Muleriders second in baseball poll
RUSSELLVILLE – The Great American Conference released the league's baseball preseason rankings on Tuesday afternoon with a familiar program near the top of the poll as Southern Arkansas enters the 2021 campaign slotted No. 2 according to the league's head coaches.
The Muleriders received 110 total points and a pair of first-place votes to rank second behind preseason favorite Oklahoma Baptist which tallied 120 total points and 10 firstplace votes. SAU and OBU play April 16 and 17 in Magnolia.
Before last season's abrupt end due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Southern Arkansas owned a 19-4 record overall with an 8-4 mark in GAC play which tied the team with Harding (2021 preseason No. 3) for second place in the league standings.
The Muleriders opened that campaign with the best start in program history (verified game-by-game data through the 1981 season) as it raced out to an 11-0 start.
SAU finished with a nearly unblemished
10-1 showing inside Walker Stadium at Goodheart Field.
Additional highlights for Southern Arkansas in the shortened campaign included being nationally ranked, hitting the seventh-most home runs (32) nationally, breaking the program's single-game home run record (8), ranking second in the country in fielding percentage at .980 and ninth in stolen bases (52).
Southern Arkansas opens the 2021 season in Arkadelphia as a three-game set with a trio of league foes awaits on the second weekend of February. The Muleriders matchup with Arkansas Tech (2021 preseason No. 6) in the season opener on Friday, February 12 at 1:30 p.m. from Henderson State's Clyde Berry Field. SAU will play Ouachita (Feb. 13 – 1 p.m.), GAC preseason No. 10, at the Tigers' Rab Rodgers Field and invitational host Henderson State (Feb. 14 – 1:30 p.m.), GAC preseason No. 7.
The Muleriders look to be led by its six-player senior class in infielders Austin Baker and Kobe Morris, outfielder Mason Peterson, starting pitcher Zach Smith and catcher Zach Muldoon along with a bevy of returners, 25 from last year's squad, and newcomers that will aid Southern Arkansas in its quest for the program's sixth GAC title.