MAGNOLIA, Ark. – #7/9 Southern Arkansas once again jumped out to a fast start against Southern Nazarene as the Muleriders collected 17 hits with 11 going for extra bases, pushed across 19 runs with ten plated in the first inning and cruised on the mound in the final four innings to sweep the three-game set with a 19-8 win in Saturday's Great American Conference series finale from Walker Stadium at Goodheart Field. SAU puts a bow on its regular season home slate and finishes with a 16-3 record in Magnolia during the 2022 season.
The GAC regular season champions after sweeping Friday's doubleheader with the Crimson Storm, the Muleriders improved their overall record to 35-9 and are 26-4 in league play with three games remaining.
Southern Nazarene stranded two runners in the top of the first inning as did the Muleriders, however, the latter recorded ten hits and plated ten runs highlighted by two-run blasts from both
Jacob Martinez and
Riley Orr. Southern Nazarene would respond as the visitors scored six runs in the second and added two more in the third to pull within two runs through three innings of play.
In the fourth, the Muleriders began to distance themselves once again by plating five runs on four hits and an error. Orr hit his second two-run shot of the day in that frame and
Brett McGee cranked a two-run homer as well to make it 15-8. With two outs in the sixth,
Conner Allen belted a grand slam to initiate the run rule and three senior Mulerider arms combined to shut down the Crimson Storm in the sixth.
Jack Liddell got the win for SAU, his third of the season, after working 3.1 relief innings allowing only four hits and a walk, while striking out a pair.
Jackson Duke's stellar weekend continued as he doubled three times with an RBI and two runs scored. McGee also went 3-for-4 with three RBI and three runs. Three players,
Ty Manning, Allen and Orr, delivered four RBI. Eight of the nine players in the order scored at least two runs with
Chris Sutton, McGee and
Brandon Nicoll all crossing three times each.
It was the final regular season home game for eight Mulerider seniors.
Jacob Martinez,
Jacob Womack,
Cameron Lang,
Josh Walker,
James Janco,
Tucker Burton,
Reed Osborn and
JJ Martin were all honored in a pregame ceremony.
Southern Arkansas prepares for its final four games of the regular season. The Muleriders head to Texarkana on Tuesday for a midweek matchup with Texas A&M-Texarkana, before closing out league play next week in Monticello with a three-game series against bitter league rival UAM. Live coverage links are available at
www.MuleriderAthletics.com.
