ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – It seems there was no rest for the Mulerider bats last night as Southern Arkansas came alive and showed no mercy for the Lane College pitching staff. The Riders outscored the Dragons 26-0 over seven innings to run rule consecutive teams at the Henderson State Invitational. With his second-inning Grand Slam in the win, senior Brett McGee tied the program's career homerun record with 42 and counting.
McGee went 1-2 on the day and led the Mulerider squad with six RBI, his most since March 2021. Sophomore Mikey McGinnis, junior Chris Sutton, sophomore Tyler Abrego and sophomore Jakob Machuca all recorded three RBI. The Muleriders recorded seven extra base hits and drew 19 walks. The 19 walks represent the most ever in a game in Southern Arkansas' GAC era and the most since March 29, 2008. The 26 runs represent the third time under seventh-year head coach Justin Pettigrew that 20 runs have been surpassed in a game. The Muleriders scored in all but the sixth inning.
The pitching staff for the Muleriders was absolutely dominant. Junior Mikel Howell and senior Wyatt Marr combined for nine strikeouts and only allowed a single hit each. Howell tossed 5.0 innings and Marr cleaned up to take care of the final 2.0. Both pitchers fanned at least one batter in every inning. The Muleriders faced 26 batters while Lane faced 63.
SAU acquired base runners early as back-to-back hit by pitches allowed Sutton and McGee to find themselves at the corners with just a single out on the board. A Jakob Machuca homerun knocked in the first runs of the day to give SAU a quick advantage. The Riders were just getting started as a base knock from McGinnis allowed him to be right where he needed to be as Richardson followed with an RBI double to center. A couple of walks led to the bases being loaded for the first time of many to come. A walk drawn by Orr would bring in the fifth run of the inning while keeping the bases full for Sutton who singled to bring in the sixth and seventh runs. The Riders weren't done just yet as Nicoll knocked in a run and Machuca was hit by a pitch to load the bases for SAU once again. Southern Arkansas would draw another walk and bring in the ninth and final run of the inning.
The start of the second inning looked very similar to the first as SAU acquired their first three base runners from two walks and a hit by pitch. McGee was itching to give the Muleriders their first hit of the inning and he did in typical Brett McGee fashion. The senior smoked the ball over the right field wall to notch his first homer of the season and record the Muleriders' first grand slam of the 2023 year. Even with a 13-run advantage, Southern Arkansas wasn't slowing down. Nicoll kept the hot bats alive, recording his third double of the weekend series to give the Riders ammunition on the bases once again. Machuca reached on an error before McGinnis would drive in the Muleriders' fifth run of the inning. Richardson would finish off second inning scoring with an RBI single that brought Machuca home.
While the Riders took their sweet time batting around in both the first and second innings, Howell made quick work of the Lane batters, facing only six batters by the time the Dragons had seen 25 Mulerider plate appearances. Howell sandwiched strikeouts in both the first two innings and forced routine ground balls and fly outs to allow the Mulerider defense to take care of the rest.
SAU loaded the bases early in the third after drawing three walks in a row. A Tyler Abrego sacrifice fly would drive in the Muleriders solo run of the third.
Howell hit a batter to allow the Dragons their first base runner of the day, but a ground out and back-to-back strikeouts to finish off the inning would strand the runner at third.
In typical 2022 Mulerider fashion, the team rallied with two outs to score three runs in the fourth. They drew back-to-back-to-back walks to load the bases and proceeded to draw a fourth to force across their first run. Abrego recorded a base knock to bat in his second and third runs of the day to finish out fourth inning scoring.
Howell gave up his first hit of his outing, but didn't allow the Dragons to capitalize on it as he took out the other three batters easily
A walk, error and wild pitch found two Muleriders in scoring position, allowing a wild pitch to drive McGinnis home and notch the first run of the fifth inning. Yet another walk and hit Mulerider would load the bases for a HBP RBI and a ground out RBI to represent McGee's sixth run batted in. The final run of the inning would be drawn by a throwing error.
Doubles from sophomore Ben Muldoon and McGinnis brought in the first two runs for the Muleriders and a bases load walk brought in the final run of the day.
Marr would take care of the Dragons and record two strikeouts to send Lane College back to Tennessee scoreless.
Southern Arkansas will head back out on the road on Tuesday for midweek action against Delta State. Live coverage links will be made available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.
