MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Senior Mark Fontenot recorded a pair of extra-base hits and walked twice and added three RBI and a pair of runs scored to help carry No. 35 Southern Arkansas to a 7-3 win over Southeastern Oklahoma State in the Great American Conference opener for both teams on a crisp, overcast Sunday night inside Walker Stadium at Goodheart Field.
 
The Muleriders (5-3, 1-0 GAC) collected six hits and tallied seven runs in the win. It is the fourth game this season that the SAU bats have registered seven or more runs in a game. The first hits for Southern Arkansas on the evening came in the second inning and both emphatically left the ballpark.
 
It began with Fontenot opening scoring by lacing a solo home run out to right centerfield on the first pitch he saw from SOSU starter Cody Nitson on Sunday night and two batters later, junior Dakota Wright followed suit on the first pitch he saw from Nitson by belting a towering shot out to left centerfield giving the Muleriders an early 2-0 lead.
 
The run-scoring second would be enough for SAU starter Kenneth Tabor (2-1) in his five innings on the mound as the senior southpaw surrendered just one hit and a single run: a two-out solo homerun by Southeastern Oklahoma's Cade Clay that clanked off of the foul pole in left field.
 
To begin the game, Tabor managed to come away unscathed as the Savage Storm threatened in the top of the first inning, but the lefty stranded runners at second and third to end the threat. Tabor stranded a single runner in the second, worked a quick third, and suffered the aforementioned lone blemish in the fourth, before making a stellar play to cap his final inning of action in the fifth.
 
With two outs and a runner at second in the top of the fifth inning, Tabor bounced off the mound to field a chopped ground ball near the third base line and threw a strike to Fontenot to end the inning and again strand an SOSU runner in scoring position. Tabor's night ended after the fifth, but not before he tied a season-high in strikeouts with his second eight-K performance of the year.
 
In relief of Tabor was redshirt freshman Tanner Vaught who picked up his first career save in a long-relief effort. Vaught tossed four innings out of the bullpen and scattered three hits and a walk, while allowing just two runs, to help the Muleriders claim their second-straight league-opening win and fifth out of the seven GAC seasons.
 
Southern Arkansas cushioned the 2-1 advantage in the middle innings as Austin Baker registered an RBI on a sacrifice fly that plated James Trevanion in the home half of the fifth inning. In the sixth inning, the Mulerider offense broke the game open and had an opportunity for even more as they plated three runs on a pair of hits, while stranding the bases loaded.
 
In the game-changing sixth inning, a walk to senior Sam Mrstik started the frame and classmate Jacob Richardson set the table for Fontenot as a single into left field put runners at the corners. Fontenot followed by blasting a liner that found open real estate in right centerfield which chased home both Mrstik and Richardson to put the Muleriders out front 5-1. Fontenot would later score on a wild pitch during Trevanion's at bat as SAU led 6-1 through six.
 
The Muleriders answered two Southeastern Oklahoma runs in the seventh with a single run in the bottom of the frame as Jake Tisevich, in a pinch-hitting at bat, doubled near the right field line to score Nathan Stubber, who entered the game as a pinch runner after Mrstik singled to lead off the inning.
 
That was more than enough run support for Vaught as he needed just twenty pitches in the final two innings to close out the game.
 
The third through sixth spots in the Mulerider lineup combined to collect five hits and five RBI and score four runs. Additionally, Trevanion stole two bags and redshirt sophomore Zach Muldoon drew three walks, while Southern Arkansas as a team recorded eight base-on-balls for the second straight game.
 
Southern Arkansas concludes the Great American Conference opening series with Southeastern Oklahoma on Monday with a doubleheader slated for a noon first-pitch. Live coverage links are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.