MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The Mulerider Baseball team picked up their fourth-straight win on Saturday afternoon, while also sweeping the Great American Conference series with Southern Nazarene after topping the Crimson Storm 8-3 at Walker Stadium at Goodheart Field.
 
Southern Arkansas (11-5, 4-2 GAC) received six solid innings of pitching from Mulerider starter Hunter Mayo, who scattered six hits, while allowing just one run to improve to 3-1 on the season. Mayo received plenty of run support from his teammates as the SAU offense chased home five runs in the home-half of the second inning to answer a lone Crimson Storm run that was plated a half-inning earlier via a fielder's choice.
 
In that second inning, Justin Buchanan led off with a single up the middle and he would advance to third on the next batter as David LaFleur doubled down the right field line. Zach Silvers followed suit with a double into left field that plated Buchanan to tie the game at one run apiece and put a pair of runners in scoring position. Byron Brooks then laced a pitch to left field that was corralled, but allowed LaFleur to score from third. Michael Page kept the run-scoring second inning going with an RBI-single that plated Silvers, before Page crossed home via a two-run dinger from the bat of Jake Tisevich that rounded out the five-run frame for SAU.
 
After receiving the four-run cushion, Mayo retired nine out of the next 11 batters he faced, before LaFleur left the yard in a mammoth way with a solo homerun to straight-away centerfield putting the Muleriders ahead 6-1.
 
Southern Nazarene would find the run column again in the seventh inning as they plated a pair of unearned runs off of SAU reliever Dalton Algiene, before bullpen partner Makenzy Larsen induced a first-pitch inning-ending 6-4-3 double-play to retire the Crimson Storm threat.
 
In the seventh, Buchanan sent the second-pitch of a one-out at-bat into a left field advertisement for a solo-jack that scratched back a run for SAU as they led 7-3 through seven-complete innings. Larsen worked a quick 14-pitch eighth inning and the Muleriders again found the scoreboard courtesy of a triple from the bat of Trevor Rucker that plated Tisevich who reached on a two-out single into centerfield.
 
Jared Fielden worked the ninth inning and helped out his own cause by starting the old-fashioned 1-6-3 double-play before inducing a lazy pop-out to Josey Langston at second to seal the series sweep.
 
Southern Arkansas banged out 13 hits as Buchanan and Tisevich each collected three. LaFleur added a pair of hits and joined Buchanan and Tisevich in scoring a pair of runs apiece. Tisevich led SAU with a pair of RBI, while six other players batted in a run and the latter joined Rucker in swiping a bag.
 
The Muleriders return to the diamond this coming weekend as they make the trip to Weatherford, Oklahoma, for a three-game Great American Conference series with Southwestern Oklahoma State. Friday, March 4^th's doubleheader is slated to begin at noon, with Saturday's series finale scheduled for a 1 p.m. start.
 
Be sure to visit muleriderathletics.com for continuing coverage of Mulerider Baseball including pregame and postgame updates, recaps and the coach's show with head coach Steve Browning.