SAU Sports Information
Coming off a midweek victory over No. 21 UAM, SAU looks to keep the momentum going during a pivotal three game GAC set with Southwestern Oklahoma State this weekend.
In Weatherforld, Okla., the teams are playing a single game this afternoon and finish with a doubleheader starting at noon on Saturday.
The Muleriders (14-7, 8-4 GAC) are currently in a three-way tie for third in the league standings with Henderson State and Oklahoma Baptist.
Through 21 games, SAU is hitting .265 as a team and owns one of the top pitching staffs in the GAC as the Muleriders' staff-ERA of 3.95 leads the league, while the unit's 201 strikeouts rank second.
Three Muleriders are hitting .300 or better with senior Jake Tisevich owning a team-best .397 average.
Jacob Richardson's 27 hits and 22 runs scored lead the team as do his seven round-trippers, which rank second in the GAC.
Richardson is slugging a team-best .671, while senior Mark Fontenot ranks in the top three of the team in hits, doubles, home runs, runs scored, RBI, total bases, walks, average, slugging percentage and on-base percentage.
Fontenot and junior Dakota Wright have each registered a team-leading 21 RBI. Wright ranks behind Richardson and Fontenot in home runs with five this season.
On the mound, senior southpaw Kenneth Tabor owns a 4-1 record and a staff-best 2.45 ERA.
Tabor and fellow senior starter Hunter Vasquez have combined for 77 strikeouts led by Vasquez's staff-best 44 strikeouts.
Senior Jacob Stroder has won four games this spring and his 35 strikeouts rank second on the team.
In six appearances out of the bullpen, junior Eric White has picked up three saves.
Fellow bullpen mate Nick Starr has fanned a bullpen-best 19 batters in 12.2 innings of relief, while also registering a pair of saves.
Lady Muleriders
vs. Lady Bulldogs
No. 8-ranked SAU (21-3) is hosting its first GAC series at home this weekend against Southwestern Oklahoma (1-19)
Today's doubleheader starts at 4 p.m. and Saturday's doubleheader will begin at 11 a.m.
The Lady Muleriders enter the weekend having won 10 of their last 11 games, including a pair of nonconference wins earlier this week against Texas A&M-Kingsville.
For the sixth-straight week, the Lady Muleriders have garnered GAC Athlete of the Week honors and has been one of the top 15 nationally ranked teams in the NFCA DII coaches poll in that time span.
They currently hold a 17-6 series advantage over the Lady Bulldogs in GAC play since 2013 which includes a 9-1 advantage at Dawson Field in Magnolia.
Powering the hot start to the season for the Lady Muleriders is an offense that leads the GAC in batting average (.340), on-base percentage (.414) and slugging percentage (.623), which also ranks fourth in the nation.
Additionally, the SAU bats own top five marks in eight other offensive categories including runs scored, hits, RBI, walks, and home runs.
The team's 50 dingers leads the league and its per game home run average of 2.08 is the top mark in the nation.
In the circle, the Lady Muleriders own the league's lowest team-ERA at 2.24 and opponent batting average at .229 As a staff, SAU has struck out 142 batters, ranking them first in the league in that category, and has allowed the fewest earned runs and hits, and the top three fewest runs and walks in the GAC.
Southwestern Oklahoma heads into the weekend with a 1-11 GAC record.