MAGNOLIA, Ark. – No. 17 Southern Arkansas rallied from an early five-run deficit in its Great American Conference series finale with Harding on Monday afternoon from Walker Stadium at Goodheart Field to earn a 6-5 win in the doubleheader split and improve to 5-1 in league play after winning its second-straight conference series.
The Muleriders (9-4, 5-1 GAC) overcame a first-inning grand slam from Harding's Miles Humphreys in the final game of the series as
Cooper King plated
Jansen McCurdy with an RBI single in the home half of the first inning, while RBI singles from
Austin Baker and
Brett McGee in the second inning helped pull SAU to within two runs of its early deficit.
After allowing five runs on four hits in the first two innings, SAU starter
Tanner Vaught settled down in his final three frames on the mound as he surrendered just one hit, while stranding three Harding baserunners.
Southern Arkansas plated three runs on two hits and a Bisons error to take a 6-5 lead that it would turn over to
JP Casey and
Matt Kortendick for the sixth and seventh innings, respectively.
Justin Hanlin scored the fourth run on a fielder's choice and
Dakota Wright's run tied the game at 5 on a sacrifice fly from McCurdy. An RBI single from the bat of McGee, who led SAU with four hits on Monday, plated
Devin Beard to give the Muleriders the aforementioned 6-5 lead.
Casey worked a perfect sixth inning as he induced a trio of groundouts, while Kortendick earned his third save by coming away unscathed after the Bisons loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh.
In Monday's opener, the Muleriders managed just three hits off of the Bisons' pitching duo of Tanner Smith and Ryder Yakel with SAU's final hit in the game plating their lone run as King mashed a solo homerun into left field; his first career round tripper as a Mulerider.
Southern Arkansas faces a quick turnaround as it hits the road on Tuesday for a nonconference tilt with Mississippi College at 3 p.m. in Clinton, Mississippi. Live coverage links are available at
www.MuleriderAthletics.com.