Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

Stellar pitching performances by Colton Lorance and Dylan Howell led Henderson State to a double-header sweep of Northwestern Oklahoma State, Friday at Clyde Berry Field in Arkadelphia, Ark.

The Reddies, winners of four straight, recorded a 3-1 win in game one and followed with a 2-1 victory to improve to 11-19 on the season and 6-11 in the Great American Conference.

The opening game of the series was a classic pitcher's duel as Lorance and NWOSU's Zach Postoak pitched six shutout innings before both teams struck for runs in the seventh-inning.

In the Ranger half of the inning, Calvin Ellis reached when he was hit by a Lorance pitch. Ellis advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Danny O'Connell with O'Connell reaching courtesy of a Reddie error.

Joe Coto then hit a one-out double to score Ellis to give the Rangers the 1-0 lead. Lorance managed to get out of the inning thanks to a diving catch by left-fielder Joseph Gary.
In the bottom half of the inning, the Reddies went to work with two-outs.

Carlos Rodriguez singled up the middle to jump-start the Reddies with Conner Brackhahn reaching on a walk. The Reddies loaded the bases on an AJ Kruzel infield single.

Junior catcher Andrew Reynolds then provided the big hit the Reddies needed. The Cabot, Ark. product drove Postoak's pitch deep to right field to clear the bases and put Henderson on top 3-1.

Relief pitcher Luke Tebbetts entered the game for Lorance to begin the eighth-inning.

The freshman from Winnsboro, Texas pitched the final two innings to pick up his first save of the season and secure the win for Lorance.

Lorance pitched 7 complete innings, gave up just three hits and struck out six batters to improve to 3-2 on the season.

Matt Evans, Kruzel and Reynolds each had two hits for the Reddies.

In the nightcap, Howell picked up his first collegiate win going the distance to improve to 1-3 on the season.

The freshman from North Little Rock struck out a pair of batters with the only blemish of the game occurring in the sixth-inning as Jonathan Freemyer hit a solo home run.

Henderson State scored both its runs in the fifth-inning, again with two-outs.

Conner Brackhahn reached on an infield single to lead off the inning. Tadarious Hawkins later put a charge into a Joe Coto pitch that went off the center field fence to plate Brackhahn. Hawkins then scored on a wild pitch to account for the winning run.

The two teams will close out the series with a single nine-inning game Saturday at Clyde Berry Field with the first pitch set for Noon.