MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Southern Arkansas sent 17 batters to the plate in the top half of the first inning, plated a dozen runs on seven hits and did not look back on Friday night inside a packed-out Walker Stadium at Goodheart Field as the Muleriders' offensive eruption matched the program's postseason record for runs scored in a single game in a 28-5 result over league foe Henderson State. The victory sends Southern Arkansas to Saturday's 4 p.m. sub-region title game and awaits the winner of the 12:30 p.m. elimination game between Henderson State and Northeastern State. Live coverage links of the NCAA DII Central Region #2 title game are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.
 
The Muleriders (43-11) recorded 23 hits, nine of which went for extra bases, drew a season-high 16 walks and were hit-by-pitch five times, including twice in the first inning and resulted in both plunk recipients scoring. That opening frame, which set the tone for 13 more runs combined in the third through sixth innings highlighted by a six-run sixth, while two more runs crossed in the pre-stretch seventh with the final run accounted for in the eighth, saw Southern Arkansas push across the game's first run courtesy of two walks and two HBP to start the contest.
 
Senior Tucker Burton singled into centerfield for the game's first hit and SAU's second run and with one out in the inning, junior Conner Allen singled on the infield to give the Muleriders a 3-0 lead. Consecutive walks to junior Riley Orr and sophomore Chris Sutton sent SAU up 5-0 and with the bases still loaded, McGee deposited a pitch into the right field parking lot, his 14^th of the season, to break the game open as part of SAU's 9-0 advantage. The Muleriders weren't done in the inning as freshman Brandon Nicoll, who finished a single shy of the cycle in Friday night's victory, tripled into the right centerfield gap and scored on a wild pitch as SAU reached the ten-run mark for the 26^th time this season and for the third straight game just a dozen hitters into the contest. Freshman Jakob Machuca walked and scored on a double by junior Ty Manning who Burton traded places with by plating with a double of his own to push across the final run of frame. Ten of SAU's dozen first-inning runs came with two outs in the inning.
 
Junior southpaw Wyatt Marr faced nine batters in the first two innings, ran into and worked out of some slight trouble in the third inning and tossed four more frames in which he allowed only two hits and four walks with four strikeouts during that span to pick up his ninth win of the season. Marr's seven innings, the second-longest outing for the Texan this season, helped preserve a bullpen that utilized just one arm in relief. Junior Maddux Solomon took over in the eighth and pitched around one hit and three walks to shut the door on the Reddies.
 
The Muleriders did not let up after its explosive first trip to the plate. Manning skied a solo shot down the left field line in the third inning, Machuca delivered an RBI single in the fourth which preceded a two-run base knock from Burton in the same frame and Nicoll left the yard with a two-run blast in the fifth as SAU's lead grew to 19-4. It was Nicoll's homer, his 12^th of the season, that helped the Muleriders top the previous NCAA program record of 17 for runs in a single postseason game; a threshold that had been matched twice in the Great American Conference Tournament and first recorded in the 2004 South Central Region Tournament.
 
Southern Arkansas' offensive output was far from finished as a six-run sixth inning was highlighted by a two-run home run from sophomore Chris Lyles, an RBI hit by Sutton and a two-run single through the left side off the bat of Machuca. Sutton pushed across run No. 26 in the seventh on a sacrifice fly and Nicoll's 23^rd double of the season plated Orr to put SAU ahead 27-4 heading into the stretch.
 
In the eighth, Sutton again delivered a sac fly which served as the record-tying 28^th run of the game. The scoring output matches the postseason record produced by the 1987 Muleriders which cruised by Arkansas Tech 28-6 in that season's NAIA District 17 title game. The run total is also a GAC postseason record.
 
Sutton, McGee, Machuca and Burton all recorded four RBI, Nicoll added three and Manning and Lyles both followed with a pair as all nine starters produced at least one RBI. Lyles' four hits are a single game career-best for the Wake Village, Texas native and paced the three hits by Allen, Burton, Manning and Nicoll. Nicoll scored five times as did McGee who reached base in all seven plate appearances recording the aforementioned Grand Slam to go along with four walks and two HBP. His four walks moves him into a tie for the GAC single season  record with 55 matching UAM's Brady Weiss' total in 2017.
 
SAU's 23 hits are tied for the second-most all-time in a single game and are the most by a Mulerider team in an NCAA postseason contest. The Muleriders walked 16 times which is tied for the third-highest free pass total in a single game in program history, while the 41 total bases are an NCAA postseason program record. Southern Arkansas' 25 RBI are tied for the fourth-most in a single NCAA game in program history. Manning's seven at bats in Friday's win are a GAC postseason record.