USSELLVILLE, Ark. – After a 2017 season that saw the program claim its fourth Great American Conference Regular Season Championship and appear in its ninth NCAA Regional Tournament of the past ten years, the Southern Arkansas Mulerider Baseball team has been picked to repeat as league champions in 2018 after being named preseason favorites by the conference head coaches as announced by the league on Wednesday afternoon.
SAU received 119 points and claimed nine of the twelve first-place votes, while Oklahoma Baptist (109) received the remaining three first-place votes. Arkansas Tech (102) slots in at third-place with reigning GAC Tournament Champion Arkansas-Monticello (89), Henderson State (84), Southwestern Oklahoma (67) and Southeastern Oklahoma (57) rounding out the poll's top seven respectively. Harding (56), Ouachita (35), Northwestern Oklahoma (31), East Central (30), and Southern Nazarene (13) fill the poll's remaining five spots respectively.
The Muleriders, led by second-year head coach Justin Pettigrew, posted a 39-16 record overall in Pettigrew's first year as skipper and finished with an impressive 28-5 mark in Great American Conference play; a league record for conference win percentage in a season (.848).
Key returners for Southern Arkansas include four hitters from their everyday lineup in 2017 as well as two starting pitchers from the weekend rotation.
Among the position players returning, three were All-GAC performers with Mark Fontenot (1B), Cortland McPherson (DH) and Jacob Richardson (3B) all being first-team picks. Additionally, Fontenot and McPherson added all-region honors from the National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association (NCBWA). Among the rotation, Kenneth Tabor (SP) was an All-GAC Honorable Mention selection as well an all-region pitcher through the D2CCA and the NCBWA and Connor Wells also returns after starting 14 games last spring.
Additional position players returning for Southern Arkansas in 2018 include Sam Mrstik (OF), Nathan Stubber (P/OF), James Trevanion(INF/OF), and Jake Tisevich (OF). Trevanion appeared in 38 games last spring making 33 starts and finished the year with 35 hits, including 11 doubles, one triple and three home runs. Tisevich saw action in 28 games including 17 starts, while Mrstik and Stubber combined to appear in 36 games.
Returning to help bolster the pitching staff include Jake Alexander, George Eubanks, Zac Harrington, Jacob Stroder, and Hunter Vasquez. Alexander and Eubanks combined to see action in 15 games, while Harrington tossed a shutout inning in his only appearance in 2017. Stroder and Vasquez combined to go 7-3 last spring with Stroder adding two saves and 47 strikeouts in 46.1 innings pitched and Vasquez claiming the team's lowest batting average against (.248) among pitchers with ten or more appearances and five or more starts last season.
Newcomers for the Muleriders entering the 2018 season include eight true freshmen, nine junior college transfers, and two Division I transfers. Josh Dawson (INF), Seth Hudgins (INF), Riley Orr (INF), Clayton Pruitt (OF), Parker Ribble (INF), Ty Stayton (C), Austin Stubber(P/INF), and Josh Winfield (C) join SAU after successful prep careers, while Brian Archibald (P), Austin Baker (INF), Jake Goodson (C), Kane Koenigseder (C), Dillon Lawrence (P), Chad Paris (OF), Nick Starr (P), J.T. Watt (P) and Dakota Wright (OF) come to Magnolia from the junior college ranks. Jansen McCurdy (OF) and Eric White (P) also join the Muleriders for the 2018 season and bring Division I experience.
Southern Arkansas enters the 2018 season ranked No. 35 in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper (CBN) Division II Preseason Top-40 Poll and are set to open their season at the Air Hogs DII Classic at the Ballpark in Grand Prairie on February 1-4. Of the eight teams set to compete at the opening weekend classic, four are ranked by the CBN entering the 2018 season.
For more information on the 2018 Mulerider Baseball team including a complete schedule and additional roster information, visit http://muleriderathletics.com/index.aspx?path=baseball.
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