Having several games cancelled due to weather last weekend, the Henderson State Softball team picked up a pair of non-conference games on Thursday in Bentonville, Ark. against Oklahoma Panhandle State University and Lincoln University. The Lady Reddies (7-6) fell to Oklahoma Panhandle in the first game 6-3, but pounded out 16 hits against Lincoln for an 8-0 win in six innings.

In the first game, already ahead 1-0, OPSU used three Lady Reddie errors in the top of the fourth inning to plate two more runs and led 3-0. HSU would answer back in the bottom of the frame with a two-out, two RBI double off of the bat of senior second baseman Ashley Ray. An unearned run in the top of the fifth extended Panhandle's lead to 4-2.

Back-to-back homeruns off of Lady Reddie starter Melissa Decker to start the top of the seventh inning gave the Lady Aggies (6-5) the remaining insurance they would need to pick up the win. A two-out RBI single in the bottom of the seventh by Sarah Gipson gave HSU their third run of the game.

Decker, now 4-2 in the circle, would be saddled with the loss after working into the seventh inning. She gave up nine hits, allowed three earned runs, and struck out five.

Limited to just five hits against Oklahoma Panhandle, the Lady Reddies' bats came alive in a big way as five players recorded multiple hits helping the team total16 hits against Lincoln.

The most damage came in the top of the first inning as the Lady Reddies played as the visiting team in the game. In that inning, back-to-back singles by Ashley Ray and Amy Halter to start the inning set the stage for freshman first baseman Sarah Gipson. The Grand Saline, Texas native then launched her first career homerun to stake the Lady Reddies to an early 3-0 lead. They would add another run in the inning and led 4-0 after their first at-bats.

With the 4-0 lead on her side, game two starter Stephanie Johnson took to the circle and put up nothing but zeros in the run column. The freshman right-hander would scatter four hits over six innings of work and would strike out a career-high seven batters en route to picking up her first career win. Two runs each in the top of the fifth and sixth innings gave the Lady Reddies their eight runs and put the run-rule into effect, ending the game in six innings.

In the second game, the top three hitters in the HSU lineup, A. Ray, Halter, and Gipson went a combined 8-for-11 and scored four runs. Halter was a perfect 3-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored. Gipson was 3-for-4 with three RBIs. In the middle of the lineup Brittine Dean was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and a RBI while Heather Ivey picked up a RBI and was 2-for-4 in the game.

The Lady Reddies will now enter Great American Conference play as they will make the trip across the street to play cross-street rival Ouachita Baptist University for a four-game set starting on Saturday, February 25th. First pitch on Saturday is set for 1:00 p.m.