Henderson State returns to conference play this weekend as the Reddies play host to Arkansas-Monticello in a key three-game Great American Conference series beginning Friday at 6 p.m. at Clyde Berry Field.
 
The Reddies, fourth in the GAC standings, took two of three games last weekend from East Central and enter the series with an 18-10 record overall and 12-6 in league play.
 
The Boll Weevils are third in the GAC after winning two of three games from Southwestern Oklahoma last weekend. Arkansas-Monticello enters with a 17-11 record overall and a 13-5 mark in conference play. UAM has won five of its last six conference games which includes a series sweep of Northwestern Oklahoma.            


Henderson won its fifth GAC series last weekend by winning two of three games from East Central. The Reddies outhit the Tigers, but left 25 men on base which prevented Henderson from recording the series sweep. Henderson's starting pitchers gave up just four earned runs and limited ECU to just 12 hits while striking out 20 batters in 21 innings.
 
Henderson has had its difficulties getting the timely hit in its last three GAC series' despite having a 5-4 record in those contests. The Reddies have averaged 3.0 runs per game in the last nine GAC contests while stranding 70 baserunners.
           
Hayden Lessenberry continues to lead the Reddie offense with a .337 average including a team-best 9 doubles and a .481 slugging percentage. The senior from Bryant, Ark. has a .387 average in GAC play.     

Colton Coffman has been Henderson's hot hitter as of late. The junior from Emory, Texas has gone 6-for-12 in the last four games including a pair of doubles. Coffman is 7-for-17 in the last 10 games.          


The Reddies weekend pitching rotation has been stellar this season with Luke Tebbetts, Chris Hunt and Bryant Haralson combining for a 15-5 record. Collectively the three have a 2.17 ERA, struck out 141 batters in 153 innings and have a 4.4 strike out to walk ratio.          

Tebbetts improved to 5-2 last weekend with the win over ECU. The right-hander from Winnsboro, Texas has a 2.44 ERA and has fanned 37 batters in 51 2/3 innings.
 
Hunt enters with a 5-2 record and a 2.82 ERA after a no decision last weekend against the Tigers. The senior from Greenwood, Ark. is third all-time in HSU history in career strikeouts with 195. Hunt has fanned five or more batters in seven of eight games this season.
Haralson leads the Reddie pitching staff with a 5-2 record overall and a league best 1.25 ERA. Haralson recorded his third shutout last weekend with a 2-0 win over ECU. The junior from Atkins, Ark. has not allowed a run in the last 30 innings of work. Opponents are hitting just .145 against the right-hander. 
 
UAM sports a .291 team batting average which ranks third in the GAC. The Weevils have some solid power numbers with 47 doubles, 22 home runs and a .432 slugging percentage which ranks second in the league.
 
First baseman Sean Wagner leads the UAM offense with a .353 average which includes a team-best nine doubles and 27 runs batted in. The junior from Peoria, Ariz. is hitting .500 in the last six games going 12-for-24 including 12 runs batted in.
 
Outfielder Brian Ray follows with a .333 average including a team-high 6 home runs to go along with 21 RBI and a .581 slugging percentage. The junior from Crossett, Ark. also leads the team in stolen bases with 10.
 
The hot hitter as of late for UAM is Brady Weiss who was named the GAC Player of the Week last week. The junior catcher scored six runs, hit three home runs, and totaled nine runs batted in. Weiss also drew nine total walks combined in the four games last week as well, and finished with a slugging percentage of 1.200.
 
The UAM pitching staff enters with a team earned run average of 4.83 with opponents having a .246 team batting average.
 
Grant Black, Kris Brown and Brandon Chambers make up UAM's weekend pitching rotation.
 
Black is 5-2 on the season having won five straight contests. The senior right-hander from Newport, Ark. has a 3.35 ERA and has struck out 43 batters in 53 2/3 innings.
 
Brown sports a 3.93 earned runs average with a 2-3 record. The senior right-hander from Pioneer, La. has recorded 31 punch outs in 34 1/3 innings.
 
Chambers is 3-2 on the year with a 4.11 ERA. The junior right-hander from Fordyce, Ark. has wins over Southeastern Oklahoma, Southern Nazarene and Northwestern Oklahoma. In 46 innings on the hill, Chambers has recorded 38 strikeouts.
 
Live stats and webcast will be available for all three games through the HSU Athletic website at www.hsusports.com.