ARKADELPHIA, Ark. — In a wild, high-scoring midweek affair, Henderson State rallied from a 6-1 deficit and scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to defeat No. 8 Southern Arkansas 11-10 at Clyde Berry Field.

The victory is the Reddies' second-straight over the Top-10 Muleriders and improves their record to 23-10 on the season.

David Vilches led HSU at the plate by nearly hitting for the cycle. Vilches finished 3-for-4 with a double, a triple and a home run. He reached base safely four times and now has 12 home runs this season — just three shy of the school record for a single season. Pate Fullerton also had a strong showing with the bat and recorded two hits and three RBIs.

Southern Arkansas (25-7) came out hot at the start and used three home runs in the first four innings to seize a commanding 6-1 lead after four-and-a-half frames. 

Henderson began to fight its way back in the bottom half of the fourth and used a home run from Vilches, a two-RBI single from Fullerton and a sacrifice fly from Kaden Argenbright to plate three runs and close the gap to 6-5.

Three more hits, which included a home run, from SAU extended the Muleriders' advantage to 8-5 in the fifth, but Southern Arkansas hurt its own cause in the bottom half of the inning. The Reddies got a leadoff double from Greyson Stevens, then took advantage of four-straight walks issued by SAU pitching to score three runs and tie the game at 8-8.

After the only full scoreless inning of the contest in the sixth, HSU took its first lead in the seventh, when a leadoff triple from Vilches set up an RBI fielder's choice off the bat of Alec Lewis and gave Henderson a 9-8 advantage.

The lead did not last long for the Reddies, however, as SAU got a big two-out, bases-loaded, two-RBI hit in the top of the eighth to retake a 10-9 advantage. An error in the inning by HSU made both runs unearned.

Henderson stranded the tying and go-ahead runs on second and third base in its turn to bat in the eighth, but reliever Brayden Bebee struck out the side in the top of the ninth to give the Reddies one final chance at the plate.

That final chance was all HSU needed to come away with a win. Lewis got the inning started with an infield single off the glove of the SAU pitcher, setting up pinch-runner Montana Korte, who scampered all the way to third base after a wild pitch and a passed ball. With no outs and Korte on third, Bryson Haskins delivered one of the biggest hits of the game into centerfield to score the run and tie the game at 10-10.

After Haskins' single, two-straight walks by two different Mulerider pitchers loaded the bases for Fullerton with no outs. Needing to simply put a ball in play against the drawn-in infield of SAU, Fullerton did his job and lifted a 2-2 pitch into left field to score Haskins and win it 11-10 for Henderson.

Both teams finished with 11 hits in the game. The Reddies drew eight walks at the plate and struck out just four times. 

HSU returns to action on Friday at 6 p.m. when it hosts Arkansas Tech in the opener of the three-game GAC series at Clyde Berry Field.