MAGNOLIA, Ark. – After a complete game, shutout performance by junior right-hander Landon Simpson on Friday night, the Southern Arkansas Mulerider baseball team picked up their second consecutive one-run victory with a 4-3 win over Harding on Saturday afternoon to win the Great American Conference series before dropping the second game of the doubleheader, 10-1.
 
In the first game, Harding plated an unearned run off of Mulerider starter Preston Gray in the second inning, but in the home half of the third inning Byron Reichstein belted a solo homerun to right field to tie the game at a run apiece.
 
Gray was unable to work around a lead-off double in the fourth inning as the Bisons took the lead 2-1. The senior right-hander cruised through the fifth and sixth innings, before his offense evened the score on a two-out single in the bottom of the sixth to tie the contest at two-all.
 
In that inning, Jon Phillips reached on a fielder's choice that erased a lead-off walk to Chase Harvey, but Phillips quickly found himself in scoring position by swiping second base with two outs. Billy Germaine collected an RBI single into centerfield that scored Phillips.
 
In the seventh, Harding again responded with a lead-off double that eventually scored to give the Bisons a 3-2 lead, but in the bottom of the inning, Southern Arkansas answered with two runs to push ahead 4-3.
 
Carver Rademacher singled through the left side to lead-off the inning and stole second, before Chris Quinn reached on a walk. A wild pitch put both runners in scoring position and a walk to Reichstein ended HU starter Collin Campbell's day. The next two SAU hitters struck out swinging, but Phillips delivered with a two-out single to centerfield that plated Rademacher and Quinn to give SAU the 4-3 lead.
 
Kenneth Tabor entered the eighth to face one batter in relief of Gray and induced a groundout, before Jace Powers worked around a two-out double and a walk to end the Bisons threat. In the ninth, Travis Johnson took to the hill and picked up his fifth save of the year, by striking out the side.
 
Phillips, Germaine and Rademacher all collected a pair of hits for the Muleriders in the first game. Phillips picked up two RBIs and Germaine and Reichstein accounted for an RBI apiece. Gray improved to 5-3 on the season and along with Tabor, Powers and Johnson out of the bullpen, the four combined to scatter 13 hits.
 
The bats stayed hot for the Bisons in the nightcap as Harding plated three runs in the second inning and seven runs in the fourth inning to take a 10-0 lead before Rademacher singled home Phillips for SAU's lone run in game three. Harding collected 11 hits in the final game of the series and totaled 23 hits on the day.
 
Southern Arkansas returns to the diamond on Tuesday, March 31 for a non-conference tilt with NAIA-affiliated Louisiana State University-Shreveport at 6 p.m. from Walker Stadium at Goodheart Field. The Pilots are ranked 10^th in the NAIA Baseball Coaches' Top 25 Poll.