Four Muleriders are named to All-GAC teams

ENID, Okla. – The Great American Conference recently announced the league’s all-conference baseball teams and superlative award winners before first-pitch of the 2019 GAC Tournament.

Among the honorees were four Southern Arkansas Mulerider baseball players.

Earning All-GAC Second Team accolade was junior second baseman Austin Baker, who also was named to the league’s All-Defensive Team, and junior relief pitcher Matt Kortendick.

Senior outfielder Dakota Wright and classmate designated hitter Kane Koenigseder were tabbed as All-GAC Honorable Mention selections.

Baker, the GAC Tournament MVP in 2018, ranks in the Top 20 in Division II in multiple categories, including stolen bases as his league-leading 31 steals are currently the 12th most in the country, while his 0.66 stolen bases per game ranks 17th. He is one of the toughest to strike out in Division II as he ranks 14th at 16.6 at bats.

A sparkplug at the top of the order, Baker’s 70 hits are second in the GAC and a top 30 mark nationally. A starter at second base in all 47 regular season games for the Muleriders, Baker has hit .352 (70-for-199) with nine doubles, while having accounted for 31 runs scored and 25 RBI. He has walked 18 times and twice has been hit-by-pitch as he owns a .407 on-base percentage.

In all, the Amarillo, Texas, native has totaled 22 multiple hit games. At one point during the season, Baker manufactured a 21-game hit streak. Always dependable when flashing the leather, the junior appears on the All-Defensive team after ranking third in the GAC in assists with 118, while having fielded 20 double plays and making 101 putouts en route to a .982 fielding percentage.

Kortendick made an immediate impact in the Mulerider bullpen this spring as the right-hander finished his first regular season in Magnolia as the league-leader in saves with nine which ranks 13th in Division II. He appeared in 19 games, all in relief, and finished a GAC-high 18 of those games. Kortendick did not allow a run in his first eight appearances and in ten outings he pitched at least 2.0 innings, while working through 5.0 innings of relief twice.

A native of Sugar Land, Texas, Kortendick posted a 1.45 ERA in 37.1 innings pitched. He allowed just six earned runs and just five extra-base hits. Additionally, he struck out 20 batters and finished with a 6-3 record.

Wright, a native of Fort Worth, Texas, has collected 42 hits which included ten doubles, two triples and seven home runs in his second and final year in a Mulerider uniform. His 32 RBI are the third-most on the team and his 35 RBI rank fourth. He finished a regular season in which he played and started all 47 games in centerfield with a .374 on-base percentage which included 24 walks and eight hit-by-pitch.

On the base paths, Wright has been a perfect 13-for-13 and in the field he has registered 125 putouts with one assist. Additionally, Wright has recorded ten multi-hit games and a team-best eight multi-RBI games.

Koenigseder played in 29 games with 25 starts for the Muleriders during the regular season. Despite the limited action, he finished with a team-high .363 average with 33 hits in 91 at bats. He added six doubles and a pair of home runs with 18 RBI and 17 runs scored. His .495 slugging percentage led the team as did his .483 on-base percentage.

The Bentonville, native recorded 10 multi-hit games and produced five games with multiple RBI.

In the GAC Tournament on Sunday, SAU lost 8-6 to Harding and were eliminated.

The Muleriders were 15-0 in elimination games as two innings of three and four runs for the Bisons proved to be enough on the day.

The Muleriders took the lead in the bottom of the second, with three consecutive singles by Zach Muldoon, Josh Walker and Dakota Wright pushing the first run across.

A Devin Beard groundout scored the second run to give the two-seed a two-run lead.

The Bisons would strike for three runs off starter Remy Bilodeau, who takes the loss in this game. The freshman, making only his second conference start, lasted 4.2 innings, allowing eight hits and seven runs (four earned).

A Cooper King RBI single in the bottom of the inning tied the game back up.

The six-seeded Bisons put a four-spot on the board in the top of the fifth, chasing Bilodeau from the game for Matt Kortendick, who pitched the final 4.1 innings in relief.

The Muleriders would push across a run in the bottom of the sixth courtesy of a Justin Hanlin sacrifice fly; also through a pair of Jansen McCurdy home runs in the seventh and ninth innings.

The Bisons tacked on one more run in the top of the ninth, and the three-run deficit was too much for the Muleriders to overcome.

SAU dropped its tournament opener 8-2 to fifth-seeded Oklahoma Baptist.

They took an early lead in the bottom of the second inning through a King home run to left field.

The Bison responded with three run in the top of the next inning, aided by two Mulerider errors to take a lead they did not relinquish.

Baker reached base four times, a pair of singles as well as a pair of walks, as Baker, Koenigseder and Dakota Wright were the only Muleriders to reach base more than once.

The Muleriders are 29-20 on the season and the continuation of their season is up in the air; entering this weekend as the eighth and final team in the Central Region, they must now wait to find out their destiny.

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