DURANT, Okla. – The Southern Arkansas baseball team jumped to an 8-0 lead through five and a half innings of play, but SAU had to hold off a strong ninth-inning threat by Southeastern Oklahoma to pick up an 8-5 win in the rubber game of the series on Saturday afternoon at the Ballpark in Durant.
 
The Muleriders (28-14, 15-9 GAC) got their scoring started in the top of the third inning on a leadoff homerun out to right field off the bat of Byron Reichstein. An inning later, it was a 2-0 SAU lead as Trevor Rucker hit a sacrifice fly to plate Billy Germaine who had manufactured himself a double up the middle two batters prior.
 
In the fifth, SAU was able to keep the offensive attack rolling as the Muleriders scored two unearned runs thanks to a pair of errors by the Savage Strom (14-20, 10-9 GAC) defense.
 
Now leading 4-0, the Muleriders would strike for four runs in the top of the sixth to double their lead out to 8-0. The first run came home on a bases loaded sacrifice fly by William Townsend while the final three runs were driven in with authority as Chase Harvey hammered a three-run homerun out to left field on the first pitch he saw in his at-bat.
 
Those eight runs put up by the Muleriders were in favor of starter Yumezo Densaki. Up until that four-run top of the sixth, Densaki was doing his part on the mound as he was bewildering the Savage Strom lineup through the first five innings to the tune of no runs with just two hits and six strikeouts.
 
In the bottom of the sixth, Densaki punched out the first man he faced in the inning for his seventh K of the game, but a hit-by-pitch and consecutive walks loaded the bases with one out. Two pitches into the next at-bat, Densaki forced in Southeastern' first run as he hit his second batter of the inning. A swinging strikeout followed for Densaki for the second out of the frame, but consecutive wild pitches chased home two more runs and spelled the end of the start for Densaki.
 
Colton Strother would come on in relief of Densaki in the sixth and the tall left-hander would collect a big swinging strikeout to end the inning with the Muleriders leading 8-3.
 
In the seventh, Southeastern would pick up two hits off of Strother, but two strikeouts helped Strother strand the base runners and keep it a five-run lead for SAU.
 
After being retired in order in the top of the seventh by Savage Storm closer Brady Colbert, the Muleriders would go down 1-2-3 once more in the eighth.
 
In the bottom of the inning, Southeastern's first two batters would reach base on a walk and a single, but Strother got the next batter to swing and miss on strike three for the first out of the inning. Following that K, SAU went to the bullpen once more, this time in favor of closer Travis Johnson.
 
Johnson would plunk the first man he faced to load the bases, but a swinging strikeout and a fielder's choice got Johnson and Muleriders out of the eighth unscathed.
 
In the top of the ninth, the Muleriders looked for some insurance runs, but Colbert was still sharp as he retired the first two batters of the inning before allowing consecutive singles. A caught-stealing, however, ended the top of the ninth with SAU still leading by five, 8-3.
 
As they did in the eighth, Southeastern applied pressure quickly as the first two batters reached on singles off of Johnson. A third-consecutive single, this one an infield knock, followed and suddenly the based were loaded with no outs.
 
A passed ball followed during the ensuing at-bat and made it an 8-4 game as all three runners advanced, putting runners at second and third with no outs. A drawn walk in the next at-bat re-loaded the bases and brought the potential tying run to the plate. In that next at-bat, Johnson induced an infield flyout for the first out of the inning.
 
A bases loaded walk followed, however, to make it 8-5 with the bases still loaded, as now the tying run was on base with the potential game-winning run coming to the plate, but as he did in the eighth, Johnson got a swinging strikeout for the second out of the inning and then escaped the jam with a fielder's choice to Rucker at third base to end the game.
 
The Muleriders will now return home where seven of their final eight scheduled regular season games will be played at Walker Stadium at Goodheart Field with the first of those games coming on Tuesday, April 14 against former conference rivals, Delta State University. The non-conference clash between the Muleriders and Statesmen will have scheduled first-pitch time of 6 p.m.