Henderson State fought through the loser's bracket advancing to the championship game of the Great American Conference Tournament. However, the Reddies faced a hot-hitting Arkansas-Monticello team with the Boll Weevils beating the Reddies 14-2 to claim the GAC Championship, Saturday in Arkadelphia, Ark.

The Reddies ended the season with a 31-25 record and finished as GAC Tournament Runners-up for the second straight season.

The first big blow by Arkansas-Monticello (36-14) came in the third-inning when GAC Player of the Year Corey Wood hit a grand slam to give the Boll Weevils a 4-0 advantage.

Guy Halbert extended the UAM lead to 5-0 with a solo homer in the fourth-inning, before the Boll Weevils erupted for seven runs on five hits in the fifth frame.

Again it was Wood that led the charge with a bases-clearing double, with Halbert also having a RBI double in the frame.

With Henderson having to go deep into its pitching staff, UAM continued putting runs on the board while the Reddie offense  was being held in check by UAM pitcher Grant Black. Black pitched seven innings, scattering four hits to improve to 4-4 on the year.

Henderson finally broke through with a run in the sixth as Tadarious Hawkins extended his record for career triples with a blast off the right-centerfield fence. Hawkins scored on a ground out by Joseph Gary.

The Reddies tacked on a run in the ninth on a RBI single by Luke McGuire to score AJ Kruzel who walked and stole second in the inning.

Henderson ended the game with six hits with Alex Morgan hitting his fourth double of the tournament and Hawkins his fifth extra base hit of the event.

Four Reddies earned a spot on the GAC All-Tournament Team including Chris Hunt, Hayden Lessenberry, Joseph Gary and Tadarious Hawkins.



Hunt was 2-0 in the two week event including the first no-hitter in GAC Tournament history. The junior from Greenwood, Ark. struck out 11 batters in 16 2/3 innings finishing the year winning his last six starts.

Lessenberry led the Reddie offense going 10-for-23 with three doubles and seven runs batted in.

Gary was 10-for-26 in the six games with a home run and 6 RBI, while Hawkins had six hits including two doubles, three triples and four RBI.

Henderson's 31 wins mark only the second time in school history that Reddies baseball has recorded back-to-back 30-plus win seasons.