MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Billy Germaine collected his eighth and ninth homeruns of the season in a 3-for-5 effort that propelled the Southern Arkansas baseball team to their 26
th win of the season in an 8-5 victory over Arkansas Tech in a nonconference affair on Tuesday afternoon inside Walker Stadium at Goodheart Field.
Germaine connected on a two-run shot in the fourth inning and added a solo homerun in the fifth, but it was the bat of
Carver Rademacher that produced the first runs of the game for SAU to back starter
Hunter Mayo.
With two outs in the bottom of the first inning, Rademacher delivered with a two-run single that plated
Korey Keith and
Billy Germaine to give the Muleriders (26-13) an early 2-0 lead. Tech added a run in the second and third innings to tie the contest at 2.
In the home half of the fourth, Germaine broke a 2-2 tie with his aforementioned two-run homerun and a two-out walk to
Chase Harvey plated another run to push SAU out front 5-2.
Mayo retired the side in a nine-pitch, fifth inning in his sixth start of the year, before Germaine plated a single run in home half on his ninth dinger of the season to give the Muleriders a 6-2 advantage. In the sixth, Mayo worked around a one-out single, but the Muleriders stranded the bases loaded in the bottom of the inning, before Tech answered with an unearned run via sacrifice fly in the seventh.
Jared Fielden took over for Mayo in the eighth and the Wonder Boys produced a pair of runs on three hits, but the junior right-hander stranded two to keep the SAU lead intact 6-5.
Jon Phillips collected the final two runs for SAU with an insurance single into centerfield in the eighth inning, before
Travis Johnson picked up his sixth save in nine pitches of work in a perfect ninth inning.
Mayo improved to 5-0 on the year while scattering five hits in seven innings on the mound. Five Muleriders collected at least two hits, led by Germaine's three. Keith scored twice and Germaine added three RBIs to bring his season total to 40.
The Muleriders will hit the road this weekend for a three-game Great American Conference series at Southeastern Oklahoma St. First pitch on Friday, April 10, is scheduled for 2 p.m. with a Saturday double feature set for 1 p.m.
