Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

Henderson State recorded its first-ever Great American Conference series sweep as the Reddies beat East Central 5-1 and 6-5, Saturday at Clyde Berry Field in Arkadelphia, Ark.

The Reddies, 9-2 overall and 5-1 in the GAC, got a solid pitching performance from Austin Coble in the first game, and some timely hits by Zac Zdanowicz and Michael Corso in the finale.

In the opener Henderson clubbed out 12 hits including two hits each by Carlos Rodriguez, Matt Evans, Jeff Beck, and Dustin Hudson. Hudson belted out his second home run of the series while Beck had a double and two runs batted in.

Austin Coble put on another stellar pitching performance allowing just one run, scattering five hits and striking out three batters to improve to 3-0 on the year. Coble who pitched 20 scoreless innings until giving up a run in the seventh-inning, has allowed just one run in 22 innings of work this season for a 0.43 earned run average.

In the finale, the Reddies struck quickly scoring two runs in the bottom of the first-inning.
Zdanowicz led off the inning with an infield single with Coble reaching when he was hit by a pitch. Corso then smashed a single up the middle to score Zdanowicz and advance Coble to third. Coble then scored on a sacrifice fly by Rodriguez to centerfield.

After both teams scored single runs in the third-inning, ECU put together five straight hits in the fourth-inning and scored four runs to take a 5-3 lead.

The Tiger lead wouldn't last long as the Reddies struck for two runs in the bottom of the fourth to tie the score.

With two outs, Andrew Reynolds reached when he was hit by a pitch, then Mitch Frey singled to center field to set the stage for Zdanowicz. Zdanowicz smashed an Andrew Olson fastball to deep right-center field for a triple scoring both Reynolds and Frey.

In the Reddie fifth, Corso singled to right to lead off the inning. Corso then advanced to third on a pair of wild pitches. Taylor Coleman entered the game to run for Corso and scored when Michael Schell hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield which resulted in the game-winning run.

Hudson pitched five innings to pick up the win and improve to 3-0 on the year. Jordan Wright relieved Hudson in the sixth and finished the game to pick up his third save of the year.

Hudson ended the three-game series going 5-for-8 with a pair of home runs and 3 RBI, while Zdanowicz ended the series with six hits with Corso collecting five hits and 5 RBIs.

Henderson will play host to Arkansas-Fort Smith for two 7-inning games on Sunday with the first-pitch set for Noon at Clyde Berry Field. The two were to meet on Tuesday, Feb. 26, but do scheduling issues the games were moved.