Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The No. 15 Southern Arkansas baseball team concluded the opening weekend of Great American Conference play by completing a three-game sweep over Southwestern Oklahoma on Saturday afternoon as the Muleriders took both ends of a doubleheader by scores of 5-3 and 6-3.
 
In the first game of the day, the Muleriders (8-3, 3-0 GAC) received a great starting pitching performance from Jon Mark Abbey. In that start, the right-hander would earn the win as he pitched into the ninth inning while scattering seven hits, allowing three runs (one earned), and striking out five.
 
The quality start from Abbey was almost cut short, however, as he took a liner off his pitching hand with a runner on and no outs in the top of the fifth inning. Prior to that comebacker, Abbey was working on a three-hit shutout. After being attended to by the SAU athletic training staff and several warm up pitches, Abbey indicated that he was good to remain in the game.
 
As a result of the infield single that hit Abbey, the Bulldogs (5-3, 0-3 GAC) had their best scoring chance to that point in the game as they had a runner on first and second base with no outs in the fifth inning. In the ensuing at-bat, Abbey induced a double play to record the first two outs of the inning. A pair of SAU errors would follow as the Bulldogs broke the scoreless tie and took a 1-0 lead.
 
That score would hold in favor of SWOSU until the bottom of the seventh inning when the Muleriders were able to get to Bulldog starting pitcher Shane Martin for two runs to take the lead, 2-1.
 
Now pitching with a lead, Abbey went out and threw a scoreless top of the eighth inning. In the bottom half of the frame, the Muleriders would plate three runs to give Abbey a 5-1 lead into the ninth inning.
 
Looking for the complete game, Abbey went back out for the top of the ninth inning. The first batter he would face in the inning would reach base on a single to left field. Two batters later, the Bulldogs cut the lead down to 5-2 as Brandon Ruiz scored on an error by the Mulerider third baseman. The next batter would be the last one Abbey would face as he surrendered a double that put runners on second and third base with one out.
 
With the game hanging in the balance, the Muleriders turned to closer Justin Thomas to shut the door. Thomas would induce a groundout of the first batter he faced, but a run would also score on the play to cut the Mulerider lead down to 5-3. With two runs already home in the inning, Thomas got Kevin Cantrell to strikeout looking as the left-hander notched his sixth save of the season.
 
In the second game of the day, the Muleriders got another solid starting pitching performance as Timothy Buchanan earned his first win of the season after working 6.0 innings of the seven-inning contest. The freshman left-hander was given the lead in the second inning when the Muleriders scored a pair of runs on a triple by William Townsend.
 
An inning later, catcher Ryan Dardenne gave his battery-mate another run to work with as he drove in Jackson McCurdy on a RBI double to deep centerfield. Buchanan would surrender his first run of the game in the next half inning, but the Muleriders immediately provided three more runs of support in the bottom of the frame.
 
Jason Dahl led off that inning with a double to left field. Dahl's double would be followed by consecutive RBI doubles by David Harris and McCurdy. The final run of the inning would come on a RBI single by Chris Quinn.
 
After a scoreless fifth inning, Buchanan would surrender a pair of runs in the sixth inning to cut the Mulerider lead down to 6-3. With the Mulerider lead now a three-run lead, another save opportunity was available for Thomas as he entered the game to start the seventh inning.
 
Thomas, who has already saved both games of a doubleheader once this year, did so again on Saturday as he worked a perfect seventh inning. Thomas has now saved seven of the Muleriders' eight wins this season.  
 
The Muleriders will next be in action on Tuesday, February 19th as they will hit the road to take on LSU-Shreveport. First-pitch is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.