SAU Sports Information
After a 10-2 start to the 2017 season and a heavy shakeup among the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll, the Southern Arkansas Lady Mulerider Softball team has risen three spots and claims the No. 2 ranking in the nation in the latest poll released by the organization on Wednesday morning.
No. 2 Southern Arkansas (10-2) sits behind Humboldt State (5-0), who unanimously holds the top spot for the second week in a row with all 16 first-place votes.
A trio of newcomers have entered the top-five in No. 3 St. Mary's (14-2), and tied for No. 4 North Georgia (14-4) and Grand Valley State (0-0) after the three programs spent last week ranked in the top ten of the poll.
No. 7 West Texas A&M (14-2), No. 17 Armstrong State (7-3), and No. 24 North Alabama (10-5) drop out of the second through fourth spots, respectively, while Great American Conference opponent Harding (8-2) checks into this week's poll at No. 23. No teams dropped out of this week's poll with the largest move of any club belonging to Lenoir-Rhyne (12-2), which climbs from No. 25 into the top 15 at No. 12 in the nation.
Lubbock Christian, which defeated SAU 13-12 in ten innings at the North Texas Softball Bash, received nine votes in this week's Top 25 poll.
Wednesday's ranking is a program high for Southern Arkansas after the Lady Muleriders' previous high ranking was No. 4 in last year's final NFCA DII Top 25 Poll.
The overall record makeup for the Lady Muleriders includes 10 wins by an average of just under six runs per game coupled with just a pair of one-run losses. SAU has won four games via run rule and is 1-1 in extra inning affairs. Southern Arkansas is 4-0 at home and 6-2 in neutral site games, with twelve of their next sixteen games being true road contests.
SAU is hitting .350 as a team (2nd|GAC) with a team-ERA of 3.33 (6th| AC) and a fielding percentage of .956 (8th|GAC).
The Lady Muleriders begin Great American Conference play this weekend on the road against East Central in Ada, Oklahoma, with a pair of doubleheaders on Friday and Saturday.
First-pitch on Friday is slated for 2 p.m.