TYLER, Texas – The consensus top-10 ranked Southern Arkansas baseball team exacted some revenge from a mid-week defeat at home less than two weeks ago as they beat No. 24-ranked UT Tyler on their home field, by a score of 14-11.
 
The win for the Muleriders (33-13) was secured in comeback fashion as a nine-run fourth inning by UT Tyler had given the Patriots (32-14) an 11-3 lead. Prior to that big inning for UT Tyler, the Muleriders jumped out to a 3-0 lead through their first two trips to the plate thanks to a run in the first and two in the second.
 
The run in the first was Riley Orr scoring on a Brandon Nicoll double down the left field line. Orr previously led off the inning with a single to left. In the second, SAU wasted no time in adding to their early advantage with a leadoff home run off the bat of Will Richardson. Three batters later, the second run scored as Chris Sutton singled to left to drive in Jackson Duke, who walked in the previous at-bat and then reached second on a wild pitch.
 
UT Tyler would get those two runs back in their half of the second inning, cutting the Mulerider lead back down to a run.
 
After neither team scored in the third, SAU was turned away in the top of the fourth. That gave way to the aforementioned nine-run inning in the bottom half that the Patriots put together.
 
Fortunately, once the Muleriders got out of that inning, the Patriots' offense would be held in complete check as they managed just one hit and four baserunners total the remainder of the game.
 
While the SAU bullpen was throwing zeroes, the Mulerider offense went to work on the comeback effort. In that vein, the Muleriders scored three runs in the fifth, one in the sixth and two more in the seventh to pull within a couple of runs, 11-9.
 
In the fifth, the Muleriders loaded the bases quickly with no outs thanks to a single and two walks. After loading the bases, it looked as though UT Tyler might limit the damage as they traded a run for two outs by inducing a 6-4-3 double play. Following that twin-killing, however, the Muleriders scored their second run of the inning on a wild pitch.
 
A walk to Chris Garcia and an infield single by Sutton kept the inning going and flipped the lineup back to the top and Orr. Orr then drove in the third run of the inning as he reached on an error by the Patriots' shortstop.
 
In the sixth, SAU's run scored on a RBI double to right-centerfield off the bat of Richardson. An inning later, the Muleriders used the longball for their runs as Nicoll connected on a two-run shot to left field.
 
Now trailing by just two runs and the game settled down on the mound, the Muleriders completed their comeback in the eighth.
 
In that inning, SAU quickly applied pressure as Chris Lyles reached on an error by the UT Tyler pitcher. Zach Renard then came on to pinch-run for Lyles and promptly was moved to third on a double by Richardson. Mikey McGinnis then drove in Renard and moved Richardson to third on a sacrifice fly to left.
 
A hit-by-pitch to Garcia put runners on the corners with one out for Sutton who laid down a successful sacrifice bunt that allowed Richardson to score the tying run. Two batters later, the Muleriders were in the lead thanks to a clutch three-run home run off the bat of career home run leader, Brett McGee. The blast made McGee the outright leader in career RBI with 222.
 
Now leading, the Muleriders were able to close out the Patriots as Chance Bolter and Isaiah Haynes handled the eighth and ninth innings, respectively. Bolter's eighth inning capped what was a sensational relief outing as he ended up pitching 4.0 scoreless innings and only allowed one hit and one walk. That effort earned Bolter his third win of the season.
 
In the ninth, Haynes retired the first two batters, but then got into a bit of a tight spot as he walked the next two to bring the potential tying run to the plate. Despite that, Haynes got a harmless flyout for the third out in the next at-bat to put the finishing touches on his 12^th save of the season, putting him one back of tying the single-season record at SAU.
 
The Muleriders will now prepare for their final weekend series of the regular season as they play host to Arkansas-Monticello. The three-game series is scheduled 3 p.m. doubleheader on Friday and conclude with a 12 p.m. on Sunday.