MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The Southern Arkansas baseball team trailed 4-0 and had just one hit through the first five and a half innings of Sunday afternoon's series finale against Ouachita Baptist before SAU mounted a comeback effort that saw them score six runs on eight hits over their next three at-bats to ultimately lift them past Ouachita by a score of 6-4.
 
The come-from-behind win for SAU gives the Muleriders (17-9, 10-5 GAC) the series sweep over Ouachita (7-17, 4-11 GAC) and keeps them near the top of the GAC standings. The series sweep was also the second of the season for the Muleriders as they took three games from Southern Nazarene back in late February.
 
In the game on Sunday, the Muleriders found themselves down early as the Tigers scored twice in the second to take a 2-0 lead. The Tigers would add a run in the fourth and the sixth to grab a 4-0 lead.
 
As the Tigers were building their lead, the Muleriders were finding it difficult to get into the hit clomun and also to take advantage of the free passes being issued by Ouachita's starter John Franklin Matros. Over the first four innings of the game, Matros would walk four and hit a batter, but the Muleriders were unable to collect a base hit during that time as Matros worked himself out jams seemingly each of the first four innings.
 
The Muleriders would finally break into the hit column with two outs in the bottom of the fifth as Trevor Rucker served a single the other way into right-centerfield. Trailing 3-0 at this point in the game, the Muleriders would draw consecutive walks to load the bases, but once more Matros escaped without any damage as he got Justin Buchanan to ground into a fielder's choice.
 
In the top of the next inning, Ouachita plated their fourth run of the game and in the process chased SAU starter Eric Schildt as he gave way to Dalton Algiene with two outs in the sixth. Algiene would hit the first man he faced, but then got out of the inning on a flyout to left field.
 
In the bottom of the frame, the Muleriders would immediately put pressure on as Jake Tisevich tripled to right-centerfield to lead off the inning. In the next at-bat, Keaton Miller, who had drawn a pair of walks previously off of Matros, singled to centerfield to score Tisevich and make it a 4-1 game.
 
A scoreless top of the seventh from Algiene paved the way for the pivotal inning for the Muleriders as they struck for four runs in the bottom half to go up on the Tigers 5-4.
 
At the beginning of that inning, the Tigers had turned to their bullpen and brought in Jacob May. May would walk the first batter he faced, Rucker, on four-straight pitches. Following a foul out for the first out of the inning, the Muleriders would get consecutive singles from Billy Germaine and Buchanan to score Rucker and make it a two-run game, 4-2.
 
A flyout of Tisevich accounted for the second out of the inning, but Miller followed that at-bat up with another RBI single, this one to right field, scoring Germaine.
 
Following Miller's RBI single, the Muleriders would load the bases as May hit David LaFleur with what was his final pitch of the game as the Tigers once more turned to the bullpen.
 
The new Tigers' reliever would not be welcomed into the game kindly as Zach Silvers dropped a single into shallow right field to score Buchanan and pinch-runner Nathan Stubber. That two-RBI knock from Silvers put the Muleriders on top, 5-4.
 
Another scoreless inning by Algiene on the mound in the top of the eighth allowed the Muleriders to register an insurance run as Buchanan came home to score on a passed ball off the glove of the Tigers' catcher.
 
With a two-run lead heading into the ninth, the Muleriders would turn the ball over to their closer Jared Fielden, who was looking for his third save of the season after picking up a save in game one of the series. Fielden would induce a harmless pop-out to the first batter he faced, but then surrendered a single. Fielden would strikeout the next Ouachita batter for the second out and then got an easy ground ball fielder's choice to his shortstop for the final out.
 
The Muleriders and Tigers will turn around and play each other one more time as the two will play a non-conference game this upcoming Tuesday. That game will be played in Arkadelphia and has a scheduled first-pitch time of 2 p.m.