ENID, Okla. – Henderson State forced No. 19 Southern Arkansas to the mat early in Monday afternoon's Great American Conference Tournament elimination game from David Allen Memorial Ballpark. However, the Muleriders delivered the knockout blow as late-inning run production, which included a seventh-inning grand slam from the bat of sophomore Austin Baker, pushed SAU past the Reddies 9-7 and into the tourney's final day of action on Tuesday.
 
Southern Arkansas (34-17) fell behind early as the Reddies used a three-run home run in the top of the first and a two-run home run in the second off of Mulerider senior lefty Kenneth Tabor to stake HSU starter Daniel Sprinkle to a 5-0 lead through two innings.
 
Unable to push across runners in scoring position in the first and second innings, the Muleriders cut into their deficit in the third as Baker scored on a fielder's choice in senior Jacob Richardson's at bat. Prior to receiving his first run support of the afternoon, Tabor worked a clean third inning and allowed just one hit in his final 2 2/3 innings of action, before Southern Arkansas made the move to the bullpen with two outs in the sixth inning.
 
The Reddies managed to add a run to increase their lead back to five runs after the pitching change as a run crossed on a wild pitch by junior reliever Eric White.
 
In the bottom part of the frame, the Muleriders added their second run of the afternoon as Baker singled home redshirt freshman Cole Boyd with one out in the inning, but Southern Arkansas stranded the bases loaded; the fifth time in the first six innings that the Muleriders left at least one runner on in scoring position.
 
White continued his relief effort as he struck out the side with ten pitches in the seventh to set the stage for the Mulerider offense.
 
Senior Cortland McPherson led off after the stretch and reached after drawing an eight-pitch walk. Junior Dakota Wright moved McPherson sixty feet after being hit-by-pitch, but McPherson would be erased in a steal attempt of third. With one out, Boyd walked to put runners at first and second, before senior Mark Fontenot was plunked to load the bases.
 
Redshirt sophomore Zach Muldoon followed by hitting a high chopper that was fielded deeply behind the bag allowing Muldoon to reach and Wright to score to pull Southern Arkansas to within three runs of the Henderson State lead at 6-3.
 
In a pinch hit effort, senior James Trevanion hit a groundball to the shortstop that bounced into Fontenot to erase the senior's efforts in getting to third, but in the process, the interference broke up a potential double play that would have ended the inning.  
 
With two away and the bases loaded, Fontenot's interference paid huge dividends as Baker answered the call by hammering the first pitch he saw over the left field wall, giving SAU a 7-6 advantage.
 
The Reddies answered with an RBI groundout in the eighth that tied the game at 7, but were unable to take back the momentum as the Southern Arkansas confidently headed into the bottom of the frame.
 
Just like he did the inning prior, McPherson reached base and did so by leading off with an infield single that was fielded deep in the hole through the right side. Wright reached on a fielder's choice and McPherson took second on a drop by the Reddie second baseman as HSU was attempting to turn two. Boyd laid down a bunt right in front of the plate and reached safely as the Henderson State catcher was unsuccessful in his attempt to gun down McPherson at third.
 
With one out, Muldoon plated McPherson with the go-ahead run on a fielder's choice, while an HSU throwing error on an attempt to turn two allowed Wright to score and provide an insurance run as the Muleriders led 9-7 through eight innings.
 
Junior Nick Starr relieved White to begin the ninth inning and after striking out the first batter, Starr worked around a one-out walk by punching out the second batter, before stranding the one-out walk at second with an emphatic strikeout of HSU's Caleb Carr to end the game.
 
Baker's stellar day at the plate ended in a 4-for-5 effort with five RBI and a pair of runs scored. Senior Jake Tisevich went 3-for-4 with a walk and Muldoon added two hits and a pair of RBI. Boyd and Wright each scored two runs. Southern Arkansas outhit Henderson State 11-5 and took advantage of three HSU errors, while the Reddies managed just one hit in the final seven innings of play.  
 
White picked up the win, his first of the season, in 2.1 innings of relief. He K'd five and allowed no hits to just one run, while Starr earned his sixth save by striking out the side in the ninth. Tabor was tabbed with the no decision but fanned seven over 5.2 innings.
 
The Muleriders improve to 13-0 when facing elimination in Enid and advance to Championship Tuesday where they will need to win a pair of games to claim the program's fifth GAC Tournament Title. First-pitch with third-seed Oklahoma Baptist is scheduled for noon.
 
An Arkansas Tech win over Oklahoma Baptist sends the Wonder Boys to the title game and the Bison to a noon play-in game against Southern Arkansas. An OKB win over Arkansas Tech would force the Muleriders to have to take two games from the Bison to claim the tournament championship.

Live coverage of the Muleriders' postseason run in the GAC Tournament can be found here: http://greatamericanconference.com/sports/2018/4/24/2018-GAC-BSB-CHAMPIONSHIPS.aspx