MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The Southern Arkansas University Muleriders (24-13, 17-7) head to the piney woods of east Texas for a midweek showdown against the No. 7 ranked University of Texas at Tyler Patriots (28-9, 28-8) just one day after sweeping Harding and claiming first-place in the GAC standings.
 
Series History
Today's game will be the second meeting between the two squads this season and will certainly be a revenge game for the Patriots after the Blue and Gold won the previous game by a final score of 8-6. Tuesday's meeting marks the seventh meeting between the squads as the Muleriders currently hold a 4-2 overall record against the Patriots and are 3-0 in Tyler.
 
A Look at SAU
The Muleriders are coming off an action-packed weekend which saw them claim outright first-place in the conference standings with a massive sweep over (RV) Harding. The Muleriders as of Monday are also now receiving votes in the DII Baseball National poll. Despite their loss to UAM in their midweek game, the Muleriders found a way to bounce back taking all three games from the Bisons behind some timely offense and solid pitching. The Muleriders were able to get the best of the Bisons ace in Maddox Long tagging him for all five runs in game one of the series. Games two and three were each decided by one big inning as the Muleriders scored five runs in the bottom of the fifth behind a three-run home run from Glynn Wilson in game two which proved to be the deciding factor. Game three then saw a three-run bottom of the fourth inning highlighted by a Grant Roosma single allowing two runs to score.
 
With their timely offense this weekend, the Mulerider offense showed everyone just how high-powered they can be as they outscored the Bisons 15-8. Trace Shoup is the new clubhouse leader for the offense with a .341 batting average, a .593 slugging percentage, and 1.003 OPS. Lee Matsuzaki still leads the team in hits with 51, doubles (14), and total bases (78) while boasting a .333 batting average. With his home run this weekend, Jayden Hill moved into a three-way tie for the team lead in home runs with seven. Brandon Nicoll and Grant Roosma are the other two players with seven home runs this season.
 
Austin Adair is still the clubhouse leader for the pitching staff in terms of ERA and record. Adair also had a great weekend on the mound earning two saves against the Bisons. Adair currently has a 2.58 ERA while boasting a 6-1 record and four saves on the season. Jeremy Adorno leads the staff in innings pitched (63) and strikeouts (70).
 
A Look at UT-Tyler
The Patriots are also coming off of a successful weekend taking three out of four games against UT Permian Basin. The Patriots are 28-9 overall and 28-8 in Lone Star Conference play with the only loss outside of LSC play coming against the Muleriders. Aside from coming in ranked number seven nationally in the latest DII baseball national poll, the Patriots also rank second in the LSC only trailing the nation's number one team, Angelo State.
 
The Patriots' offense has been incredibly hot this season as Drew Schmidt leads the offense with a .436 batting average and 61 hits thus far. Schmidt also leads the offense in doubles (16), triples (4), total bases (91), and at-bats (140). Justin Williams is also having a good year at the plate for the Patriots hitting an even .400 while leading the team in home runs (8), OPS (1.1207), slugging percentage (.675), on-base percentage (.532), and RBIs (40).
 
UT-Tyler has seen a lot of arms on the mound this season as 19 different pitchers have made appearances for the Patriots. Rawley Hector is currently the only pitcher who meets the requirement of an average of one inning pitched per game. Being the only qualifier, Hector boasts a 2.34 ERA with 50 innings pitched and a 5-1 record while striking out 53 batters. Dylan Blomquist and Kyle Froehlich have also carried a big load on the mound for the Patriots this season as each has thrown 35.2 innings while striking out a combined 49 batters.
 
 
Broadcast Information
Streaming and live stats links for this Tuesday's contest can be found here.