CLEVELAND, Miss. - No one in the history of the Great American Conference has hit more home runs in a career than
Brett McGee's 52. The latest write in to McGee's longball ledger came after the senior catcher/designated hitter left the yard with a solo shot in the sixth inning of Tuesday afternoon's midweek tilt at Delta State. Southern Arkansas dropped the contest, but McGee added his name to the top of yet another career record.
McGee, the first Mulerider to reach 50 career home runs, passed Arkansas-Monticello's Jordan Johnson who set the record as a senior in 2022. Johnson hit 51 home runs in 942 plate appearances for the Weevils. McGee's 52 have come in 17 fewer plate appearances. The Pittsburg, Texas native's 11 home runs this season are currently inside the top 35 nationally, while his career home run total is currently second among active career leaders in Division II and fourth among active career leaders in the NCAA.
The Statesmen struck early with seven first-inning runs and a three-run home run in the second to take a 10-0 lead before the Muleriders managed to hit through the lineup. McGee's blast opened scoring for the Muleriders in the sixth and a three-run blast by
Chris Lyles kept SAU in the contest momentarily at 10-4 entering the stretch. DSU put the game away with four runs in the home half of the frame which was capped by a two-run blast to end the second meeting of the two teams in a week's span.
Riley Orr and
Will Richardson each collected a pair of hits to account for half of SAU's eight base hits in the loss. Richardson and
Conner Allen scored runs along with McGee and Lyles.
Maddux Solomon tossed an efficient four innings for the Muleriders in relief. He allowed just one hit and a walk, while striking out a pair in his second appearance of the season.
Southern Arkansas prepares for its biggest league matchup of the season as a road trip to Russellville awaits the Muleriders this weekend. SAU and Arkansas Tech, tied atop the GAC standings at 16-5 in league play, are set for a three-game series on Friday and Saturday. Game start times, any potential schedule changes and live coverage links of the action are all available at
www.MuleriderAthletics.com.
