MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The 19^th ranked Muleriders continue the 2024 season with a current five-game winning streak in place after having swept the Henderson State Reddies on the road and sweeping Arkansas-Monticello at home in a couple of defensive standoffs. Southern Arkansas now sits at 18-6 overall with a 9-2 record within the Great American Conference and currently slotted in second-place in the league behind Oklahoma Baptist (16-6 | 10-0 GAC). SAU now looks toward the plains of Oklahoma as they venture back to Bethany, Oklahoma to face the Southern Nazarene Crimson Storm this weekend for a best of three series.
 
Southern Arkansas keeps its' pace as one of the top teams in the GAC as the Muleriders lead the league in earned run average (1.97 | 21^st nationally), hit by pitches (19), home runs (22), home runs per game (0.92), and shutouts (9 | 5^th nationally). SAU is also second in many categories such as fielding percentage (.979 | 9^th nationally), slugging percentage (.453), strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.84), team strikeouts per seven innings (7.53 | 13^th nationally), sacrifice flies (10 | 21^st nationally), and WHIP (1.15 | 25^th nationally).
 
LAST WEEKEND
Vs. Arkansas-Monticello (W, 5-0 | W, 1-0 (8))
The Muleriders versus their Natural State rivals, the UAM Cotton Blossoms, prevailed almost strictly due to the superior pitching from senior Sydney Ward and junior Brinson Rogers. Each athlete played a complete game for the one that they started with the two combined for 23 strikeouts overall. The pair of upperclassmen allowed just 6 hits as Ward surrendered five in game one and Rogers yielded just one to the Cotton Blossoms.
 
In the first matchup with Arkansas-Monticello, Ward's pitching and her fielding crew handled business against the foe as they did not concede a single run to the Cotton Blossoms for the Muleriders' eighth shutout of the campaign. UAM saw their own impressive share of pitching in game one as Sam Stephens kept Southern Arkansas' at bay for the first two innings. SAU figured out the Blossom for the third inning though as the Muleriders recorded four hits including Kamryn Moctezuma's base hit to score Mackensie Baldwin and Regan Dillon's grand slam following a single by Ariana Rolle. The score remained 5-0 for the remainder of the contest for the Muleriders' 17^th victory.
 
Game two saw extra innings, but ran by quicker than the first due to the stellar pitching from both groups. Rogers is coming off her career-high for strikeouts after having retired 17 batters Tuesday night and tying a program record that has not been met since 2004 when Krystal Poulin grabbed wins over Emporia State and West Alabama. Rogers held a perfect game through six before conceding her first and only walk of the outing in the seventh, but still held the no hitter. With the score held at 0-0 through seven, the junior surrendered her only hit of the night, but continued to keep the shutout. Southern Arkansas managed to get a runner (Brooklynn Reed) on third for the first time by any squad in the game during the bottom of the eighth. Rolle then stepped to the plate where accounted for the final base hit of the night and her second walk-off at-bat as well for the Muleriders to seize the game 1-0.
 
HISTORY
Southern Arkansas vs. Southern Nazarene All-Time Series (SAU leads 24-12)
History between the Muleriders and Crimson Storm dates all the way back to 2013 shortly after the Great American Conference was formed. The series has been fairly back and forth, but a few Southern Arkansas stretches of wins have pushed SAU to double the Storm's wins over the decade between the two league foes.
 
The longest winning streak in the series dates back from 2017-18 when the Muleriders defeated Southern Nazarene for seven-consecutive contests. Southern Arkansas won last year's three-game series with a triumph in the first and third game. All three outings did not see a final deficit larger than one run (W, 4-3 | L, 2-3 (8), | W, 1-0).
 
Southern Nazarene (16-10 | 7-3 GAC | 3^rd GAC)
The Crimson Storm has won all three of their league series as they have faced Arkansas Tech (2-1), East Central (2-1), and Northwestern Oklahoma State (3-0). Southern Nazarene is coming off their third conference loss as they were run-ruled by rival Oklahoma Baptist by a final of 10-0 in five innings. Despite that, the Storm currently holds the third-best record in the league  
 
Janie Worthington has been the Storm's ace up to this point as she has started 12 contests of the 15 that she has appeared in. She leads the staff in complete game (6 | 3^rd GAC), ERA (2.62), strikeouts (74 | 3^rd GAC), and allowed batting average (.223). Worthington has played in 58.2 innings in which she has given up 51 hits, 26 runs (22 earned), 19 walks, 16 extra base hits (7 home runs), three wild pitches, and two hits by pitches.
 
As a pitching staff, the Crimson Strom average 3.97 earned runs allowed and has surrendered 183 hits, 110 runs (92 earned), 78 walks, 55 extra base hits, and a batting average of .278. The position team has been responsible for 128 strikeouts and three shutouts thus far.
 
Of the starting lineup, SNU's Hailey Evans has been the team's prime batter as she has started in all 26 outings with 84 at-bats, 55 total bases, 33 hits, 31 runs batted in, 16 runs, 14 extra base hits, a batting average of .393, a slugging percentage of .655, and has only been struck out once. Evans is currently the conference leader for both doubles (10 | 15^th nationally) and RBIs (19^th nationally) recorded.
 
The Crimson Storm currently holds the highest batting average among Great American Conference competition despite the group's shutout loss to Oklahoma Baptist. The team is presently recording a batting average of .327, which is also 37^th best in the nation. They are also the conference leaders for doubles (45 | 14^th nationally | 1.73/gm | 1^st GAC), hits (220), on base percentage (.392), slugging percentage (.480), and total runs (161).
 
The Muleriders prepare for the Crimson Storm as they seek to keep their winnings ways alive on the road in the middle of the windy plains of Oklahoma. Play is set to start on Friday with a single game at 3:00 PM and then a doubleheader on Saturday with a start time of 12:00 PM. Live coverage of the events can be found at www.MuleriderAthletics.com/coverage