MAGNOLIA, Ark. - It was business as usual for #11/6 Southern Arkansas this weekend in Magnolia as the Muleriders swept Southwestern Oklahoma State in Great American Conference action from Walker Stadium at Goodheart Field. SAU won Friday's doubleheader by scores of 11-2 and 4-3, before handling the Bulldogs 15-4 in eight innings in Saturday's series finale. With Friday's effort, SAU locked up the league's first berth into May's conference championship tournament.
The Muleriders improve their overall record to 30-11 which marks the 25th season, since its first as an NCAA program in 1996, that SAU has reached the 30-win mark. The Muleriders' GAC record grows to 22-5. SAU is three games up on both Ouachita and Arkansas Tech with six games remaining.
SAU struck early in the opener with a pair of runs in each of the first, second and third innings, a single run in the fourth and four more runs in the fifth to back Mulerider starter Jeremy Adorno (7-1) who tossed seven strong innings scattering five hits, two walks and a single earned run, while Chance Bolter faced the minimum in two innings of relief. Five players recorded two hits with Brandon Nicoll, Will Richardson and Mikey McGinnis doubling, while Conner Allen tripled for the third time this season. Riley Orr and Jackson Duke joined Richardson with two RBI each.
In Friday's seven-inning affair, the Muleriders employed a rally after the Bulldogs grabbed a 3-1 lead in the top of the sixth inning. In the bottom half of the frame, SAU responded with a Richardson double into left center field that plated Chris Lyles and pulled the Muleriders to within a run of the lead at 3-2. Lyles singled up the middle with one out and then stole second prior to Richardson plating him.
Following a pitching change by SWOSU and the second out of the inning, Duke and Chris Sutton both walked to load the bases for Orr who also walked to tie the game at 3-3. Brett McGee followed by drawing the fourth-consecutive of the inning to give SAU a 4-3 lead that would be upheld in the top of the seventh as Isaiah Haynes emphatically shut the door for his tenth save of the season and to preserve the win for SAU starter Mikel Howell who fanned seven over six innings.
It was all SAU from the start in Saturday's finale. The Muleriders plated four first-inning runs and then pushed across seven in the third which was highlighted by two-run blasts by both Sutton and McGee. Sutton left the yard for a second time in the eighth as his second two-run homer of the game invoked the run-rule. Santos Sosa worked the first five innings tossing around five hits and four runs to earn his fourth win of the season. Three relievers, Jack Liddell, Treshon Paschal, who made his season debut, and Dawson Hurford, worked an inning each and the trio did not allow a hit.
For the weekend, Orr and Nicoll led SAU with five hits each, while Duke and Richardson followed with four hits apiece. Of SAU's 34 hits, 16 went for extra bases which included a dozen doubles. Five players finished the three-game series with two doubles each.
Sutton and Richardson led with five RBI and all eight starters delivered at least two RBI on the weekend. Nicoll scored a team-leading six runs, while six other players scored at least three times.
Eighteen of the Muleriders' 30 runs were produced over the first three innings of action which included six first-inning runs and nine third-inning runs. SAU also pushed across six runs in the fifth.
Southern Arkansas welcomes Mississippi College to Magnolia on Tuesday for its final home midweek contest of the regular season. First-pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. Live coverage links are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.
