TAHLEQUAH, Okla. — The Mid-American Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) and the Great American Conference (GAC) have crossed over for the final weekend of pre-conference action, as the Muleriders began their weekend against the 12th-ranked Rogers State Hillcats (9-3) and the Fort Hays State Tigers (1-1).
Southern Arkansas came out on top in both matchups for Friday, as Team 28 grabbed their fourth-straight win over Rogers State and their sixth all-time against Fort Hays. With the two wins, the Muleriders have advanced to 12-0, for the unit's first 12-0 start to a new season since doing so in 2016, only a week prior to a full decade ago.
Three different pitchers got action today, as Emma Duncan and Kassie Rhodes received the starts for the two outing and Addie Morris made it into the circle for both. Morris earned the win in the first contest (vs. Rogers St.), while Rhodes claimed the win in the second game (vs. Fort Hays) with Duncan being credited with the save in game two (vs. Fort Hays).
Vs. Rogers State (W, 3-2 | 8 inn.)
The Muleriders collected a huge early win against the 12th-ranked Rogers State Hillcats, for SAU's second ranked victory of the season. Team 28 did so in a defensive battle to the very end, as the group had to clinch the win in extra innings.
Rogers State started the scoring the top of the first, as the group recorded a lead-off double and eventually scored with a single to center field to score the runner from second, 1-0 heading into the bottom frame of the first.
Both groups bats went silent until the Muleriders broke the silence in the bottom of the fourth, with Sophia Luetticke tripling down the left field line with one out, Paris Endris reaching on a fielder's choice to the short stop and advanced to second on a throw. Right after that, Jenny Bouthillier reached on a fielder's choice to third base. On the FC, Endris advanced to third, as Luetticke was thrown out at home. With the two outs, Payton Owens then doubled to right center field and scored Endris to tie the bout at 1-1 heading to the fifth inning.
Neither unit was able to break the silence again until the Hillcats did so with a lead-off home run in the top of the seventh to go up 2-1, which was the score heading into the bottom half of the seventh.
To lead off the bottom frame, Bouthillier drew a walk and had Leigha Gilbert pinch run for her. Gilbert was able to advance to second with Owens recording a sac bunt, calling her out at first. Then the Muleriders managed to tie the outing in clutch fashion, as AvaMarie Perry singled to center field to score Gilbert, tying the game at 2-2 and heading to extras.
With extras, the international tiebreaker rule was put in place, as the Hillcats started the inning with a runner on base, but went three-up-three-down, sending the game into the bottom half of the eighth.
With Regan Dillon being the most recent out for SAU, she was set to start the frame on second, but had Peyton Raley pinch run for her. No time after that, Maddie Leal walked it off for the Blue and Gold with a double to center field to score Raley, with a final of 3-2.
Vs. Fort Hays State (W, 9-5)
Following Southern Arkansas' big-time win against Rogers State, the Muleriders shifted their focus to the FHSU Tigers. The Blue and Gold saw a much different path to victory against the Tigers, as the two groups found themselves in sort of a shootout, but not until Team 28 had a large enough lead to cruise to victory, winning 9-5.
SAU started off strong in the outing, as the Muleriders stumped Fort Hays in the top of the first and went on to recorded three runs in the bottom half of the frame, that came by Luetticke recording a dinger over left center to score America Rubio and Regan Dillon, which followed a Dillon walk and Rubio double. Southern Arkansas went on to lea d the game 3-0 heading into the second.
The second inning saw much of the same, as the Blue and Gold recorded another shutout half inning and tacked on three runs. The Muleriders did so with AvaMarie Perry being hit by a pitch, Dillon doubling and advancing Perry to third. Perry then scored on a sac fly by Rubio, which also advanced Dillon and Leal a base over. Right after that, Kelsie Adams singled to left field and scored Dillon, while also advancing Leal to third. Luetticke then recorded the second sac fly of the inning to score Leal for the final run of the inning, SAU up 6-0.
Fort Hays then broke their silence with a run scored on a sac fly in the top of the third inning.
After a scoreless frame by the Muleriders, The Tigers added another run in the top of the fourth with a double to center field to bring the game within four, 6-2.
Southern Arkansas had another scoreless inning in the fourth, as Fort Hays State tacked on another pair of runs in the top of the fifth, as the Tigers recorded a home run with a runner on base, for a town-run homer, 6-4.
Team 28 finally broke their hitting silence in the bottom fifth, as Endris got on base with a single to right field, with her being subbed out for pinch runner Gilbert. Gilbert then stole second and was batted in by an Owens' single, 7-4 heading to the sixth.
The Muleriders held FHSU scoreless in the sixth, and recorded two more runs in the bottom half of the inning, as Leal singled with one out and Rubio took advantage of Leal's single with a two-run bomb to go up 9-4 heading to the seventh.
The Tigers were able to account for one more run with an eventual single scoring a run with a fielding error, producing the final score of 9-5.
Up Next:
Southern Arkansas next outing takes place on Valentine's Day, as the Muleriders will take on the 7th-ranked Central Oklahoma Bronchos and 17th-ranked Missouri Southern State Lions. Due to weather in the forecast, SAU will now take on UCO at 1:00 PM and MSSU at 3:15 PM tomorrow.
