Henderson State will make its longest road trip of the year as the Reddies travel to Alva, Okla. for a three-game Great American Conference series against Northwestern Oklahoma beginning with a Saturday double-header at 1 p.m.

The Reddies, 23-17 overall and 16-11 in the GAC, can lock up home field advantage for the opening round of the GAC Tournament with a sweep over the Rangers and a loss by Southeastern Oklahoma and Southwestern Oklahoma.

The Rangers, 12-30 overall and 7-20 in the GAC, are in a must win situation if they have any hopes of earning their way into the conference tournament.

The Reddies are fresh off of a sweep of Southwestern Oklahoma State that clinched a spot in the post-season tournament.  Henderson has improved offensively in the last 10 games as the Reddies hit for a .323 average in those contests to improve the overall season average to .266.

Colton Coffman has been Henderson's hottest hitter as of late going 16 for his last 36 (.444) improving his overall season average to .302. Last weekend the junior from Emory, Texas went 7-for-11 against the Bulldogs.

Henderson's leadoff hitter Alan Hall has also picked up the pace offensively hitting .429 in the last eight games while having a .579 on base percentage.

Another big plus for the Reddies has been the play of reserve player Jackson Martin who is 5-for-8 over the last eight games including going 4-for-5 as a pinch-hitter.

The Reddie pitching staff allowed just five earned runs against SWOSU last weekend while striking out 17 batters.

Luke Tebbetts will start on the hill in the series opener. The senior from Winnsboro, Texas has a 7-2 record on the year including a 3.19 ERA.

Bryant Haralson will pitch Saturday's second game and enters the weekend with a 6-3 record and the second best ERA in the GAC at 2.17. The junior from Atkins, Ark. is also second in the GAC in strikeouts with 73 while opponents are hitting just .193.

Chris Hunt is set to pitch the finale. Hunt is 5-4 with a 4.43 ERA and will be attempting to pick up his 20^th career victory becoming only the fourth Reddie to ever accomplish the feat.

The Rangers rank last offensively hitting just .238 on the year.

Steven Deckard and Arturo Castro lead the Rangers with Deckard hitting .355 including 13 runs scored and 12 runs batted in, while Castro is hitting .337 with eight doubles and 17 RBI.

Bryce Tomlin will pitch the opener for the Rangers. The junior right-hander is 3-6 on the year with a 5.95 ERA.

Freshman Sean Rydell is also expected to make a start on the mound for the Rangers in the series. In his last two starts he has picked up a pair of wins while posting an ERA of 3.64 throughout his 14 innings of work.

David Sanchez will also pitch in the series for NWOSU. Sanchez is 2-3 on the season with an 8.10 ERA. The junior right-hander began the year as a reliever, but has started the last two games.

Live stats and video will be available through the HSU Athletics web site and www.hsusports.com.