages above .300. Williams additionally leads the team with seven home runs and 115 putouts. Tuesday Melton has recorded a team-leading seven wins on the season and posts a 5.98 ERA. The Tigers post the sixth best AVG in the GAC, combining for a team .271 at the plate. Their 5.62 ERA ranks last in the 12 conference teams.
