Box Score ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – #13 Southern Arkansas and Northwest Missouri combined for 29 runs on 30 hits and six total errors on a cold Friday evening at Clyde Berry Field, but it was the Bearcats that used a five-run eighth inning to reclaim the lead and eventually down the Muleriders 16-13 on day two of the Henderson State Invitational.
 
Southern Arkansas (3-2) found itself in a hole early as the Muleriders trailed 8-1 through the first inning of play. SAU slowly began to erase the deficit as they answered with two runs in the second inning and three runs in the third to pull within two runs of the lead at 8-5. Northwest Missouri tacked on two more runs in the fourth inning, but the Muleriders answered with a four-run fifth-inning to tie the game at 10.
 
NWSU took a one-run lead in the sixth, and after a three-run seventh, the Muleriders appeared to have the advantage as they blanked the Bearcats following the stretch to carry a 13-11 lead into the eighth inning. But Northwest Missouri took the lead in the eighth and added a pair of insurance runs to pick up the win.
 
The game featured 24 scoring plays and of the 30 hits, 14 of them came from Southern Arkansas bats. Much of the damage done by Northwest Missouri came in the front and back half of the game as the Bearcats 13 of their 16 runs on ten of their 16 hits in the first and eighth innings combined.
 
Brett McGee led SAU with three RBI in a 2-for-5 effort, while Cooper King, Austin Baker and Josh Walker all added two RBI. Devin Beard led the team with three hits and joined Zach Muldoon in scoring three runs.
 
For Southern Arkansas, it was the highest scoring game in which both teams scored at least ten runs since a 15-14 win over Ouachita Baptist on March 17, 2015; a game that went ten innings.
 
The Muleriders return to action tomorrow afternoon at the HSU Invitational with a 3 p.m. first-pitch against former Gulf South Conference foe and perennial power Delta State. Live coverage links are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.