MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Mulerider Softball is back in action and gearing up for one of the unit's longest trips of the season as SAU takes to Southwestern Oklahoma to face off with the SWOSU Bulldogs on Friday and Saturday. Southern Arkansas looks to keep its winning ways rolling as the squad has been triumphant in 13 consecutive outings and will attempt to keep the streak alive on the road in Weatherford, Oklahoma.
 
Series History
All-time between the Muleriders and the Bulldogs, the Blue and Gold leads SWOSU with a 38-9 record as Southern Arkansas has won the last 16 contests against the group in Weatherford, Oklahoma. The vast majority of Southwestern Oklahoma's wins against the Muleriders have been at home as the Bulldogs are 8-13 against SAU while at the SWOSU Softball Field.
 
A Glance at the Muleriders (23-5 | 13-1)
As mentioned, Southern Arkansas is riding a hot streak as the group has been victors in its last 13 matchups and has won by run rule in seven of those outings.
 
Paving the way for the Muleriders has been the ace in the circle, Brinson Rogers. The senior from Statesboro, Georgia has been dominant in the last three weeks as the right-hander comes off of her third Wilson/NFCA DII National Pitcher of the Week honor as well as her fifth Great American Conference Pitcher of the Week plaudit this season. Rogers is currently the Division II leader in strikeouts as the senior has accounted for 148 fanned batters. She has accounted for the second-most strikeouts in the NCAA as she is only behind Division I Belmont's Maya Johnson. She is also tied as the NCAA leader for victories with sixteen and is the NCAA leader in shutouts with nine. While she is ranked tenth in DII for ERA, Rogers is the only pitcher in the NCAA that has at least 20 appearances and continues to hold a sub-1.00 ERA. This last weekend, Rogers pitched in 24.0 innings and got the win in all five outings of the week without allowing even a single run all week.
 
As a team, the Muleriders are the best in the GAC for ERA (1.60 | 9^th DII), shutouts (12 | 1^st DII), strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.74 | 15^th DII), and team strikeouts per seven innings (7.71 | 7^th DII).
 
The lead batter, in terms of average, has been Sophia Stoddard. The grad student is currently boasting a .333 BA as she has produced 27 hits (leads team), on 81 at-bats. The Bountiful, Utah native has recorded six doubles and a pair of home runs. The leader in RBI and home runs this season is America Rubio as the El Paso, Texas native has tallied 21 RBI and six dingers this campaign.
 
A Glance at the Bulldogs (10-16 | 3-11)
Southwestern Oklahoma State is currently on a five-game losing streak as the Bulldogs have lost their first two games this season and were swept on the road at Arkansas-Monticello. Up to this point, SWOSU has yet to win a GAC series with its three wins this season coming against Harding (5-1 | the Bisons' only loss in conference), Oklahoma Baptist (2-1 | one of just three GAC losses), and Southern Nazarene (9-1/5 inn.). All three of those wins took place in the series finales.
 
Alexis Taylor has been the Bulldogs' go-to this season as the freshman from Frisco, Texas has started in all 16 of her appearances and pitched three complete games with 71.1 innings pitched. She has accounted for a 3.34 ERA with 74 hits, 41 runs (34 ER), 17 walks, and has fanned 57 batters.
 
The Bulldogs' lead batter this season has been Chesnie Hewitt with a .353 batting average who has accounted for 30 hits on her 85 at-bats. Hewitt ties for the team lead for home runs with two while leading the group in doubles with nine and ties the team's best for triples with three.
 
Broadcast Details
Streaming and Live Stats links for Mulerider Softball's contests at Southwestern Oklahoma State can be found at www.MuleriderAthletics.com/coverage.