MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The Southern Arkansas Baseball squad (22-8, 14-4 GAC) will play host to the Ouachita Baptist Tigers (20-8, 13-15 GAC) this weekend. Southern Arkansas enters the contest as the number two team in the conference with the Tigers trailing in third place. The teams will meet on Saturday with a 2 p.m. doubleheader before finishing the series on Sunday at 2 p.m. Schedule updates as well as live coverage links will be available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.

This weekend's matchup will be the 95^th, 96^th and 97^th contests between the two programs since the start of the 1998 season. SAU is 78-16 overall against the Tigers in that span and 38-5 in games played in Magnolia.

Southern Arkansas Notes
Recent Riders: Southern Arkansas is on a four-game winning streak and has won nine of their last ten games. Last weekend, the Muleriders swept the Oklahoma Baptist Bison in three tightly contested games. SAU claimed both games of the double header 9-8 and 9-6 before completing the sweep with a 14-12 victory in the finale on Sunday. Southern Arkansas added another game to the win column on Tuesday as they defeated the Delate State Statesmen 10-1 at Goodheart Field.

In the Polls: The Muleriders have remained ranked in the NCBWA D2 Top 25 since the preseason poll came out. The team most recently made the jump from 11th place to 10th, knocking on the door of a single digit ranking. SAU holds stead at number 9 in the College Baseball Newspaper rankings.

Rider in the Ranks: The Muleriders post the fifth best batting average (.306) in the conference and third best earned run average (4.66). Their .433 on base percentage ranks second and is led by Brett McGee who posts a sixth-ranking .504 OBP. Riley Orr is posting an equally impressive .500 on base percentage. Brandon Nicoll is tied for third with 37 RBI on the season and McGee is tied for second with nine homers. Jeremy Adorno has the ninth best ERA in the Great American Conference (3.60) and is holding opponents to the second lowest average (.203).

Muleriders versus Tigers: The Muleriders took on the Tigers earlier this month in a midweek matchup where SAU won 5-4. Riley Orr, Chris Lyles and Will Richardson all recorded multiple hits on the day while only one Tiger recorded more than one hit. Last season, the teams matched up five times between regular season and post season. In the regular season conference season, the Muleriders won two of thee in Arkadelphia. In the series, Brandon Nicoll went 6-14 and was just a single shy of the cycle in the third game. The Sophomore was held hitless in game one, but bounced back to see three hits in each of the final two games with two doubles, a triple and two home runs with nine RBI. Jeremy Adorno tossed 6.0 innings in game two that saw one run on five hits.

Ouachita Baptist Notes
Recent Tigers: The Tigers are currently on an eight-game win streak and have swept their last two conference series. Last weekend they dismissed Southeastern Oklahoma 6-1, 7-5 and 10-2.

Scouting the Tigers: G. Allen posts a .383 average and leads five other Tigers with averages north of .300. Allen joins Wyatt Core as Tigers with 30+ runs scored. Allen's 41 hits pace the squad as do hit nine doubles, three triples and five home runs. Four players have recorded 30+ hits for the Tigers this spring. Allen also leads the team in RBI with 30, while six players have recorded 16 or more walks. OUA is hitting .303 as a team with an OPS of .865. Hayden Childers is an unbeaten 5-0 on the mound for the Tigers. Cooper Timmons holds a 4-2 record and leads the team in strikeouts with 63 and innings pitched with 49.0. Dustin Bermudez paces the squad in saves with four and holds a strikeout to walk ratio of 4-to-1. As a staff, the Tigers hold a team ERA of 3.52 with a WHIP of 1.43.