Henderson State claimed its fifth Great American Conference series winning a double-header from East Central 7-3 and 2-0, Saturday at Clyde Berry Field in Arkadelphia, Ark.

Pitching was again the key to the success as starters Luke Tebbetts and Bryant Haralson both recorded victories.

Haralson pitched the second game and went the complete seven-innings allowing just two hits while striking out eight batters to improve to 5-2 on the season.

The junior from Atkins' Ark. faced three batters above the minimum while running his streak of scoreless innings to 30.

Henderson, 18-9 overall and 12-5 in the GAC, scored its first run in the fourth-inning as the Reddies loaded the bases with a pair of walks and a single by Hayden Lessenberry.
Colton Coffman drove in the lone run of the inning with a sacrifice fly to center field.

The Reddies manufactured an unearned run in the sixth as Parker Jones reached on an error with Coffman then being hit by a pitch. After a one-out single by Jordan Taylor that loaded the bases, Jones scored when Dylan McCain received a free pass.

The Tigers, 8-17 and 7-10, tried to answer in the seventh as Connor Stevenson reached on a walk to lead off the inning. Haralson, however, retired the next three batters he faced to pick up his third straight win.

In the opener, Coffman gave the Reddies their first run as Henderson executed the double steal to perfection.

Coffman started things with a single up the middle and advanced to second when Joseph Shepherd was hit by a pitch. Coffman advanced to third on a fly ball to right field then both Shepherd and Coffman stole a base with two outs to give the home team a 1-0 lead.

After ECU tied the score in the third-inning, the Reddies scored single runs in each of the next three frames to go on top 4-1.

Henderson got a run-scoring single by Kearon Redmon in the fourth frame, followed by the Reddies scoring a run in the fifth-inning without the benefit of a hit.

In the sixth, McCain reached on a single and scored on a Redmon double to give the Reddies the three run advantage.

Henderson added three more runs in the seventh with the help of a two-run home run by Taylor.

The Reddies totaled 10 hits in the game with Lessenberry, Coffman, Redmon, and Alan Hall having two hits each.

Tebbetts improved to 5-1 on the year pitching 7.0 innings while recording 7 strikeouts and surrendering 7 hits.

Hayden Daniel pitched the final two innings and gave up just one hit retiring the final six batters he faced.  

The two teams will play the finale of the series on Sunday with the first pitch set for 1 p.m. at Clyde Berry Field.