Henderson State picked up a 3-1 weekend Great American Conference series victory over Oklahoma Baptist on Saturday afternoon, splitting a double-header and winning the final contest 6-2 in Shawnee, Okla.
A six-run third inning propelled OKBU to a 7-5 victory in the first contest, as neither team scored until the third.
The Reddies did tack on two runs in the top half of the inning, starting things off with an
Ashleigh Erb solo home run blast over the center field wall.
Ashlyn White would then pick up a sacrifice fly RBI to right field which scored
Courtney Warren from third base.
However, HSU would give up five hits and commit two errors in the bottom half of the inning to give OKBU a 6-2 lead heading into the fourth inning.
HSU tacked on a run in the fourth when
Hope Patterson hit her second home run of the series, knocking a solo blast over the left-center wall.
In the top of the fifth, HSU added two more runs to make the score 6-5 in favor of OKBU, and started things off with a
Caroline Cullins single to center field, scoring Warren.
Two batters later,
Keirsten Seahorn would smack a single up the middle to plate Cullins and pull HSU within one.
However, the Lady Bison would add one more run in the bottom half of the inning to make the score 7-5 when Jill Shipman doubled to center field to score Miranda Garza.
Neither team would score in the final two innings as OKBU escaped with the victory.
HSU would cycle through three pitchers in the contest, as
Ashlyn White provided 2.2 innings of work,
Madison Calvert pitched 2.1, and
Michelle Sorensen provided 1.0 innings.
Calvert suffered the loss for HSU to fall to 12-12 on the season.
In the second game, HSU used a big fourth inning to cruise to a 6-2 victory.
The Reddies got on the board first in the top of the second inning when
Olivia Trapp smacked a home run over the center field wall for a solo shot.
Henderson State's second run came on an error by the shortstop which allowed Erb to advance home from third base.
HSU then added to its 2-0 lead by tacking on four more runs in the top of the fourth inning, and were started off by a White ground-out RBI to first base which scored
Shayla Wright.
On HSU's next at-bat, Warren would advance home on a wild pitch to give HSU a four-run lead.
The Reddies kept things rolling when Patterson then stepped up to bat, as the freshman homered for a third time during the series, picking up two more RBI and scoring Seahorn to give the Reddies a 6-0 cushion.
OKBU would tack on single runs in the bottom of the fourth and fifth innings, but it would not be enough as the Reddies picked up the series victory.
HSU limited OKBU to five hits and forced three Lady Bison errors in the contest, while belting out seven team hits.
Sorensen would go the distance pitching a complete game for HSU, striking out seven batters to improve to 19-10 on the season.
The Reddies conclude the 2016 season with a 32-24 overall and 23-21 conference record, and will advance to play in the GAC Tournament in Bentonville, Ark. on April 28-30.
