ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – With a first-pitch temperature slightly north of freezing on Saturday afternoon for Southern Arkansas' nonconference clash with familiar league foe Ouachita, it was the #16 Muleriders that heated up the action early and often from Rab Rodgers Field as SAU pushed across 16 runs on 18 hits to claim a 16-4 win in the squad's final game of the opening weekend of play. Ten different Muleriders recorded a hit in the victory, while sophomore Brett McGee (4-for-4, 2B, HR, 4R, 2RBI, 2BB) and juniors Jacob Martinez (4-for-6, 2B, 3B, 2R, RBI) and Tucker Burton (3-for-5, 2R, RBI) all registered multi-hit games.
 
Southern Arkansas (2-1) answered a first inning Ouachita run which crossed via a wild pitch by plating three runs in the second, adding two more runs in the third, and stacking three additional runs in the fourth inning to back Mulerider starter James Janco's four innings of work. In his debut for SAU, Janco allowed just one earned run and scattered three hits and four walks, while dismissing eight batters on strikes.
 
Through four innings, the Muleriders held an 8-1 advantage as Burton, Martinez, McGee, seniors Kobe Morris and Mason Peterson, and sophomores Conner Allen and Riley Orr all recorded at least one RBI. Peterson's contribution to the early offensive onslaught came on a big two-run blast to right field in the fourth inning.
 
Sophomore Jacob Womack worked the next three innings with the seven-run cushion and surrendered just two hits to the Tigers as he faced a dozen batters in relief.
 
With a four-run lead through five after Ouachita added three runs in the fifth, a bases-loaded walk to senior Austin Baker pushed home McGee and the second and third RBI by Morris on the afternoon put the Muleriders up 11-4. Baker scored on a balk as the Muleriders' sixth inning was their most productive of the day in terms of runs and one of four innings that resulted in at least three runs.
 
McGee, who homered across the street on Friday, left the yard for the second time on the weekend as his solo big fly out to right field served as a prelude to the stretch on Saturday afternoon.
 
With the game seemingly in hand, the visiting half of the ninth inning saw sophomore Ty Manning single home a run, Orr reach on an RBI fielder's choice and senior Cooper King plate Manning with a base hit into left field to cap the 16-run performance for the Muleriders; the team's fifth game of ten or more runs in their last nine outings.
 
Sophomore Remy Bilodeau worked around a hit and a walk in the eighth inning, while sophomore Maddux Solomon collected a pair of strikeouts as he pitched a perfect ninth inning in his Mulerider debut.
 
The Muleriders begin Great American Conference play next weekend as SAU will make its longest road trip of the season in a trek to Alva for a three-game league series with Northwestern Oklahoma State. The Muleriders and Rangers will meet on Friday, February 19 for a doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m. The series finale is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday, February 20. Live coverage links are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.