Henderson State will face Great American Conference newcomer Oklahoma Baptist in a three-game series beginning Friday at 6 p.m. at Clyde Berry Field.

The Reddies, 24-19 overall and 17-10 in the GAC, have won a season-best eight straight games and moved into fourth-place in the league standings. HSU is two games ahead of fifth-place Southern Arkansas with six games remaining. The top four seeds will host the opening round of the GAC Tournament.

Prior to the Reddies win streak, the team had a .253 batting average. Henderson is hitting .344 during the streak improving the season average to .265 on the year.

Three players are hitting above .400 in the last eight games with Hunter Mayall leading the club going 16-for-31 for a .516 average. The senior from Bryant, Ark. is hitting .302 on the year and leads the team with 33 walks while having a .434 on base percentage.

Jordan Taylor has gone 14-for-31 in the last eight games for a .452 average which includes two doubles, three home runs and nine runs batted in. For the season, Taylor has bolstered his average to .336 including a .363 average against GAC opponents.

Hayden Lessenberry is hitting .429 during the win streak having gone 12-for-28 with a pair doubles, three round-trippers and 10 RBI. Lessenberry is hitting .347 in league play and has bumped his season average up to .267.

Henderson will stick with its usual pitching rotation for the weekend as Luke Tebbetts pitches Friday's opener with Chris Hunt and Zach Eschberger set to take the mound Saturday.

Tebbetts did not record a win the last two weeks and remains at 3-2 on the year. The junior from Winnsboro, Texas has a 3.13 ERA has recorded 53 strikeouts in 74.2 innings of work.

Hunt is set to pitch Saturday's first game and carries a 4.79 ERA into the contest. Hunt won his last two outings and is now 2-6 on the year.

Eschberger leads Henderson in wins with seven while having a 4.64 ERA. The left-hander from Bullard, Texas is 7-4 on the year and has a 7-2 record against conference opponents. The southpaw has 46 punch-outs in 66 innings.

Oklahoma Baptist, 27-14 overall and 17-10 in the GAC, joined the NCAA ranks last summer after going to the NAIA World Series the past two seasons.
The Bison are tied with the Reddies in fourth-place in the league standings, but are not eligible for post season play for three years.

OBU has the top offensive team in the league with a .295 average collectively, and ranks second in pitching with a 3.64 team ERA.

The Bison are led offensively by Brandon Cuddy who leads the GAC in hitting with a .385 average. Cuddy is a power-hitter with 10 home runs along with 19 doubles. The transfer from the University of Oregon ranks second in the GAC with 49 RBI and sports a .741 slugging percentage.

Felipe Gonzalez follows hitting .326 with eight doubles and six home runs, while Hunter Heath has compiled a .322 average with 13 doubles and 7 home runs.

Reddie pitchers will also have to deal with Ryan Joyce who has a team-best 11 long balls along with 41 RBI this season.

All three Bison starting pitchers rank in the top 10 in the league in earned run average, strikeouts and opponents' batting average.

Jinny Parra leads the league in wins having an 8-3 record. Parra ranks fifth in ERA (2.71) and strikeouts (73) and has limited opponents to a .198 average.

Nathan Thompson is 5-3 on the year and has compiled a 3.55 ERA. Thompson has recorded a team-best 87 strikeouts in 66 innings which leads the GAC.

Carson McPherson also has some impressive numbers having a 5-2 record with a 2.97 ERA. McPherson has limited opponents to a league best .168 average while fanning 82 batters in 63.2 innings.

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