ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – #8 Southern Arkansas built a 6-1 on the road, Henderson State scored seven runs in the fourth and fifth innings combined, the Muleriders grabbed a late one-run advantage with two runs in the eighth, but it was the Reddies that moved into the win column with a two-run ninth inning to walk off SAU 11-10 on Tuesday night from Clyde Berry Field in Arkadelphia. SAU drops to 25-6 overall after suffering its fourth midweek loss this season.
The Muleriders recorded 11 hits to match the Reddies in that column, but the former's first three runs of the game came without the aid of a base knock. SAU's first hit didn't come until a double by
Chris Lyles with two outs in the third inning, but in the fourth the Muleriders broke through offensively as
Jacob Martinez soloed to leadoff the frame and
Chris Sutton delivered a two-run blast with one out to reach the aforementioned five-run lead.
In the fourth and fifth innings, the Reddies collected five hits and produced seven runs to knot the contest at 8 through five with SAU reaching the eight-run mark following a two-run fifth which includes a solo blast by
Jakob Machuca and an RBI single from
Riley Orr.
HSU's David Vilches tripled to leadoff the post-stretch seventh and scored on a fielder's choice to give the Reddies a 9-8 lead. In the eighth, the Muleriders responded as Lyles, with two outs, two strikes and bases full, singled up the middle to plate two and put SAU up 10-9.
Henderson State wasted no time in the home half of the ninth as a sequence of single-wild pitch-passed ball-single tied the game at 10, while back-to-back walks then loaded the bases with no outs and a sacrifice fly ended it at 11-10.
SAU used five arms in the contest with reliever
Santos Sosa's two hits and a run over four innings of work serving as the best effort on the mound by the Muleriders in the loss.
Martinez led with three hits. Orr and Sutton both scored three times, while Lyles and Sutton each delivered a pair of RBI.
Brett McGee walked twice with the first base on balls issued in his opening plate appearance giving the junior the program's all-time record in walks drawn with 122. At 123 for his career, McGee is 22 walks back of taking over the Great American Conference's mark. The previous record holder was Jonathan Orr, the father of Orr's teammate
Riley Orr, who was walked 121 times from 1992-95.
The Muleriders face a quick turnaround as a trip to Cleveland, Mississippi to take on Delta State awaits on Wednesday. First pitch from across the big river is set for 5 p.m. Live coverage links are available at
www.MuleriderAthletics.com.
