Alva Review-Courier -

MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Behind several quality outings on the mound and a continual offensive surge, No. 14 Southern Arkansas dispatched a pair of nationally-ranked Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association opponents in No. 25 Central Oklahoma and No. 15 Central Missouri on Sunday afternoon to jockey into the Central Region Tournament finals on Monday.

Southern Arkansas improved to 40-18 on the season as it claimed a 10-5 win over the Bronchos (37-21) in Sunday's opener and an 11-6 victory over the Mules (39-17) in the second game of the day; which lasted over four and a half hours due to a 78-minute lightning delay. The Muleriders improve to 8-0 this postseason when facing elimination.

Monday's showdown with No. 11 Augustana, the tournament fifth-seed, is scheduled for a noon first-pitch. Southern Arkansas will need to win the opener to force the "if-necessary" game after the Vikings (47-8) made it through the bracket unscathed. Live coverage links for all of the day's action can be found here: http://muleriderathletics.com/sports/2018/5/13/2018-ncaa-dii-baseball-central-region-tournament.aspx.

In the second game of the day, SAU used a seven-run second inning to distance themselves from Central Missouri early and added a pair of runs in both the fourth and sixth innings. The comfortable lead proved beneficial as UCM plated three runs in the seventh, a single run in the eighth and two more in the ninth before redshirt freshman Hunter Lewis extinguished the threat.

Lewis tossed the final 1.1 innings for SAU against UCM after redshirt freshman Tanner Vaught labored for 7.2 innings in a herculean effort for the Muleriders which resulted in him picking up his first career win. Vaught dispersed 12 hits and allowed just one earned run to a Mule offense that entered having scored 31 runs in its previous three tournament games. Vaught, who fanned five Mules, allowed the leadoff batter to reach in the first five innings, but credit the right hander as he worked around the situations to strand eight Mule baserunners in his seven-plus innings of work.

Junior Dakota Wright led off the aforementioned game-changing second inning for the Muleriders with a well-struck solo shot out to centerfield that opened scoring in the tournament's 13th game. Redshirt freshman Cole Boyd followed with a single and scored on the next at bat as senior Mark Fontenot belted a two-run blast on the first-pitch he saw to give Southern Arkansas an early 3-0 lead.

With one out and two on, senior Sam Mrstik laced a double down the line in left field to plate a pair of Muleriders and would later come around to score after an error allowed classmate Jacob Richardson to reach. Richardson then raced home as Southern Arkansas batted through the lineup in the inning with Wright doubling to left field giving SAU a 7-0 lead.

Back-to-back RBI-singles from Richardson and senior Cortland McPherson accounted for the runs in the fourth inning, while consecutive run-scoring singles from the bat of Fontenot and redshirt sophomore Zach Muldoon resulted in the sixth inning runs and an 11-0 Mulerider lead.

Sunday's first elimination game against Central Oklahoma, the second meeting this season between the programs, ended up much like the first meeting on February 4 with the lone difference being extreme changes in the weather. The Muleriders and Bronchos combined for 15 runs on 21 hits to almost mirror the 18 runs on 19 hits that the two clubs combined for in the final game at the Air Hogs DII Classic three and a half months earlier.

Just as he did earlier in the month in his tournament start in Enid, junior starter Dillon Lawrence helped the Muleriders stave off elimination as he lasted 5.1 innings, while scattering eight hits and four runs, before being relieved by junior Eric White in the sixth inning. White closed the door for his ninth save of the season as he tossed the final 3.2 innings in a six-strikeout effort.

Southern Arkansas struck for three runs in the top of the first inning on a bases-clearing double by Boyd, who sent the 3-2 offering down the left field line for the Muleriders' only hit in the frame. UCO's Xavier Freeman answered in the home half of the first with a two-run blast that cut the early deficit to just a run.

The Muleriders tacked on a single run in the third inning on an opposite field, RBI-double by McPherson and manufactured two more runs in the fifth on a double by Fontenot to push SAU's lead back to three at 6-3.

Both programs plated single runs in the sixth, but for the Central Oklahoma offense, the damage afflicted could have been a lot worse. White's aforementioned relief effort began with two on and one out in the sixth and after walking the first guy he faced, the hard-throwing right hander punched out the next two Bronchos to end the bases-loaded threat.

That walk and a solo home run in the seventh were the only blemishes for White, who received some run support of his own in the form of a three-run blast from Wright in the eighth inning, as he worked quick eighth and ninth innings for the Muleriders. Wright's blast came on the first pitch he saw after the Bronchos elected to intentionally walk McPherson, who left the yard with a solo shot in the sixth inning.

SAU banged out ten extra base hits on Sunday. Five players collected multiple RBI with Wright and Fontenot each leading with five apiece. Six players recorded two or more hits combined in the wins with Richardson leading the way with five, Boyd adding four and Fontenot, McPherson and Muldoon each producing three. Richardson crossed home a team-high five times.