NCAA TOURNAMENT NOTES 

Henderson State travels to Cary, N.C. this week as the Reddies begin their quest for a national title at NCAA Division II National Baseball Championships on Saturday against Angelo State.
 
The Reddies, winners of the Central Region, will be the home team against the Rams when they take the field at 2 p.m.
The winner will play at 6 p.m. on Monday against the winner of the Wilmington/Catawba game and the loser to play at 2 p.m. on Monday against the Wilmington/Catawba.
Henderson State enters the NCAA Division II National Baseball Championships with a 31-19 record overall.          
 
With the Reddies' four-game sweep at the NCAA Central Regional last weekend and three wins over nationally ranked opponents, Henderson State is ranked No. 15 in the latest Collegiate Baseball Top 30 Poll.         
 
The Reddie offense has a .292 batting average and averages 5.7 runs per game. Henderson State led the Central Region Tournament with a team .322 batting average and averaged nearly eight runs per game.     
           
After leading the team offensively and being named the MVP of the NCAA Central Region, Hunter Mayall has boosted his average to a team-best .366. The Reddie first-baseman has 12 doubles, and scored 38 runs this season.
 
Not many first basemen are leadoff hitters, but Mayall has been in that spot all year having a .466 on base percentage having reached base in 33 consecutive games.
 
Last weekend the junior from Bryant, Ark. was 12-for-17 at the plate (.706) with 3 doubles, 4 RBI and 8 runs scored. He had a .700 on-base percentage and a .882 slugging percentage.
 
Jordan Taylor follows with a .354 average which includes 10 doubles and 31 RBI. Taylor hit for a .391 average during conference play. The sophomore from Bryant, Ark. has compiled 19 multiple hit games and enters the tournament having reached base safely in 27 straight games.
 
Taylor earned a spot on the NCAA Central Region All-Tournament team as a utility player going 5-for-18 at the plate, while pitching 7 1/3 shutout innings in relief.
 
Claude Johnson is Henderson's power hitter having a .582 slugging percentage. The senior from Pine Bluff, Ark. has a .351 average with a team best 13 doubles, 10 home runs and 43 RBI. At the NCAA Central Region Tournament, Johnson had a double, home run, scored 5 runs and drove in 5 runs to earn all-tournament honors.    
 
Johnson has totaled 20 multiple hit games and had a 14 game hitting streak earlier this season. Johnson has reached base safely 33 straight games entering the GAC Tournament.
 
Henderson State's pitching staff brings a 4.01 and have limited opponents to a .254 batting average.           

Colton Lorance is scheduled to start Saturday's game against the Rams.
 
The left-hander has a 6-4 record with a 3.64 ERA this season. Last week he recorded a 10-4 win over No. 1 St. Cloud State in the opening round of the Central Regional. 
 
The senior from Texarkana, Texas has limited opponents to a .227 batting average.
 
Nick Vanthillo is Henderson State's closer having recorded a HSU single-season record 12 saves this season.

Vanthillo has made 25 appearance and also sports a 6-1 record with a 1.56 ERA. In 40.1 innings of work he has struck out 39 batters with offense struggling having just a .182 batting average.
 
Angelo State has a 41-16 record with the Rams winning 14 of their last 16 games, including winning four straight to earn the NCAA DII South Central Championship after opening the regional tournament with a loss.

ASU is making its second National Finals appearance after also making the eight-team tournament in 2007 when the tournament was hosted in Montgomery, Ala.
Offensively the Rams have a .302 team batting average which includes 104 doubles and 41 home runs.

ASU's pitching staff has established a new program record by amassing 512 strikeouts this season which has obliterated the previous record of 440 in the 2009 season.
The Ram pitchers have only allowed 166 earned runs in 471 innings of work and have the lowest ERA in program history at 3.17.

Henderson State will face ASU pitcher Steve Naemark who is 10-1 with a 1.46 ERA.

Naemark was named the South Central Pitcher of the Year by ABCA/Rawlings, the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) and Daktronics after also earning the Lone Star Conference Pitcher of the Year honor.

A junior left-hander from Tucson, Ariz. is second in the nation with 133 strikeouts in t117 innings of work this season. He was named the South Central Championship's Co-MVP after pitching in four of the five games last weekend, including throwing a complete-game with eight strikeouts, one walk and only four hits allowed in the South Central Championship final win over St. Mary's.

The Ram offense is led by ABCA/Rawlings South Central Positional Player of the Year and Lone Star Conference Player of the Year Paxton DeLaGarza.
DeLaGarza enters the National Finals leading the Rams with a .409 batting average and on a 10-game hitting streak after going 11-for-23 (.478) with two home runs and nine RBI at the regional tournament.

The junior shortstop from Lubbock, DeLaGarza leads ASU with 53 RBI this season and has 16 doubles and nine home runs. He also ranks 11th in the nation with 88 total hits and is 29th in DII with 135 total bases.

Addition information about the NCAA Division II Baseball National Championships can be obtained by going to the HSU Athletic website at www.hsusports.com.
Saturday's game will be aired on ESPN 106.9 FM in Arkadelphia. Fans can also listen via the internet at www.hsusports.com.

In addition, all games will be live video streamed courtesy of the NCAA.
Links to the NCAA Webcast along with the audio link and live stats link is also located on the HSU athletic web site.