MAGNOLIA, Ark. - The Muleriders did what the Muleriders needed to do. In dramatic fashion, Southern Arkansas rallied in Friday's Great American Conference series opener against Arkansas-Monticello to improve to 24-7 and no other league school would reach two dozen conference wins throughout the weekend as the Muleriders claimed the program's seventh GAC regular season title overall and third straight. SAU carries the top seed into this weekend's opening round of the GAC Tournament and will play host to (8) Southeastern Oklahoma State in a best-of-3 series from Walker Stadium at Goodheart Field.
In the opener, Southern Arkansas (34-15, 24-9 GAC) fell behind 5-0 through three and a half innings of play as the Weevils used three home runs to build its early advantage. SAU used a
Jackson Duke solo shot in the fourth to respond to UAM's early firepower and put the Muleriders on the board.
It wasn't until the post-stretch seventh that the Muleriders made its push. Trailing 5-1, a sacrifice fly off the swing of
Brandon Nicoll chased home
Riley Orr and moved
Brett McGee to third and the latter would score on a wild pitch to pull SAU to within two of the UAM lead.
Conner Allen followed with a solo blast out to left field to cut the deficit to a single run.
UAM answered in the eighth inning with a three-run frame courtesy of a wild pitch, RBI single and a profitable double steal to grab an 8-4 advantage.
Those in attendance supporting the Blue and Gold are no strangers to late inning drama from the Muleriders, especially over the past few seasons, and Friday's opener was no different.
Southern Arkansas entered the bottom of the eighth down four at 8-4 and proceeded to plate nine runs on ten hits to take a 13-8 lead which would hold as
Jack Liddell faced just one over the minimum in 1.1 innings of relief to earn the win. UAM finished the game with eight runs on nine hits; a single run and one fewer hit than the Muleriders produced in the eighth inning alone.
Duke left the yard for the second time to cut the deficit to 8-6 and with the bases loaded and only one out, Nicoll launched a Grand Slam pushing SAU out front 10-8. A two-run single from
Jack Roubik supplied some insurance and Duke recorded his third RBI of the inning with a double into left field for the 13th and final run.
A four-run fourth inning in game two served as the difference between the two clubs as UAM even the series with a 4-1 win. SAU managed just four hits, while its third-inning run was another sacrifice fly by Nicoll. Sunday's finale featured three tied scores and six lead changes with the fifth, seventh and eighth innings standing as the lone frames without a run from at least one of the teams. UAM pushed across two runs in the top of the ninth to take a lead that would hold and earn the series win.
For the series, McGee led with seven hits of which three were doubles and another was the 56th home run of his career. Nicoll and
Will Richardson both followed with five base knocks. Nicoll homered twice and added a double and triple as he finished a single shy of the cycle on Sunday. His eight RBI led the team with McGee and Duke each adding four. McGee scored five runs with Duke,
Riley Orr and
Chris Sutton crossing three times. Liddell earned the win in relief of game one, while
Chance Bolter,
Cy Murphy and
Isaiah Haynes produced scoreless appearances.
Friday's opener against the Savage Storm is set for 6 p.m. with Saturday's game two scheduled for 2 p.m. An "if-necessary" game will follow the 2 p.m. start. Live coverage links are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com. The winner of the best-of-3 series heads to Springdale, Arkansas for the GAC's four-team, double-elimination weekend from Arvest Ballpark.
