SEARCY, Ark. – Southern Arkansas right hander Jeremy Adorno fired eight innings of three-hit baseball and fanned 11 Harding hitters in Saturday afternoon's opener and the Muleriders backed the freshman's effort on the hill by pushing across six runs late to take the Great American Conference series with a 6-0 win over the Bisons. Harding rallied with a three-run sixth inning in the series finale to fend off the sweep-minded Muleriders. SAU's record moves to 28-8 overall and 21-3 in league play.
 
Adorno was perfect through five as he tallied seven strikeouts in that time frame which included retiring the side via K in the fourth. Harding's first of just three hits against the first-year Mulerider came in the sixth inning, but Adorno would work around two runners in scoring position to keep the Bisons off of the scoreboard. He worked around a leadoff double in the seventh and runners at the corners with just one away in the eighth, before Jack Liddell took over the ninth with SAU leading 6-0.
 
Brandon Nicoll singled home Chris Sutton to open scoring and two pitches later, Tucker Burton lifted his 12^th home run of the season out to left centerfield to cushion the Muleriders' late lead at 4-0. IN the ninth, Chris Lyles pushed across a pair of runs with a two-out single through the right side.
 
Nicoll enjoyed a three-hit game in the opener, while Burton and McGee added two hits each. In the finale, Burton and Sutton each recorded two hits.
 
SAU led 3-0 through three and a half innings of play. Jacob Martinez singled to open scoring in the second, Brett McGee homered in the third to give the Muleriders a 2-0 lead and Martinez scored on a rundown of Bryson Rhodes in the fourth. Harding responded and scored twice in the home half of the fourth, but the Muleriders added one run in the fifth and Burton singled home Sutton.
 
Consecutive throwing errors by the Muleriders allowed the tying run to reach base and opened the door for the Bisons in the sixth. An additional fielding error allowed the both the tying and go-ahead runs to cross with two outs in the frame.
 
Wyatt Marr worked four innings allowing four hits, two runs and a walk. Santos Sosa pitched the final two innings and allowed just two hits, with all three runs in the sixth charged as unearned.  
 
Southern Arkansas prepares to meet Ouachita for the fourth time this season with a scheduled midweek contest set for Tuesday, April 12 in Arkadelphia. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. Live coverage links are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.