MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Southern Arkansas junior right-hander Landon Simpson authored his third shutout of the season on Friday evening at Walker Stadium at Goodheart Field as he pitched the Muleriders to a 1-0 victory in the opening game of the weekend series versus Harding.
 
That lone run in the contest was scored in the bottom of the eighth on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Chris Quinn as the Muleriders (21-11, 10-6 GAC) broke up the scoreless and well-played Great American Conference affair. The run came against the Bisons' (15-15, 7-6 GAC) reliever Hunter Payne as Harding's starter, Andrew Fiddler, worked the first seven innings of the game.
 
Prior to Quinn's eventual game-winning sacrifice fly, Billy Germaine laced a solid single back up the middle. Immediately after his single, Germaine was lifted for pinch-runner Renaldo Morris. In the ensuing at-bat, Morris reached third base as Carver Rademacher lined a double down the left field line to put a pair of runners in scoring position with no outs.
 
With first base now open, the Bisons elected to intentionally walk Trevor Rucker and load the bases. To that point in the game, Rucker had singled his previous three times to the plate and was 3-for-3. Following the walk, Quinn worked his way into a 2-0 count before he lifted a fly ball into medium range left field.
 
Able to get a running start and put his momentum towards the plate on the throw was Bisons' left fielder Zac Stewart. Despite that, Morris displayed some straight-line speed as he was able to tag at third base and score the go-ahead run rather easily.
 
Still with two on and one out, the Muleriders looked for more insurance runs, but a groundball double play ended the inning.
 
Now with a run of support, Simpson returned to the mound in the top of the ninth looking to nail down his third shutout of the season. In that frame, Simpson got a leadoff groundout to Quinn at shortstop for the first out.
 
That putout was the 16th-straight batter that Simpson had retired, but the incredible run of consecutive outs ended in the next at-bat as Noah Chandler singled into right-centerfield. Davis Richardson followed up Chandler with a single of his own to put the potential go-ahead run on first base with one out.
 
Up to this point, Simpson had only one strikeout, with that lone K coming in the first inning. With the game and his shutout on the line, however, Simpson reached back and struck out the next two batters to slam the door shut on the game and preserve the 1-0 win for the Muleriders.
 
The Muleriders and Bisons will conclude their three-game series with a doubleheader tomorrow afternoon starting at 2 p.m. at Walker Stadium at Goodheart Field. The twin-bill will also serve as Community/Bark at the Park Day. Admission will be free to fans and they are encouraged to bring their pets to the park as well, but a $10 admission per pet will be charged at the gate with all proceeds going to C.C.A.P.S.