MAGNOLIA, Ark. - Dominant pitching was on full display on Friday night for the No. 24-ranked Southern Arkansas baseball team as
Hunter Vasquez and
Eric White combined to rack up 18 strikeouts against Ouachita Baptist in a 3-1 Mulerider victory to open the weekend series.
| LINE SCORE |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
R |
H |
E |
| OUA Tigers (10-22, 6-13 GAC) |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
| #24 SAU Muleriders (20-9, 14-5 GAC) |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
6 |
0 |
PITCHING DECISIONS
W –
Hunter Vasquez (5-1)
L – John Franklin Matros (2-3)
S –
Eric White (5)
HIGHLIGHTS AND HAPPENINGS
- A week after pitching a one-hit shutout, senior right-hander Hunter Vasquez nearly out-did that spectacular performance as he established a new single-game best for strikeouts by notching 14 against the Tigers on Friday night.
- As he did in his last start, Vasquez pitched 7.0 innings and allowed just one hit. Unfortunately, the lone hit the Tigers got off of Vasquez, which came in the top of the seventh, produced their lone run in the game as well.
- Vasquez's dominant start was backed by three Mulerider runs and all three of those runs were scored as a result of a Jacob Richardson at-bat.
- In the bottom of the third, Richardson doubled down the left field line to score Riley Orr and Jake Tisevich and give SAU a 2-0 lead.
- Richardson's next AB in the fifth produced the third and final run for the Muleriders as he collected an infield single on a slow bouncing ball to shortstop. On that play, Ouachita's shortstop airmailed the throw in an attempt to get Richardson at first and the errant throw allowed Austin Baker to come around to score all the way from first.
ON THE MOUND
- After starting the year with three-straight no-decisions on the mound, Hunter Vasquez has gone 5-1 over his next six starts and is sporting a 1.89 ERA over that recent stretch as well.
- His 14 strikeouts mark the third time this season that Vasquez has registered double-digit strikeouts. He now has 72 in 52.1 innings pitched and ranks first in the GAC.
- Eric White relieved Vasquez in the eighth inning and the hard-throwing righty took care of the final six outs of the game to earn his fifth save of the season.
- In his two innings on the mound, White allowed one hit and one walk, but struck out four batters.
AT THE PLATE
- Offensively, the Muleriders totaled just six hits with two going for extra bases.
- Jacob Richardson and Riley Orr led the team on Friday with each going 2-for-3. Richardson added a pair of RBIs as well.
UP NEXT
The Muleriders and Tigers will conclude their weekend series with a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 2 p.m. There will be FREE admission for the twinbill and in-between the fifth inning of the opening game, SAU Athletics is sponsoring an Easter Egg Hunt for kids age 12-under.
