HOT SPRINGS, Ark. — Mulerider Baseball is set for action in the winner's bracket of the Great American Conference Championship Tournament in the Spa City, as the group now shifts its focus to the East Central Tigers for a 4:30 PM first pitch back at Majestic Park tomorrow (May 1).
SAU Notables
>>> Southern Arkansas comes off an impressive opening round win against the Southeastern Oklahoma State Savage Storm, as the Muleriders had themselves an impressive start to the bout with a 5-spot in the top of the first inning. Those five runs ended up being more than enough, as despite the Savage Storm outscoring the Blue and Gold from then on (3-2), SAU came out on top for a 7-3 triumph.
>>> Continuing to lead GoBigBlue in batting is Wyatt Fielding, as the junior from Fort Worth, Texas has recorded 66 hits throughout his 173 at-bats, accounting for a .382 batting average. Leading the group in runs is Preston Smith, with the Taylor, Arkansas native scratching across 50 runs this season. With his ninth triple of the season recorded in today's contest, Smith is now the current leader in Division II for triples, outright.
>>> Coming off claiming his first win of the season, Stetson Bishop had an incredible game one to begin the GAC Tournament, as the junior allowed just one run with five hits, while striking out eight batters.
ECU Notables
>>> The talk of the town in Hot Springs has been the defeat of the top-seeded Arkansas-Monticello Boll Weevils, as the Regular Season GAC Champs fell to eight-seed East Central in a bit of a shoot-out. The Tigers took the game after topping the Weevils with a 7-6 final through ten innings. The 7-6 win in ten innings marks the group's second time doing so in their last four games.
>>> In that game, ECU was heavily aided with four stolen bags and had three batters hit by pitches. The Tigers had three batters with multiple hits, while Tyler Akers and Donovan Noble both accounted for two runs each.
>>> Having gone most of the way for the Tigers on the mound was Ryan Dembroski, East Central's leader in ERA this season. Dembroski pitched 6.2 innings, in which he surrendered five hits, runs, and walks, while also waving six batters. Being credited with the win was Evan Groh, as he pitched the last 2.0 innings and did not allow a run, a hit, or a walk. Groh moved on to 4-0 on the season.
