MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Southern Arkansas capped a three-game Great American Conference sweep of Henderson State on Saturday from Walker Stadium at Goodheart Field to improve to 11-0 on the season and 3-0 in league play. A pair of one-run victories, a 7-6 walk-off win in 10 innings in game and a 4-3 decision in the seven-inning affair, aided Southern Arkansas in what is now the best start to a season in program history (Verified game-by-game data through the 1981 campaign).
In the opener, the Muleriders plated runs in the first, second, third, fifth and sixth innings, while Henderson State's offense supplied run support late as the Reddies plated two runs in both the sixth and seventh innings to go along with single runs in the eighth and ninth frames to tie the game at 6-6.
In the tenth, senior Austin Baker drew a leadoff walk, before a steal of second base put the winning run in scoring position. Senior Kobe Morris singled into right field to push Baker to third to put runners at the corners. A defensive indifference allowed Morris to take second and following an infield mound meeting by the Reddies, the table was set for junior Jacob Martinez. With the infield drawn in and the outfielders playing shallow, Martinez blasted a pitch from HSU reliever Taylor Langston to deep centerfield as the RBI-single scored Baker to give the Muleriders the series win.
In the series finale, Henderson State placed a pair of early runs on the board with two outs in the first inning off of SAU sophomore right-hander Remy Bilodeau. However, in the home half of the frame Southern Arkansas answered with a pair of two out runs of their own as sophomore Ty Manning doubled home Martinez and senior Mason Peterson to tie the game at 2-2.
With two outs in the third inning, the Reddies plated a run on double down the left field line by Kade Argenbright, but as Caleb Carr was attempting to score from first to push the lead back to two runs, Orr cut a strong throw by Martinez and then fired a strike to sophomore Brett McGee who applied the tag to cut down Carr at the plate.
The lead stood at 3-2 for the Reddies and as was the case in the first inning, the Muleriders responded in the bottom of the third as a sacrifice fly from Peterson plated Morris to tie the game before Martinez crossed home on a balk that gave SAU a 4-3 lead that they would not relinquish. Bilodeau went the distance in his first start of the season as he scattered five hits with two earned runs to go along with six strikeouts.
Sophomore Parker Abrego registered another solid start in Sunday's opener as he went 6.2 innings and worked around four runs to fan five in a no decision. Senior Zach Smith, in his first relief outing, took over for freshman Kade Garmany and tossed 2.1 innings to earn his third win of the season.
Martinez and Peterson each recorded four hits on the day and sophomore Riley Orr added three hits. Martinez led with three runs scored, while Manning collected three RBI. SAU drew seven walks and was hit-by-pitch six times.
Next weekend, the Muleriders hit the road for Searcy for a Great American Conference series with Harding. The series opener is scheduled for Friday, February 21, at 6 p.m. with Saturday's doubleheader slated for a 1 p.m. start. Live coverage links are available at
www.MuleriderAthletics.com.
