MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The janitor's closet was opened last weekend as the Muleriders grabbed their brooms and swept the Ouachita Baptist Tigers for their third series sweep of 2024 while also recording the team's first sweeping since March 10 when Southern Arkansas took care of Henderson State in Arkadelphia. With the last three games under their belt, the Muleriders now advance themselves to 24-11 overall and are tied for fourth in the Great American Conference being at the 13-7 mark within league play.
 
With the sweep, Southern Arkansas is on a three-game winning streak heading into their upcoming series with the Golden Suns up in Russellville, Arkansas prior to the sun being blocked off in the coming days.
 
SAU is tied for fourth in the GAC with Southwestern Oklahoma State (21-16 | 13-7 GAC) as the Muleriders and the Bulldog sit behind Harding (24-11 | 14-6 GAC), Southern Nazarene (26-11 | 15-4 GAC), and Oklahoma Baptist (25-10 | 17-2 GAC). Team 26 heads to Russellville with the aim of staying hot in the conference with the 17-15 (9-11 | 6^th GAC) Arkansas Tech Golden Suns.
 
The Muleriders currently obtain the sixth best batting average in the Great American Conference as Southern Arkansas has recorded a .280 up to this point. Team 26 is fifth in the league for total hits with 258. Southeastern Oklahoma currently leads with 299. The Muleriders batting average might sit in the middle of the pack of the GAC, but the power behind the average sits atop the league as Southern Arkansas is the conference leaders for home runs (30) and home runs per game (0.86). The lineup has been a magnet for pitches throughout the association as the Muleriders have drawn 24 hits by pitches which is second among the GAC behind only Southern Nazarene with 27. Another category SAU is second in the league for is their slugging percentage that comes out to .446 and is once again only behind Southern Nazarene by .019. The 26^th edition of Mulerider Softball has risen in other categories such as triples (8 | 4^th GAC), triples per game (0.23 | 4^th GAC), WHIP (1.23 | 2^nd GAC), and drawn walks (121 | 2^nd GAC).
 
Haley Nillen earned her first GAC Player of the Week in the previous days after her performance against the Tigers at Dawson Field over all three outings in the league series. The graduate student out of Conroe, Texas notched a .500 batting average as she recorded four hits on eight at-bats and knocked in five runs. Nillen went for the cycle over the duration of the weekend as she accounted for a single, double, triple, and home run spread out over the series. The grad is also responsible for her 1.250 slugging percentage that led the Muleriders last weekend as she also accounted for a .556 on-base percentage.
 
The Southern Arkansas pitching staff has been on a tear lately, especially with the play from Statesboro, Georgia product Brinson Rogers. The junior is coming off a week in which she earned the title of Co-Pitcher of the Week in the Great American Conference. Rogers finished the last week with 24 total strikeouts including a 15 K afternoon against Ouachita Baptist in game one of the series. The Peach State native is currently averaging a top-tier 10.8 strikeouts per seven innings in which she leads the league with and is fifth in Division II while being 13^th among all NCAA divisions. Rogers is currently surrendering just a 1.70 ERA which is second in the league.
 
Sydney Ward has been impressive herself as the senior is leading the conference with her 1.63 ERA. The Paris, Arkansas product is coming off a six innings pitched weekend against Ouachita Baptist as she was responsible for only one run on ten hits while also having accounted for nine strikeouts in the series.
 
The Mulerider pitching staff has been terrific thus far as the group entirely is only allowing an average of 2.13 earned runs per game and lead the conference in shutouts with 11 (9^th nationally). As a staff, the Muleriders are averaging 8.00 strikeouts per seven innings in which is the best in the conference and fifth in the nation.
 
History, vs. Arkansas Tech
*The Muleriders and Golden Suns have been going at each other since 2004 and within that time Arkansas Tech has won the majority of the matchups between the two longtime GAC leaders with the series at the 32-44 mark.
*Southern Arkansas has not been able to claim the series against the Suns since 2018 when the Muleriders traveled to Russellville and returned 3-1 from Tech.
*SAU met Arkansas Tech at Dawson Field last campaign where the Golden Suns claimed victory of the series, but not unscathed as Southern Arkansas defeated ATU in game two 6-0. Tech claimed games one and three by finals of 7-8 and 1-3.
 
Arkansas Tech
The Golden Suns have not been off to the best of starts in the first half of the regular season as they are 17-15 overall with a 9-11 record in the Great American Conference. The GAC is all about competition and it is no exception to Tech as they are just the sixth-best team currently in the league record-wise. The Golden Suns enter the weekend having just being swept on the road at Arkansas-Monticello.
 
Arkansas Tech is 11^th in the association for their batting average which stands at .242. The Golden Suns have accounted for 198 hits this season which sits at the bottom of the league. The group is third in the league for doubles per game (1.38) after having recorded 44 doubles this season (6^th GAC). The Suns continue to be strong for extra bases as they are also fifth in the league for their six triples accounted for while also being fifth for triple per game (0.19).
Shelby Chavers is the current team-leader for batting average with .300 (24-for-80). Chavers has also provided a .425 slugging percentage due to four doubles and three triples. Lexi Gorniak leads the team in RBIs as she has recorded 17 while Chavers leads the team in runs scored with 15. Sydney Keaton is the teams' leader for home runs in which she has accounted for two.
 
ATU is fourth among the Great American Conference for their ERA as the team has averaged 3.17 earned runs allowed per outing. They are the league-leaders for fewest hit batters with just seven recorded (30^th nationally). The group is averaging 5.07 strikeouts per seven innings with their team-leader in the circle being Bradi Basler who has a 7-4 record and averages 3.36 earned runs allowed per game. Basler has pitched 66.2 innings in which she has struck out 56 batters. Also, having made starts for the Suns is Aidan Dayberry and Alexi Findley. Dayberry has gone 4-3 with a 3.50 ERA and 33 strikeouts over 44.0 innings. Findley owns the lowest ERA of 2.67 while also being 2-5 and having 45 strikeouts over 57. 2 innings.
 
The Muleriders begin play against Arkansas Tech on Thursday for the single game at 5:00 p.m. followed by the doubleheader on Friday starting at 1:00 p.m.