SEARCY, Ark. – Southern Arkansas split its Saturday doubleheader with Harding from Jerry Moore Field as the Muleriders evened the series with an 8-2 victory in the first game, before being outlasted 3-2 in an 11-inning marathon in the series finale which was a scheduled seven-inning affair. With the split, SAU drops the Great American Conference series to the Bisons and falls to 12-2 overall with a 4-2 record in league play.
Senior Zach Smith logged an eight-inning outing in the series' second game as he allowed just five hits and an earned run, while fanning four. He stranded six Harding baserunners to pick up his fourth win of the season. Junior Jack Liddell worked the final inning to seal SAU's fourth GAC win of the season. In the finale, sophomore Parker Abrego tossed 5.1 innings and scattered five hits with two earned runs allowed and five strikeouts. Junior Tanner Vaught worked the final five innings with six Ks, but the Bisons managed to score on an RBI in the 11
th which was the first run for either team since the sixth inning.
Offensively, the Muleriders collected six extra-base knocks out of the team's 18 total hits on Saturday. Senior Mason Peterson doubled twice and sophomore Brett McGee jacked a pair of home runs, while senior Kobe Morris doubled and homered.
In the win, Southern Arkansas plated four runs in the first inning with the aid of just one hit and a pair of errors. Senior Austin Baker scored the game's first run, before Morris stole home, Peterson scored on a wild pitch and McGee homered with a solo shot to cap the run-scoring frame. In the seventh, Peterson and sophomore Ty Manning scored on a two-run single by senior Zach Muldoon and Chad Paris followed with a run scored as he crossed home as a pinch runner on a fielding error in senior Josh Walker's at bat.
Muldoon and McGee were each credited with two RBI on the day. Seven players recorded at least two hits in the doubleheader.
The Muleriders hit the road for Clinton, Mississippi, on Tuesday, February 25 for a 2 p.m. matchup with No. 25 Mississippi College. SAU returns home next weekend for a three-game GAC series with Northwestern Oklahoma State. Live coverage links are available at
www.MuleriderAthletics.com.