SEARCY, Ark. – Southern Arkansas dropped its first game of the season on Friday afternoon at Jerry Moore Field in Searcy as Harding knocked off the nationally-ranked Muleriders 6-3 in the Great American Conference series opener.
 
Sophomore Riley Orr led the offense with two of the Muleriders' seven hits and added an RBI, while senior Josh Walker drove in a pair and scored once as he hit a two-run home run in the fifth inning to put Southern Arkansas on the board. In the seventh, Orr singled in junior Cooper King for the game's final run as Harding called upon closer Ryder Yakel to work the last two innings in which he did not allow a hit.
 
Harding plated the game's first six runs with two-run frames in the first, third and fourth innings. Sophomore Remy Bilodeau took over for southpaw starter Hunter Brantley and tossed the final 5.1 innings. Bilodeau allowed the two runs in the fourth, but just three Bison reached base in the fifth through eighth innings.
 
Southern Arkansas and Harding conclude the series on Saturday with a 1 p.m. doubleheader. Live coverage links are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.