ARKADELPHIA – Southern Arkansas picked up a pair of wins over the Ouachita baseball team on Friday at Rab Rodgers Field, defeating the Tigers 9-1 in the opener and 9-3 in the nightcap of the Great American Conference doubleheader.
In the first game, SAU (14-7, 9-3 GAC) scored early and gradually pulled away to secure the win. The Muleriders plated a run in the first inning and added another on a solo home run in the second.
Ouachita (10-9, 5-7 GAC) broke through in the sixth inning when
David Bull delivered an RBI single to right field to score
Raygan Yager and cut the deficit to 2-1.
SAU responded with a decisive seventh inning, taking advantage of multiple Tiger errors to score three unearned runs and extend the lead to 5-1. The Muleriders added four more runs in the ninth inning to put the game out of reach.
Octavio Mendivil led the Tigers offensively with two hits, while Bull drove in Ouachita's lone run.
In the second game, SAU again jumped in front with single runs in the second and third innings and two in the fourth to hold a 4-0 lead.
Ouachita answered in the bottom of the fourth inning to cut its deficit in half on an RBI single from
Connor Hill and an RBI single from
Kyndall Cassidy.
Southern Arkansas continued to capitalize on opportunities, scoring four runs in the fifth inning to reach nine runs total for all three games of the series. The Tigers plated a run in the seventh on an RBI single by
Reece McWilliams, but could not draw any closer as the Muleriders secured the 9-3 victory.
Ouachita outhit SAU in the series finale 10-9, marking the seventh double-digit hit performance of the year.
Jaren Ceasar and
Joseph Bolin each had two hits in the finale.
The Tigers are back on the road on Tuesday, March 10 for a midweek game against Mississippi College before hosting Southern Nazarene next weekend for a three-game GAC series at Rab Rodgers Field.
