Henderson State returns to Great American Conference baseball action this weekend as the Reddies play host to Southern Arkansas in a three-game series beginning Friday at 6 p.m. at Clyde Berry Field.

The two teams will play a double-header on Saturday beginning at 2 p.m.

Henderson improved to 12-16 on the year after beating Hendrix on Tuesday ending a four-game losing skid. The Reddies are 8-7 in GAC play entering the series against SAU.

Offensively Henderson has a .246 team average with AJ Kruzel leading the team hitting .303. In the last five games the senior from Cincinnati has gone 6-for-16 with a double, triple, home run and four runs batted in.

Tadarious Hawkins is approaching the .300 mark hitting .295. Hawkins leads the GAC in stolen bases with 17.

Run production has been the main issue for the Reddies as Henderson averages 4.3 runs per contest and has only scored more than six runs in a game once. Last weekend in the series against Arkansas-Monticello totaled seven runs in three games.

Luke Tebbetts (2-2, 2.92 ERA) will start Friday's game against the Muleriders. Tebbetts has worked 49 1/3 innings this season and has struckout 36 batters.

Chris Hunt (0-4, 5.03 ERA) is scheduled to pitch game one on Saturday, with Zach Eschberger (4-3, 4.60 ERA) getting the ball for the finale.

Southern Arkansas enters the series with an 18-9 overall record and are 10-5 in the GAC.

The Muleriders ranks third in the league offensively with a .288 average while leading the GAC in earned run average at 3.47.

Justin Buchanan leads SAU offensively and ranks fourth in the GAC with a .373 average. Buchanan has collected nine doubles and 17 runs batted in this season.
Jake Tisevich follows with a .316 average which includes three home runs and 11 RBI, while Trevor Rucker is hitting .315 having 10 RBI while stealing a team-best 11 bases.

The Muleriders have a stout pitching rotation with Kenneth Tabor leading the way. The left-hander will start Friday and sports a 6-1 record with a 2.74 earned runs average.

In 46 innings of work, the sophomore from Plano, Texas has fanned 49 batters limiting opponents to a meager .218 average. Last week against Ouachita Baptist, Tabor went seven innings, allowed five hits and struck out six Tiger batters.

Eric Shildt and Hunter Mayo are scheduled to start on Saturday.
Shildt is 1-1 on the season with a 4.15 ERA. The junior right-hander from Richardson, Texas has worked 30.1 innings and has struck out 17 batters.
 
Mayo is 5-2 on the year with a 2.86 ERA. In 44 innings on the bump, the senior from Killeen, Texas has limited opponents to a .230 average while striking out 37. Mayo picked up a complete game win against the Tigers allowing just two runs on four hits.

Live stats and live video for the entire series will be available through the HSU athletic website at www.hsusports.com.