NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - For the second-straight day, (5) Southern Arkansas ended up on the wrong end of a walk off effort as the Muleriders rallied with single runs in the fifth, sixth and eighth innings to tie (2) Arkansas Tech at 3-3 only to see Wonder Boys push across the game-winning run in the tenth to beat the Muleriders 4-3 in the first elimination game of the Great American Conference Tournament on Friday afternoon from Dickey-Stephens Park. 

SAU (30-20) ranked ninth, the first team out, in the final weekly NCAA regional rankings before Sunday's selection show reached the 30-win mark for the 26th time since the program's first NCAA season in 1996. Three of SAU's four GAC Tournament games were decided by a single run with two going to extra innings. 

The Muleriders received 6.2 innings from starter Mikel Howell who saw Tech score runs in the first, second and third innings before settling in over his final 3+ frames. Eight of ATU's dozen hits, three of their four runs and five of their eight stranded base runners occurred in the first three frames. Howell sat down the Wonder Boys in order in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings and exited with the bases loaded with two gone in the post stretch seventh before Austin Adair fanned ATU's Christian Olea to keep the Mulerider deficit at 3-2. 

SAU found the scoreboard in the fifth inning as Brandon Nicoll flew out to center field to chase home Jackson Duke who walked to leadoff the inning and advanced to third on a double by Clay Burrows. With two outs in the sixth, Grant Roosma doubled and moved up an additional bag on a throwing error and Duke followed with a base knock to score the former. The Muleriders left three runners on across the fifth and sixth innings in addition to leaving runners at the corners with one out in the third. 

With one out in the eighth, and following Adair's big punch out in the previous half inning which ignited the SAU dugout, Jaden Woolbright struck with a blast out to left center field to knot the game at 3-3. The Muleriders would be turned away again leaving runners at second and third. 

Adair worked a 12-pitch eighth and a 9-pitch ninth, but saw the Wonder Boys load the bases with one out in the tenth. Sean Sieve relieved Adair, but first pitch contact fell in right field to chase home the winning run. 

In the Muleriders' half of the ninth, Trace Shoup doubled with one out but was erased at third on contact by Nicoll. Will Richardson singled on the infield to put two on, but both would be left on the base paths as SAU stranded 11 on Friday.