MAGNOLIA, Ark. — No. 2 seed Southern Arkansas scored 12 runs in the top of the first inning on Friday night and rolled past No. 3 seed Henderson State 28-5 in the winner's bracket at the NCAA Central Regional.

With the loss, the Reddies (39-16) will play in an elimination game on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. against Northeastern State. The winner will advance to face the Muleriders again on Saturday afternoon and would have to defeat SAU twice to advance to the Super Regional stage.

The Muleriders jumped on HSU from the very start and scored 12 runs on seven hits and five walks in the first inning. The Reddies got four runs back in the third on three hits, including a two-RBI double from Bryson Haskins, but Southern Arkansas ran away with it to move to 2-0 in the regional.

Dillon Thomas went 3-for-5 at the plate with a home run to lead the Reddies offensively, while Haskins reached base four times and drove in two runs on his double in the third. Greyson Stevens extended his school-record on-base streak to 44 games with an infield hit in the seventh inning.

Henderson struggled to find the strike zone in defeat and issued 16 walks to SAU. The Muleriders had 23 hits on the night and also took advantage of five hit batters.