GAME ONE:
The Henderson State softball team is no stranger to extra-inning drama this season, and it came out on top of another thriller on Sunday morning in Ada, Oklahoma, outlasting East Central 7-5 in nine innings.
The Reddies got a run in the first when
Courtney Warren singled to score
Alyssa Dixon, then tacked on two more in the fourth inning to take a 3-0 lead.
East Central got one back in the sixth to cut the lead to 3-1, and then got two more in the bottom of the seventh on a bases-loaded double from Ewy to tie it up 3-3. The Tigers had the winning run at third base, but
Michelle Sorensen was able to get the final out and extend the game into extra innings.
Neither team could get anything started in the eight, but in the top of the ninth inning Henderson got going. Warren,
Olivia Trapp and
Keirsten Seahorn all reached to load the bases with no outs for
Lakin Wolever, who got a sac fly out into centerfield to score Trapp and make it 4-3.
Ashleigh Erb then walked to load the bases once again and
Alexis Morton was hit by a pitch, which scored a run, making it 5-3. Then it was
Brooklynn Jimeson's turn, as she singled into left field to score both Erb and Seahorn, blowing the game open and giving the Reddies a 7-3 lead.
ECU attempted to rally in the bottom of the ninth, scoring two runs to cut it to 7-5, but they would come no closer, as Sorensen shut the Tigers down to give Henderson the win.
Sorensen got her 12th win of the year for the Reddies by going all nine innings and striking out six, while Warren, Seahorn and
Rebekah Teel all had three hits on the day for Henderson at the plate. HSU racked up 16 hits in the game, which was the Reddies' school-record seventh extra-inning contest of the 2017 season.
GAME TWO:
Henderson State nearly erased a 5-run East Central lead after a grand slam by
Keirsten Seahorn but fell just short in the second game of Sunday's doubleheader, falling to ECU 8-7.
East Central built an 8-3 lead heading into the sixth inning, but the Reddies responded with a bases-loaded bomb from Seahorn, which scored
Destiny Garza,
Alyssa Dixon and
Brooklynn Jimeson to make it 8-7. After holding ECU scoreless in the bottom half of the sixth, Henderson attempted to rally in the seventh, when leadoff batter
Ashleigh Erb reached on an error. The Tigers buckled down, though, and got a pop out and double play to end the Reddies' threat and win it 8-7 to split the series 2-2.
Seahorn tallied two more hits in the second game, giving her five for the day, and racked up 4 RBIs on her grand slam.
Alexis Morton also had a strong game for Henderson with two hits and two RBIs.
Sunday's results move the Reddies to 16-16 overall and 10-9 in Great American Conference play. Henderson plays next against Arkansas-Monticello, with doubleheaders scheduled for 1 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. Saturday in Monticello, Arkansas.
