SIOUX FALLS, S.D.-- Augustana baseball is set to travel to Magnolia, Arkansas, for the NCAA Super Regional against Southern Arkansas on Friday and Saturday. The series is a best-of-three matchup with the winner advancing to the NCAA DII College World Series in Cary, North Carolina on June 4-11. 

The Vikings defeated Minnesota State, Ouachita Baptist and Central Missouri at the NCAA Central Region Tournament last weekend to earn a berth at the Super Regional. With Augustana's 9-5 victory over Central Missouri to push the Vikings to the Super Regional, head coach Tim Huber reached his 500th win as the leader of the Vikings. 

The Muleriders

Southern Arkansas is 44-11 overall and holds a national ranking at No. 8 in the NCBWA Top-25 poll. The Muleriders went 3-0 at their NCAA Central Regional Pod tournament, defeating Henderson State 12-11 with a walk off home run in the ninth inning. 

Jeremy Adorno is the Muleriders leading pitcher in strikeouts with 128 and has started in 15 games. Adorno's ERA is 2.65 and he holds a record of 14-0. He has given up just 65 hits in 98.2 innings.

At the plate, Riley Orr leads the lineup with a .382 batting average. Orr has made starts in 51 of the 55 games for SAU. Brandon Nicoll is the team leader with 78 hits and 76 RBI. As a team, Southern Arkansas has totaled 106 home runs, ranking them sixth in the country.

The Vikings

Augustana competed in the NCAA Central Regional Tournament last week, going 3-1 to advance to the Super Regional. Augustana holds a 47-11-1 record overall entering the weekend.

The Viking pitching staff reached 569 total strikeouts this season, setting a new single season team record for AU. Previously, the 2018 pitching staff had set the record at 559 single season strikeouts. Augustana is third in the nation with a 3.16 ERA and leads the nation in giving up just 6.94 hits per game. AU is second in DII in WHIP at 1.11 and second in strikeout-to-walk ratio at 3.53.

Tanner Brown is 9-1 on the mound and earned his 25th career victory on the mound to set a new career record for pitching wins. Brown, also the career strikeout leader at Augustana, has struck out 110 batters this season to set a single season strikeout record. His ERA is 2.46 and he was named the 2022 NSIC Pitcher of the Year.

Ryan Jares is 8-2 on the hill this season. Jares has reached 107 strikeouts this season, following closely behind Brown for the single season strikeout record. Jares is the nation's leader in WHIP as he gives up less than a walk or hit per inning pitched. 

Caleb Saari holds a 7-3 record for Augustana and has recorded 80 strikeouts this season. Saari's ERA is 2.75 and he is ranked seventh in DII in WHIP at .96.

Carter Howell leads Augustana with a .397 batting average and 70 RBI, and has started all 59 games for Augustana. Jordan Barth is the team leader with 18 doubles, 87 hits and has a .370 batting average. Barth also broke his second and third program records, becoming the career leader in both hits and RBI. Will Olson follows behind Howell with 73 hits and a batting average of .384.

Augustana also broke the program record for team home runs in a single season with the 74th against Winona State and have now totaled 90 homers this season.

–GoAugie.com–