GAME INFORMATION
ARKANSAS TECH WONDER BOYS 7-4	#2 SOUTHERN ARKANSAS MULERIDERS 7-2
Tuesday, February 21 | 3 p.m. Walker Stadium at Goodheart Field | Magnolia, Ark. LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO

FIRST PITCH
Fresh off an impressive three-game sweep of Oklahoma Baptist this past weekend to kickoff Great American Conference play, the Arkansas Tech baseball team is set to hit the road and take on nationally-ranked No. 2 Southern Arkansas in a non-conference game in Magnolia.
 
The single game is slated to be played on Tuesday, February 21 starting at 3 p.m. Live coverage of the game can be found at: www.ArkansasTechSports.com/coverage.
 
According to the best available historical records, the Wonder Boys and Muleriders have met 179 times since 1914. In terms of the all-time series record, SAU holds a 112-67 lead over Tech.
 
The two teams met five times last regular season with a three-game conference series at SAU, a mid-week game at Tech and a game in the GAC Tournament in Hot Springs. SAU swept the weekend series and won the tournament game. Tech was victorious in the mid-week game, 11-8.
 

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TALKING TECH
The Wonder Boys enter Tuesday's mid-week game at Southern Arkansas with an overall record of 7-4. They are currently on a five-game winning streak after sweeping their initial Great American Conference series against a talented Oklahoma Baptist team that was picked to finish third in the preseason poll.
 
In the series against Oklahoma Baptist, the Wonder Boys' offense continued the tear that started earlier last week against Arkansas-Monticello. Across the three games over the weekend, Tech out-scored the Bison 25-11 and hit .343 as a team (34-for-99). Of the 34 hits, 11 went for extra-bases as Tech hit eight doubles, one triple and two home runs.
 
The pitching was also solid for Tech as they collectively posted a 1.88 ERA and struck out 27 batters in 24.0 innings of work. They also limited the potent Bison lineup to just three extra-base hits all weekend.
 
Statistically, the Wonder Boys enter play against the Muleriders hitting .278 as a team (98-for-352) with 75 runs scored, 20 doubles, four triples and six home runs. Brandon Bunton currently leads the team in batting average at .346 (9-for-26). Cade McBride and Keaton Ranallo lead the team in doubles with four each while Sawyer Duddleston leads the team in triples with two. Duddleston is also pacing the team in RBIs with 12 and home runs with two.
 
Three other Wonder Boys have at least nine RBIs to tie for second on the team. Sam Stephenson, Logan Schwenke, Nick Jones and Ranallo account for the other homers thus far as each have one.
 
On the mound, the Wonder Boys have a team ERA of 5.30 and have struck out 76 batters in 88.1 innings of work.
 
John Gray, Emilano Mata, Jack Rector, Gerald Pintarich and Ethan Fritz have made starts on the mound thus far. Gray, Mata and Rector started this past weekend while Fritz was handed the ball against UAM in the first mid-week game.
 
Aside from those five who have made starts, 11 other pitchers have taken the mound for the Wonder Boys in relief roles. Will Horton has the most relief appearances thus far with five. Marshall Brown has logged the most innings in relief with 14.0 to his credit. Mason Griffin has two of the team's three saves for the Wonder Boys. Pintarich has the other.
 
Leading the Wonder Boys once more is Dave Dawson. The all-time winningest coach in Tech Baseball history, Dawson enters his 14th year in the dugout for the Wonder Boys. In his previous 13 seasons, Dawson has guided amassed a 380-269 record. He has also had six seasons with 30 or more wins which includes the 2014 season in which he led the team a program-record 44 wins and hosting rights for that year's Central Region Tournament.
 
Overall, Dawson is in his 18th year as a head baseball coach at the collegiate level as he spent four years as head coach at Kansas Wesleyan and totaled 118 wins. Dawson's combined win total at Tech and Kansas Wesleyan stand at 505. He earned the milestone 500^th win in the series opener vs. No. 13-ranked Central Missouri back in February.
 

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SCOUTING SOUTHERN ARKANSAS
Nationally ranked No. 2 Southern Arkansas enters the game with a 7-2 overall record. The Muleriders are coming off a win in their last time out as they won the rubber game of their first GAC series against Southeastern Oklahoma. Prior to the weekend set with the Savage Storm, the Muleriders were off to a 5-1 start to their season.
 
Statistically, the Muleriders enter the game against Tech hitting .258 as a team (73-for-283) with 68 runs scored, 17 doubles, no triples and seven home runs. The leading hitter in terms of average so far is Riley Orr at .429 (9-for-21). Brandon Nicoll leads the team in doubles with four and is tied with Brett McGee for the team-lead in RBIs with 10. McGee currently leads the team in home runs with two. Five other Muleriders have also left the yard.
 
On the mound, the Muleriders have a 2.84 team ERA and have struck out 70 batters in 73.0 innings of work.
 
The Muleriders have had four pitchers start games with Mikel Howell, Jeremy Adorno, Wyatt Marr and Micah Burke accounting for the starts. Adorno, Howell and Marr all started weekend games against Southeastern Oklahoma while Burke's start occurred in the fourth game of SAU's opening weekend. In addition to those four, the Muleriders have used eight other pitchers in relief roles.
 
Southern Arkansas is led by Justin Pettigrew, who is in his seventh season with as head coach of the Muleriders. In his time at the helm of SAU, Pettigrew has won 212 games and posted a winning percentage of 70%. The most-recent season was SAU's most-successful under Pettigrew as they went 47-13, won the GAC Regular Season and Tournament titles while also capturing the Central Region Championship to advance the Muleriders to their first-ever NCAA Division II College World Series.
 
Prior to becoming head coach at Southern Arkansas, Pettigrew spent 11 seasons as an assistant coach at SAU. Pettigrew also has five years' experience as an assistant coach at his alma mater, Arkansas Tech.