MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Two weeks of Great American Conference action on the diamond has left three teams unbeaten through six games of play. Two of them meet in Central Arkansas this weekend in an early season clash of top 25 foes. #11/13 Southern Arkansas (12-3, 6-0 GAC) tangles with #24/24 Harding (12-3, 6-0 GAC) in a three-game league series from Jerry Moore Field in Searcy. First pitch in Friday's opener is scheduled for 6 p.m. with Saturday's doubleheader slated for a 1 p.m. start. Live coverage links are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.
 
Southern Arkansas and Harding have played 46 times since both joined the GAC as charter members in 2011-12. SAU holds a 30-16 lead in the series which includes nine series wins and sweeps over the Bisons in 2012 and 2017. In Searcy, SAU holds a 10-8 advantage in the series and took two of three from Harding in its last road matchup in 2022. Harding has avoided series sweeps with game three wins in each of the previous two seasons.
 
The Muleriders handled business quickly in their last action winning 14-1 in seven innings against (RV) Mississippi College. Junior Nate June fired six strong innings and junior Carter Claerhout delivered six RBI as the Muleriders won their fourth-straight game and 11^th all-time against the Choctaws. SAU improved its midweek record to 2-1 on the season.
 
SAU boast the top scoring offense in the Great American Conference averaging 10.8 runs per game which ranks 12th nationally. SAU has pushed across ten or more runs nine times this season, while the squad's 162 total runs rank seventh in DII. Southern Arkansas' GAC-leading on-base percentage of .460, the 12th-highest mark in the country, comes behind a league-best 165 hits and top 30 marks nationally in hit-by-pitch (32; 19th) and base on balls (86; 20th). Additionally, SAU carries a slugging percentage of .566 which ranks 13th in DII as a result of 60 extra base hits which includes 32 doubles and 24 home runs.
 
The Muleriders' average of .337 leads the GAC and ranks 17^th in DII, while the team's two dozen home runs rank second in the league and ninth nationally. Seven players, with no fewer than nine starts, are hitting north of .300 through 15 games. Mikey McGinnis leads with a .452 average in 12 games played, while Brandon Nicoll's .393 is second and has resulted in a team-leading 22 hits. He leads the team in runs scored with 20, home runs with five and his 19 RBI trail only Will Richardson's team-best 23. Seven players have recorded 15 or more hits, six have scored 18 or more runs and seven have registered a dozen or more RBI. Trace Shoup leads SAU in extra base hits with nine highlighted by a team-best half dozen doubles. Grant Roosma leads SAU in walks (17; 8^th nationally) and hit-by-pitch (7), while his on-base percentage of .619 leads the GAC.
 
SAU owns a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 2.75 and a strikeouts per nine clip of 10.3. Both marks are in the top three of the GAC and both land the Muleriders inside the nation's top 20. Jeremy Adorno and Mikel Howell have each tossed 20.0+ weekend innings. The pair has combined for 49 strikeouts to 19 walks led by Adorno's 28 Ks which ranks 15^th nationally. Tim Ruffino has made four starts for SAU totaling 14.0 innings with a 5-to-1 strikeout-ot-walk ratio. The Muleriders have managed to spread the relief action out over a plethora of arms in the season's first month of play. Fourteen different pitchers have recorded a relief effort for SAU this spring with five appearances each from Chance Bolter (2.08 ERA, 4.1 IP), Hayden Oglesby (7K, 5.0 IP) and Isaiah Haynes (12K, 3 SV, .118 opponent BA) and four relief showings from June and Stetson Bishop who have each started a midweek contest. Haynes' three saves lead the GAC and are ninth nationally.
 
Harding is 7-1 at home this season which includes a four-game sweep of Southwest Baptist and a league sweep of Oklahoma Baptist this past weekend. The Bisons opened GAC play at Southern Nazarene and took all three games from the Crimson Storm by a combined 26-7.
 
Offensively, Harding enters the weekend series with the second-highest batting average in the GAC at .335 which ranks 19^th nationally. HU's 164 hits are also the second-most among league foes as is the squad's slugging percentage of .535. Collin Helms leads the league in hits with 24 and ranks second in average at .436. His 46 total bases are also tops in the GAC and rank 12^th in DII. Sebastian Martinez leads the league in RBI with 24 which ranks tenth nationally. Both players rank inside the league's top five in slugging percentage.
 
On the mound, the Bisons lead the GAC statistically in shutouts (2), strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.89), strikeouts per nine innings (11.5) and WHIP (1.37). Maddox Long ranks third in the country in strikeouts with 34 and Merritt Jay follows in tenth with 30. Both players have recorded three wins. Long's ERA of 1.48 is the top mark in the league. Davis Welch has recorded 23.1 innings pitched with 22 strikeouts to six walks. Griffin Meeker has earned two of HU's three saves this spring striking out 11 over 10.2 innings covering a pen-high five appearances.
 
SAU in the National Rankings
NCBWA DII Top 25
PRE: #17 (3rd CR)
W1: RV (4th CR)
W2: #20 (4th CR)
W3: #11 (3rd CR)
 
DII BSB Insider
PRE: #16
W1: #13
 
Weekly Honors
GAC Player of the Week
2/6 | Will Richardson
 
GAC Pitcher of the Week
2/20 | Isaiah Haynes
 
NCBWA Central Region Pitcher of the Week
2/21 | Isaiah Haynes
 
SAU records under Pettigrew
2017 season through 2-29-24
Overall: 250-108
At home: 120-42
At home (GAC): 84-24
GAC opening home series: 21-3
On road: 92-49
On road (GAC): 62-27
GAC opening road series: 19-5
Neutral: 42-17
Postseason: 31-17