BENTONVILLE, Ark. – The Muleriders made the journey to Northwest Arkansas for the Alvy Early Memorial Classic held in Bentonville, Arkansas hosted by the University of Arkansas-Monticello. Southern Arkansas faced Drury (W, 2-0), Wayne State (W, 8-0/6), and Truman State (W, 9-2) all on day one (Feb. 9) of the Classic and ended the day 3-0 in a rare three-game day for the Muleriders. On day two (Feb. 10), SAU matched up against Washburn (L, 7-8/9) and No. 8 UT-Tyler (L, 0-8/6) on Saturday. Southern Arkansas was upended by both the Ichabods and the Patriots to end the weekend for the Muleriders.
Vs. Drury (Friday, Feb. 9)
Southern Arkansas opened the Classic against the Drury Panthers in a nail-biter contest in which the defense earned MVP in as
Sydney Ward claimed her second win of the season by allowing just one hit and pitching a shutout for the Muleriders fourth win of the season. SAU managed to record four hits, but would score their two runs in the top of the seventh with
Cassidy Lear and
Haley Nillen scoring unearned runs to claim the advantage off of a fielding error by the Panthers.
Vs. Wayne State (Friday, Feb. 9)
Earning her second win of the campaign was junior transfer
Brinson Rogers after pitching for four of the five innings played against the Wildcats. Rogers and
Corie Byrd combined together to pitch the Muleriders second shutout of the day with five total hits allowed (Rogers 4; Byrd 1). Eight different players of Southern Arkansas recorded a run on during the afternoon bout.
Haley Nillen and
Jenna Huey each accounted for a pair of hits in the matchup to assist the Muleriders in their second run rule victory of 2024. Up 2-0 in the third, Southern Arkansas needed one more push to assert their dominance in the contest and
America Rubio did just that with a two-run dinger to left center field and advance
Jenna Huey for two RBIs. SAU accounted for four more runs off of a double from Lear (scoring Nillen), a triple by
Gracie King (scoring
Ava Dunn), and a single from
Bella Angelo (scoring
Brooklyn Reed and King).
Vs. Truman State (Friday, Feb. 9)
Making her debut in 2024 was senior pitcher
Morgan McAlexander to earn her first win of the campaign after she played five innings against Truman State while giving up four hits and a couple runs, but paired up with four strikeouts against 14 at-bats. The Muleriders began the contest against the Bulldogs a bit slow following the two events played earlier. In the top of the first inning, TSU put up a couple of runs off a single into right field to score a pair of Bulldogs. Southern Arkansas quickly came right back as Nillen knocked a single into center field to score Rubio and Huey and tie the ballgame. Dillon would then record her own single on the left side of the field to advance
Ariana Rolle to third and score Nillen. Moctezuma capped off the strong second inning by accounting for a three-run dinger to score Dillon, Rolle, and herself. In the third, Nillen recorded her second hit of the contest to score Angelo. In the sixth,
Savannah Clausen made her Mulerider debut as a pinch hitter by singling into left field to score
Natalie Rector off of a fielding error by the left fielder. For the final score of the game, Moctezuma flew out to center field, but would advance
Mackensie Baldwin to third and score Clausen.
Vs. Washburn (Saturday, Feb. 10)
Southern Arkansas dropped game four of the weekend after a hard-fought ballgame against the Ichabods. The contest went into extra innings where the Muleriders fell to Washburn 8-7 in nine. SAU held the lead as large as 6-1, but would see retaliation from Washburn as the Ichabods rallied and outscored the Muleriders from the fifth inning 7-1 to win 8-7. Dillon recorded her fifth homerun of the season along with Southern Arkansas accounting for ten hits, but having nine runners left on base.
Vs. No. 8 University of Texas at Tyler (Saturday, Feb. 10)
The Muleriders would fall to the Patriots in their final game in the Alvy Early Memorial Classic as UT-Tyler would run-rule Southern Arkansas. The Muleriders were held to four hits against the reigning LSC champions. UT-Tyler held a 1-0 lead from the second to the fourth inning, but then extended their lead in the fifth and sixth with a four and three couple of innings to defeat the Muleriders 8-0 in six innings.
ON DECK
Southern Arkansas heads to the Sooner State next weekend for the Raising Cane's Softball Festival where they will compete against Fort Hays State, Northeastern State, Nebraska-Kearney, Central Missouri, No. 19 Rogers State, and No. 3 Central Oklahoma.
