MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Trailing by three runs heading into the bottom of the ninth inning, the Southern Arkansas baseball team rallied to tie the score in the frame and force extra-innings, but visiting Southwestern Oklahoma would score twice in the top of the 10th to take the Great American Conference series-opener by a score of 7-5 on Friday afternoon at a chilly Walker Stadium at Goodheart Field.
 
The Muleriders (11-6, 3-1 GAC) would score first in the game as William Townsend drove in Trevor Rucker on an infield single to third base in the second inning. That 1-0 score in favor of SAU would last until the top of the fifth inning when the Bulldogs (5-9, 3-4 GAC) plated three runs (one earned) off of two hits and the benefit of three SAU errors.
 
In the bottom of the frame, the Muleriders would get one of those runs back to make it a 3-2 game as Townsend scampered home from third on a passed ball off the glove of SWOSU catcher Bryan Holt.
 
Over the next three innings, neither team would score as pitching for both teams held the upper hand over the opposing bats. SWOSU starter Jon Chidester would last 6.1 innings before giving way to the Bulldog pen, which would hold the Muleriders to two hits over the remainder of the game. Meanwhile SAU starter, Timothy Buchanan, pitched eight complete innings and started the ninth before being relieved later that inning.
 
In that ninth inning, the Bulldogs would have their first two batters reach, one on an error to lead of the frame and the next on a bunt single. After the second man reached base, SAU turned to Travis Johnson out of the bullpen. During Johnson's first batter faced, a passed ball moved the runners up 90-feet to second and third, but later in the at-bat; Johnson would induce a harmless popup to third base for the first out.
 
Both runners would come around to score moments later, however, as a throw back to the mound got past Johnson and a drawn-in SAU infield, making it a 5-2 game heading into the bottom of the ninth.
 
In the last half of the ninth, the Muleriders would start a one-out rally as Chase Harvey drew a full-count walk and then advanced to second base on a wild pitch. Jon Phillips then reached base on a muffed throw by the SWOSU first baseman. Now with runners on the corners and one out, SAU plated their first run of the frame on a RBI groundout by Billy Germaine. Phillips then came around to score in the next at-bat to pull the Muleriders to within a run, 5-4, on a RBI double by Korey Keith.
 
Following Keith's double, SAU would pinch-run Renaldo Morris, who now represented the tying run. Down 0-2 in the ensuing at-bat, Trevor Rucker placed a single into shallow right field to score Morris and force extra innings.
 
In the top of the 10th, however, the Bulldogs would start a one-out rally of their own, eventually scoring twice in the inning to lead them to the 7-5 victory over SAU.
 
The two teams will meet back at Walker Stadium at Goodheart Field to conclude their three-game series on Saturday afternoon with a doubleheader starting at noon.