Southern Arkansas Baseball Camps

Coaching Staff

Adam Anderson | Assistant Coach

Adam Anderson enters into his sixth season as the Muleriders’ pitching coach and is entering his 13th overall with the program after beginning his coaching career as a graduate assistant in 2010. Additionally, Anderson is responsible for the Muleriders’ strength and conditioning program as well as maintaining the baseball facilities at Walker Stadium at Goodheart Field.

This past season, Anderson saw his Mulerider pitching staff lead the conference in earned run average (4.35), increase their previous season's strikeout total by 97 with a league-leading 508, and post a league-low opponent batting average of .245.

All three of SAU's weekend starters in 2018 ranked in the league's top nine in ERA, which included the league leader, while the team's ace also led the league with 109 strikeouts on his way to earning GAC Pitcher of the Year honors as well as multiple All-Region accolades. Additionally, the trio all earned All-GAC honors.

SAU's top two relievers, a pair of closers with one having garnered All-GAC honors, in terms of strikeouts and appearances were both selected in the 2018 Major League Baseball June Amateur First-Year Player Draft.

In his first season as pitching coach, Anderson guided a Mulerider pitching staff that logged the second-most innings in the Great American Conference with 465.0. The staff also struck out the second-most batters overall in the league with 411 strikeouts collectively.

Two of SAU’s starters in 2017 would win at least 10 games on the mound, while the Muleriders’ go-to reliever posted a sub-1.00 ERA with seven saves over 24 appearances for the season. All three of those arms garnered All-GAC recognition as well.

Overall in his time on staff, Anderson has helped coach pitching staffs that have been ranked at the top of the conference in several key statistical categories on a yearly basis. Anderson has also helped oversee the development of five pitchers that have been selected in the Major League Baseball draft since 2011.

In addition to his duties at SAU, Anderson previously coached four summers with the Liberal Bee Jays of the Jayhawk Summer Collegiate Baseball League.

In summers of 2012 & 2013, Anderson was the pitching coach for the Bee Jays, while his final two seasons in Liberal, 2014 & 2015, Anderson served as the head coach. As head coach, his 2015 team would finish 3rd in the National Baseball Congress World Series Tournament.

Before joining the coaching ranks, Anderson was a junior college transfer to SAU from Hill College (Hillsboro, Texas) in 2008.

Over his final two seasons as a collegiate player, Anderson pitched for the Muleriders and helped SAU go 98-23 (.810) and advance to Region Tournaments each season. In his senior season of 2009, Anderson helped SAU attain a No. 1 national ranking, win the program’s first Gulf South Conference West Division title, and later its second GSC Tournament Championship.

Originally from Ajax, Ontario, Anderson received his B.A. in history in 2009 and his M.S. in Kinesiology in 2011, both from SAU. Anderson is married to the former Amanda Pharr and the couple reside in Magnolia.

Jacob Caples | Assistant Coach

Jacob Caples enters year two on staff for Mulerider Baseball. His first season in the dugout in Magnolia was a highly productive one for Mulerider hitters and resulted in a historic run to the DII Baseball World Series.

Caples spent the previous three seasons as an assistant coach for Little Rock working with the catchers, serving as an on-field base coach during games, and handling all operational responsibilities within the program. In his time at Little Rock, he saw Kale Emshoff become one of the nation's top catchers before being signed by the Kansas City Royals as a free agent in the summer of 2020.

Caples has also worked as an assistant in the Cape Cod Baseball League. There, he worked with two catchers, Austin Wells (1st round, New York Yankees) and Carson Taylor (4th round, Los Angeles Dodgers) that were drafted in the 2020 MLB First Year Player Draft.

Prior to coming to Little Rock, Caples served as an assistant at the University of Arkansas-Monticello where he worked with the offense and catchers. In 2018 at UAM, he helped lead one of the country's best offenses which ranked 8th nationally in home runs, 8th nationally in slugging percentage, and 16th nationally in batting average.

In 2016, Caples also coached Corey Wood who won the Josh Willingham Award, given to NCAA Division II's most valuable player. Caples also spent the fall of 2018 as the assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Tarleton State University before transferring to Little Rock.

As a player, Caples spent two years at Western Texas Community College before transferring to West Texas A&M University for his final two years.

Caples earned a Bachelor's Degree in Sport and Exercise Science from West Texas A&M and a Masters in Education from Arkansas-Monticello. He is married to Victoria Caples.