SEARCY, Ark. – Senior Jacob Stroder went the distance on Monday afternoon as he fired nine complete innings for the first time in his SAU career and limited Harding to just five hits and a walk as the Muleriders salvaged the series with the Bisons by picking up a 7-1 win in the series finale.
 
Stroder improves to 7-2 on the season and the Muleriders move to 26-13 overall with an 18-9 mark in Great American Conference play. Southern Arkansas is currently tied for third in the league standings with Arkansas Tech with six more conference games to play.
 
On Monday, seven of the nine Muleriders in the starting lineup collected at least one hit with seniors Jake Tisevich and Jacob Richardson each producing a 2-for-5 effort, while junior Dakota Wright went 2-for-4 and was responsible for tying the game for Southern Arkansas in the fifth inning.
 
Trailing 1-0 through four innings, Wright connected on the first pitch he saw in the fifth inning for his eighth home run of the season which tied the game at 1.
 
Harding managed just three hits and a single run off of Stroder through the game's first five innings and the Bisons would not have much success against the right-hander down the stretch. Stroder worked a 1-2-3 sixth inning, worked around two runners in the seventh and allowed just one hit in both the eighth and ninth innings to earn the victory.
 
Southern Arkansas broke through offensively in the sixth inning with four hits and three walks as they plated four runs to take a 5-1 lead through 5 ½ innings. In the frame, Richardson doubled for the second time during the game and moved Tisevich to third base who reached with a one-out single and after senior Cortland McPherson drew a six-pitch walk, classmate Sam Mrstik recorded a base hit through the left side to score Tisevich and Richardson and move McPherson to third.
 
With two outs in the sixth, redshirt sophomore Zach Muldoon walked to load the bases for redshirt-freshman Cole Boyd who plated the final two runs of the inning with a two-RBI single into centerfield.
 
An RBI-groundout from freshman Riley Orr in the eighth inning and an RBI-single from McPherson in the ninth provided more than enough insurance runs to back Stroder in the late innings.
 
The Muleriders are back on the road tomorrow, Tuesday, April 16, for a 6 p.m. first-pitch with NAIA-power Louisiana State-Shreveport.