Four teams will battle for the automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Baseball Championships as Henderson State plays host to the Great American Conference Championships beginning Thursday at Clyde Berry Field in Arkadelphia, Ark.

The double-elimination tournament will feature Arkansas Tech facing off against host Henderson State at 1 p.m., with Arkansas-Monticello taking on Southeastern Oklahoma at 4:30 p.m.

Arkansas Tech, 23-29 on the season, upset top seeded Southwestern Oklahoma in the best-of-three series last weekend, beating the Bulldogs 5-3 and 13-6 in Weatherford, Okla.

The eighth-seeded Wonder Boys combined for 22 hits in the series against the Bulldogs with Marcus Wilson and Kaleb Warden leading the charge. Wilson was 4-for-10 against SWOSU including a home run and four runs batted in, while Warden was 3-for-9 with a round-tripper.

ATU enters the tournament with a .274 team batting average with Warden leading the way hitting .330 with five home runs and 28 RBI.

Josh Watkins provides the power numbers for the Wonder Boys having a .533 slugging percentage to go along with his .310 average. Watkins leads the team with 17 doubles, 6 home runs and 35 RBI.

Zack Skelton leads the ATU pitching staff and will likely start the opener against the Reddies. The senior from Armorel, Ark. struck out 10 Bulldogs in 7 1/3 innings to improve to 5-6 on the season.

Skelton ranks third in the GAC in strikeouts with 94 in 89 innings of work.

Henderson State, attempting to win its first conference championship since 1982, won its best-of-three series over four-time defending GAC Champion Southern Arkansas 6-2 and 9-5 assuring that a new champion will be crowned for the first time in 2016.

A pair of Reddie hurlers provided season-best performances against the Muleriders with Luke Tebbetts striking out a career-high 10 batters, while Chris Hunt pitched 7 2/3 innings improving to 5-6 on the year.

The Reddies used eight extra-base hits in the two games against SAU with Joseph Gary leading the way going 5-for-9 including a 4-for-5 performance in Saturday's victory.

Henderson has a .268 team average and is led by Luke McGuire who is hitting .337 on the year.

However, Gary, Hayden Lessenberry and Hunter Mayall have sparked the Reddie offense in the last few weeks.

Gary is hitting .400 in the last 10 games going 14-for-35 with nine runs batted in.

Lessenberry has bolstered his season average to .299 thanks to hitting .429 (25-for-54) in the last 20 games. The junior from Bryant, Ark. has banged out three doubles, three home runs and collected 16 RBI since April 1.

Mayall is hitting .311 on the year including having a .409 average since April 1. The senior from Bryant, Ark. has walked 38 times this season and has a .441 on-base percentage.

Speed is a big part of the Reddie offense as Henderson leads the GAC with 68 stolen bases. Tadarious Hawkins is tops in the league with 32.

The favorite entering this week is No. 27 Arkansas-Monticello which dismantled Harding 19-5 and 7-5 last weekend.

The second-seeded Boll Weevils, 33-14 on the year, went 8-1 in GAC series' against the final four teams including sweeping Henderson and Southeastern Oklahoma.
UAM has a .294 team batting average and has collected 44 home runs on the year.

The Boll Weevils feature seven All-GAC selections including the league's player of the year Corey Wood who is hitting .364 with a league-record 21 home runs along with 69 RBI.

Last weekend against Harding, the Fredericton, New Brunswick native was 5-for-11 with three home runs and 9 RBI.

Wood leads the league in slugging percentage (.827), ranks second in on-base percentage (.469), first in RBI (69), and first in total bases (143).

All-Conference second baseman Nick Piraino follows with a .358 average, while left fielder Kevin Fitzpatrick sports a .341 average with 40 RBI.

The pitching staff is led by First-Team All-GAC Braden Chambers who has a perfect 11-0 record with a 3.19 ERA. The sophomore right-hander from Fordyce, Ark. has struck out 66 batters in 87 1/3 inning while limiting opponents to a .209 average.

Zach McKnight is also a First-Team All-GAC honoree having a 7-2 record with a 4.34 ERA.

It took three games for third-seeded Southeastern Oklahoma to beat East Central.

SOSU, 29-23, also has numerous power hitters with the Savage Storm having a .290 team average which includes 49 home runs and a .436 slugging percentage.

The Savage storm is led by First-Team All-GAC pick Logan Terwilliger. The senior third baseman from Rockwall, Texas is one of five players for SOSU hitting above .300 having a .341 average.

Terwilliger has compiled a .590 slugging percentage with nine home runs and 44 RBI.

Power also comes from Brandon Grimsley, Dylan Helms and Greg Husnander.

Grimsley leads the club with 11 long balls along with 39 RBI, while Helms leads the team with 13 doubles and nine home runs. Husnander is second on the club in slugging percentage at .540 which includes 9 doubles and 8 home runs.

Dylan Lemke is SOSU's top pitcher and will likely get the nod in the opener against UAM. The senior from Duncan, Okla. has an 8-3 record with a 4.94 ERA which includes a complete game win last week over East Central where he struck out a season-best 12 Tigers.  

Matt Benedict is 6-3 on the year with a 3.61 ERA. In 62 innings of work, the senior from Tupelo, Okla. has fanned 48 batters.

Separate tickets are sold each day and are $7 for adults, $5 for children and $3 for students with their student ID.

The GAC Sports Network will provide broadband, high-definition video webcasts of the entire tournament. Michael Westbrook will be the lead play-by-play announcer for the webcasts with Joey McWilliams handling the color commentary. The GAC Sports Network is a joint production of the GAC and JBM Productions.

In addition, Live Stats will be available on the GAC Website at www.greatamericanconference.com.
 
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Thursday, May 12
G1: 1 p.m.        No. 4 Henderson State vs. No. 8 Arkansas Tech
G2: 4:30 p.m.   No. 2 Arkansas-Monticello vs. No. 3 Southeastern Oklahoma State

Friday, May 13 
G3: 1 p.m.        Loser Game 1 vs Loser Game 2 
G4: 4 p.m.        Winner Game 1 vs Winner Game 2 
G5: 7 p.m.        Winner Game 3 vs Loser Game 4 

Saturday, May 14
G6: 1 p.m.        Winner Game 4 vs Winner Game 6 
G7: 4 p.m.        Championship Game 2 (If Necessary)