Box Score Henderson State blasted four home runs including a grand slam by
Hayden Lessenberry to beat Harding 11-2 in the opening round of the Great American Conference Baseball Championships, Saturday in Enid, Okla.
The Reddies, 25-17 on the season, banged out 14 hits while getting a solid pitching performance by
Colton Lorance.
Harding, 26-24 on the year, used three hits in the second-inning including a double by Alan Copland and a single by Kyle Offenbacker to take a 2-0 lead.
The Bisons would manage two hits the remained of the game with just four runners reaching base.
The Reddies would answer with five runs in the third innings with
Hunter Mayall leading off with a walk, followed by a single by
Claude Johnson.
Harding pitcher Collin Campbell would issue walks to
Jordan Taylor and
Lance Fields that would plate Henderson's first run.
Lessenberry then took Campbell's 3-2 offering over the left field fence to clear the bases. It was Lessenberry's third home run of the season.
"When the count was full I knew I was going to get a good pitch," said Lessenberry. "It was one of those things you imagine yourself doing. The big thing is that we all played well and we got the win."
The Reddies would score two more runs in the fourth-inning as Johnson smacked a two-run single to left-centerfield to make the score 7-2.
Harding would threaten in the fifth-inning putting runners on the corners, but Lorance got out of the inning when he got Davis Richardson to ground into a fielder's choice to end the inning.
The Reddies would score single runs in the final four innings starting with
Carlos Rodriguez's solo home run in the sixth, his second of the year.
Tadarious Hawkins hit his first-home run of the season in the seventh-inning, and Johnson would collect his fourth hit of the game, a solo blast in the eighth.
Henderson's final run came as Hawkins singled in the ninth for his fourth hit of the evening, stole second base, advanced on a fly ball by
Conner Brackhahn and then scored on a wild pitch.
After the Bison threat in fifth, Lorance would retire the next four batters and would give way to
Jordan Taylor in the seventh who would retire all three batters he faced.
Hayden Daniels would pitch the final two innings and retire all six batters he faced while striking out two.
Lorance was credited with the win to improve to 5-3 on the season.
The Reddies will advance to play Ouachita Baptist in a winner's bracket contest on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. It will be the first time that the two teams have ever faced each other outside the state of Arkansas.
The game can be heard on ESPN 106.9 FM in Arkadelphia. Fans can also listen via the internet at www.hsusports.com. The pregame show is set for 7:15 p.m.
Fans can watch the game on the GAC Sports Network at www.gacsportsnetwork.com or via the HSU athletic web site at www.hsusports.com.
