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MAGNOLIA, Ark. – A 12-3 rout in the opener and a thrilling 4-3 walk-off win in the nightcap gave the No. 12-ranked Southern Arkansas Muleriders a doubleheader sweep over rivals Arkansas-Monticello on Saturday afternoon inside Walker Stadium at Goodheart Field.
 
The sweep by the Muleriders (36-13, 23-6 GAC) makes them out-right regular season champions in the Great American Conference for the second consecutive year. It also ensures that the Muleriders will end the season having won all 10 of their conference series.  
 
In the opener, the Muleriders jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning as William Townsend hit a two-run triple to centerfield to score Ryan Bell and Ryan Dardenne.
 
In the next half tinning, the Boll Weevils (28-16, 16-13 GAC) would cut the Mulerider lead in half as they got a RBI single up the middle by D'Marco Poindexter. Two innings later, in the fifth, the Boll Weevils would plate another run to knot the game at two-all.
 
In the bottom half of the frame, however, the Muleriders would get RBIs from David Harris and Tyler Cameron to re-take the lead, 4-2. In the bottom of the seventh, the Muleriders would extend their lead to 7-2 by scoring three runs in the frame.
 
A sacrifice fly in the top of the eighth inning scored the Boll Weevils' third run of the game and cut the Mulerider lead to 7-3, but the Muleriders would answer back in the bottom half with a five-run inning to put the game out of reach, 12-3. In the five-run eighth, the Muleriders got two-RBI hits from Cameron and Jason Dahl and a RBI hit-by-pitch taken by Townsend.
 
The 12 runs of support were given to starter James Baune, who earned his 10th win of the season. In the start, Baune (10-1) went the distance as he allowed 10 hits and three earned runs while striking out seven.
 
In the nightcap, both starting pitchers, SAU's Jon Mark Abbey and UAM's Logan Johnson, engaged in a pitcher's duel as each worked the first four innings without allowing a run while surrendering just one hit apiece.
 
The Boll Weevils would be the first team to break through as they scratched across a run off of Abbey (7-3) in the top of the fifth. An inning later, they extended their lead to 3-0 after getting a two-run homerun off of the bat of T.J. Cox.
 
The bottom half of that frame is when the Muleriders would begin their scoring in the nightcap. In that inning, Harris brought the Muleriders to within a run as he hit a two-run triple to centerfield to score Chris Quinn and Dahl.
 
After Abbey pitched a scoreless top of the seventh, the Muleriders would waste no time in starting the game-winning rally as Cameron singled up the middle to begin the bottom of the seventh. Jackson McCurdy would follow that up with a single of his own to represent the winning run on base.
 
A successful sacrifice bunt by Bell moved Cameron and McCurdy into scoring position with just one out. Philip Menou then came on to pinch-hit, but Menou was caught looking for the second out of the inning. Dahl then dug in for the Muleriders with the tying and winning runs still in scoring position.
 
Down to his last strike, Dahl went the other way and placed a single through the left side of the infield. On the hit, Cameron was able to score the tying run easily and McCurdy received the green light around third to try and score the game-winner. A solid throw by the Boll Weevils' left fielder Tyler Caruthers made it a close play at the plate, but McCurdy would be safe with the game-winning run as the ball was not handled by the Boll Weevils' catcher.
 
The two teams will wrap up the series and their regular seasons with a single game on Sunday staring at 2:00 p.m. 10 minutes prior to the game, nine Mulerider seniors will be honored on the field.