MANSFIELD, Texas — Right when it had cooled back down, the Muleriders brought the heat in the Lone Star State, as Southern Arkansas has moved on to 3-0 with a huge Central Region victory over the ninth-ranked Augustana Vikings. SAU made its first acquaintance with Augie since facing the Vikings in May of 2025 in Magnolia for the Central Regional Tournament.
Team 28 saw two pitchers enter the circle in today's bout with Augustana, as Emma Duncan got the start and pitched for 2.2 innings before Kassie Rhodes came in for relief and pitched the remainder of the contest (4.1 innings). Rhodes ended up earning the win, as the senior allowed just one run unearned, two hits, no walks, and recorded two strikeouts.
Offensively, the Blue and Gold saw many elite performances, as multiple Muleriders had impactful outings. Hitting the games lone home run was Regan Dillon, for her lone hit of the afternoon, as Dillon's bomb resulted in two runs scored. After that, Dillon made it one base two more times after being walked. Being walked four times in the bout was Maddie Leal, as the Texas native also accounted for two runs and an RBI. Leal also accounted for the second-most walks recorded in a single game in the program (Brooke Goad | 5 | 4/16/2016), along with the team as a whole breaking the program record for walks in a game with 15. The previous record of 14 was held by the 2018 Muleriders (5/4/2018). Going 3-for-4 at the plate, and keeping her .750 batting average, was America Rubio. Ame assisted the Muleriders with her two runs batted in the top of the fifth, which began the Blue and Gold's separation from the Vikings.
Out of the gate, the Muleriders jumped on top with bases loaded (2 walks, 1 hit), as Sophia Luetticke recorded an RBI as the third walked batter in five at-bats, 1-0.
Moving on to the second inning, Dillon's dinger over the center field wall built Southern Arkansas lead to 3-0, scoring AvaMarie Perry, who made it on base with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch.
The Vikings countered back in the bottom second frame with a ground-rule double down the left field line, which scored a runner from second base, 3-1. Augie added on another run after a ground out, which scored a runner from third, 3-2.
After a scoreless top third, Augie tied the game up in the bottom half of the inning with a single up the middle to score a runner from second.
Neither team added on to the score in the fourth inning, but not in the fifth, as the Muleriders blew the doors open in the top of the fifth with Leal starting the scoring by drawing a walk with bases loaded, then Rubio singling up the middle to score Perry and Briana Jones from third and second, and then finally Leal stealing home for an 7-3 lead over the Vikings.
Augie showed that even while down, they were not out in the bottom half of the frame, as the unit scored on a throwing error to bring the deficit down to three runs, 7-4.
The two groups went scoreless for another inning in the sixth, but SAU secured its victory in the top of the seventh with a second four-run showing, as Peyton Raley walked on based loaded and scored Leal, Jenny Bouthillier singled in the infield to score Kelsie Adams but also saw Raley scored on a fielding error, and then finally a Payton Owens double to right center field for Paris Endris to score, giving the Muleriders an 11-4 advantage and victory over the ninth-ranked team in the country.
Up Next:
Due to low temperatures tomorrow, games at the Lone Star College Classic have been pushed back an hour. Southern Arkansas will now face Emporia State at 12;15 PM, and Drury at 2:30 PM.
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