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Setting the Scene
- SWOSU Baseball (9-11, 5-5 GAC) travels to Magnolia, Arkansas to take on No. 20-ranked Southern Arkansas who is the top-ranked team in the Great American Conference
- Last weekend the Dawgs had their Saturday slate of league games rained out against Southeastern after claiming the game-one victory on Friday
- Dating back to 2012 when GAC pay began, SAU holds a slim 9-7 lead in the all-time series but the Bulldogs have taken two out of three from the Muleriders the past two seasons
- A schedule change has been made to the series with the doubleheader being played on Friday beginning at 3:00 pm and then the single nine-inning contest will come Saturday at 1:00 pm
 
The Opponent
#20 Southern Arkansas (16-5, 11-1 GAC)
- SAU comes into the series with SWOSU riding an eight-game winning streak with their last loss coming back in February
- The Muleriders rank first in the conference in team batting average (.321) and third in team ERA (3.81)
- Individually Southern Arkansas is led offensively by Mark Fontenot and Trevor Rucker who both have averages above the .400 mark
- Dalton Algiene has logged the most innings for SAU on the mound, currently with a .97 ERA in 37.0 IP and has 48 strikeouts

 The Coaches
SWOSU: Zack Saunders (143-112, 6th season)
- Two-time Great American Conference Coach of the Year, winning the award in 2013 and 2016
- Inducted into the Muskogee Athletic Hall of Fame on October 13, 2016
- Earned his 100th career victory at SWOSU against Northwestern Oklahoma State on April 24, 2015
- Previously served as an assistant at SWOSU for six seasons under former Bulldog coaches Charles Teasley and Scott Selby
- Played collegiately at Kansas State following two seasons at Connors State playing on nationally-ranked junior college teams
 
Southern Arkansas: Justin Pettigrew (16-5, 1st season)
- With over a decade of coaching experience with the Muleriders, Pettigrew first joined the program in 2005 as the team's pitching coach. He served in that role for 11 years (2005-2016) and starting in 2011, Pettigrew also served as the associate head coach
- In his time with the Mulerider Baseball program, Pettigrew has been a part of a total of 450 victories, 7 conference championships, and 9 NCAA Regional Tournament appearances

Checking the Conference Standings
- The top four teams in the GAC are separated by each other by a game apiece, starting with Southern Arkansas (11-1) followed by Arkansas Tech (10-2), Henderson State (9-3) and then Arkansas-Monticello (9-4)
- Oklahoma Baptist, East Central and Harding are all tied with 6-6 marks followed by SWOSU who also has a .500 record at 5-5
- Northwestern and Ouachita possess 3-9 records, a game in front of Southeastern with a 2-8 slate
- Southern Nazarene rounds out the rankings with a 1-11 start  

SWOSU Notes
- SWOSU had a pair of standout performances against Southeastern last Friday in Richard Marches and Brendan Peitsmeyer
- Marches hit for the cycle starting his day 4-4 with a double, single, home run and finally triple before fouling out in his final at bat to finish 4-5 on the day
- Peitsmeyer threw his first complete game of the season while also pitching his first shutout as a Bulldog to garner GAC Pitcher of the Week recognition
- Rafael Otero currently holds a 12-game streak of reaching base safely, one shy of Jason Nichols season high
- On Tuesday in midweek play against Oklahoma CIty, nine Dawg pitchers got to see action and seven of those nine didn't give up runs despite SWOSU's 4-3 loss in 12 innings  
- The Bulldogs will attempt to get above .500 in conference play for the first time this season and have won their last three GAC series after starting league play off with an 0-3 record   

Looking Ahead
- The Bulldogs will take on the Stars of Oklahoma City in another midweek contest on Tuesday, this time in Oklahoma City beginning at 6:00 pm under the lights
- In more GAC action, SWOSU will welcome Arkansas-Monticello to town for a three game series beginning on Friday