SEARCY, Ark. - #11/13 Southern Arkansas used a big time relief effort from
Hayden Oglesby in the seventh and eighth innings and a door-shutting appearance from
Isaiah Haynes in the ninth and the Muleriders' single tallies in the sixth and ninth innings were upheld in Friday night's Great American Conference opener at #24 Harding. SAU topped the Bisons 2-1 to improve to 7-0 in league action and 13-3 overall.
Oglesby (W, 2-0) worked out of a big jam in the post-stretch seventh as he walked the first guy he faced to load the bases before fanning the inning's fourth batter and getting a 6-3 double play to end the frame and the HU threat. In the eighth, Oglesby needed just thirteen pitches to put away the Bisons as a pair of groundouts sandwiched a strikeout and set the stage for a 1-1 decision heading into the ninth.
Trace Shoup led off the top half of the final frame with a double on the first pitch he saw and with one out, he swiped third to put himself in position for a sacrifice fly to give SAU the late advantage.
Chris Sutton delivered. Following a walk to
Jaden Woolbright, Sutton lifted the seventh pitch of his at bat to center field to chase home Shoup for the SAU lead.
An eight-pitch walk to start the home half of the ninth gave life to the Bisons who had nursed a 1-0 lead through five-full innings to start the contest. HU worked seven-, nine- and six-pitch counts in the ninth, but Haynes (S, 4) wasn't phased as a strike out on a bunt attempt to move the tying run to second, a fly out to center field and an emphatic strike out closed the door in the opener.
In the game-tying sixth,
Will Richardson recorded the second of a three-hit evening to leadoff the frame and he would score on a two-out single through the right side off contact from Shoup to match the Bisons' run in the first off of SAU starter
Jeremy Adorno.
Adorno went six innings and allowed just three hits and the single run with five strikeouts. The right hander tossed around five walks and a hit-by-pitch to handoff the opener to Oglesby and Haynes. Harding drew three walks and was HBP in the first inning to push across their lone run. Adorno allowed a one-out single in the third inning and then proceeded to retire 11 straight batters.
Richardson and Shoup combined for five of SAU's seven hits. Sutton, along with
Mikey McGinnis, accounted for the other two. SAU dealt with Maddox Long for seven innings recording five hits and drawing three walks. Against Merritt Jay in the eighth and ninth innings, three of the eight SAU batters he faced reached.
The Muleriders and the Bisons decide the series on Saturday with a doubleheader scheduled for 1 p.m. from Jerry Moore Field in Searcy. Live coverage links are available at
www.MuleriderAthletics.com.
