Southern Arkansas Wins 2011 GSC Baseball Championship
Millington, TN—Southern Arkansas University earned its second Gulf South Conference Baseball Championship in three seasons here today at USA Stadium in Millington, TN.
SAU (36-14) scored two runs in the top of the ninth inning to clip West Division rival and Champion Harding (41-12), 5-3. The Muleriders claimed its third overall Title, second in three years, and collected the league’s automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.
Harding advanced to its first-ever GSC Title contest in thrilling fashion, clipping No. 4 West seed Arkansas Tech (32-19), 4-3. The in-state rivals each plated one run in the second inning with HU scoring via a fielding error and ATU lighting the scoreboard on Madison Beaird’s RBI single. The Wonder Boys scored two more runs in the fifth when Nick Makris found home plate on a wild pitch and Nate Wilder laced a one-run single. The Bisons saved their best for last, tying matters with two runs in the top of the eighth inning and then grabbing the lead with one run in the final frame. Erin McCarver and Trent Kinnear both hit RBI singles in the eighth, while Chase Presley provided the go-ahead RBI-double in the top of the ninth.
Harding led the Championship Game, 2-0, at the end of the third inning after scoring on a fielding error in the first and adding another run in the bottom of the third. Southern Arkansas responded with three unanswered scores, led by a two-run double by Logan Williams in the fourth and Adam Boucher’s one-run double in the fifth. HU did not wait long to plate the equalizer when Chase Presley laced a RBI single in the sixth. Neither team broke the tie until the final inning as Trey Buck laced home the go-ahead run and Patrick Johnson followed with an insurance RBI single. Williams led Southern Arkansas’ offense, going 4-for-6 with two RBI, while Doug Shields picked up his second win of the Tournament.
2011 All-Tournament Team
SP-Dan Bream, SAU (MOP)
DH-Chris Harrison, SAU
SP-Doug Shields, SAU
OF-Matt Johnson, ATU
2B-Josh Riley, ATU
OF-Michael Vinson, DSU
1B-Billy Ninemire, HU
SP-Lucas Waddell, HU
SS-Charles Bradley, HU
OF-Greg Pron, UWF
SP-Daniel Vargas-Vila, UWF
#GSC#