GAME ONE:
Seventh-ranked Southern Arkansas used a three-run homerun and a grand slam to pull away and defeat Henderson State 12-0 in five innings in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader.

The Lady Muleriders led 3-0 after three innings, but broke the game open in the fourth on a three-run blast from Maddie Dow to push the lead out to 6-0. SAU got another run on a HBP with the bases loaded to make it 7-0 heading to the fifth.

In the fifth inning, after a single by Marina Duran that scored Dow to push the lead out to 8-0, Monica Islava got a hold of a pitch with the bases loaded and drove it over the right field wall for a grand slam, making it 12-0 Lady Muleriders; a lead they held in the bottom half of the inning to close out the game in five innings.

Henderson was held to just three hits on the afternoon, as undefeated SAU pitcher Kaylee Garner picked up her 15th victory of the season in the circle. Bethany Allen, Keirsten Seahorn and Alexis Morton each had a hit for the Reddies in defeat.

GAME TWO:
Henderson State got off to a fast start with three runs in the first inning and rode that momentum to a 6-1 upset of No. 7 Southern Arkansas in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader.

Henderson loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the first and Alexis Morton grounded out to the second baseman, which scored Olivia Trapp, to give the Reddies a 1-0 lead. The next batter, Selena Mendoza, hit a grounder to SAU first-baseman Maddie Dow, but Dow could not handle it, and Henderson scored two more on the error to push the lead to 3-0.

The Reddies got another run in the second inning, when Trapp dropped a single into right field to score Brooklynn Jimeson, giving Henderson a 4-0 advantage.

HSU capitalized on another golden opportunity in the third, when on a 3-2 count with the bases loaded, Jimeson came through with her fifth hit of the season to score two runners and give Henderson a 6-0 lead. 

SAU got one back in the fourth on a double from Marina Duran that scored Jill Roye from second base, cutting the deficit to 6-1. The Lady Muleriders had a chance to strike again, but with a runner on third base, a grounder was hit to shortstop Bethany Allen, who made a great throw to the plate as the runner tried to score, catching her in a rundown and limiting the SAU damage to just one run.

From there, Henderson pitcher Sydney Bonner found her rhythm in the circle, shutting down the Lady Muleriders over the next three innings, with the aid of some stellar defense behind her, to help the Reddies clinch one of their biggest wins of the season, 6-1.

Bonner was magnificent for Henderson on the afternoon, picking up her third win of the year by going seven innings, and allowing just one run on six hits. Trapp was also fantastic for the Reddies offensively, going 3-for-4 on the day with an RBI and a run scored.

The loss for the Lady Muleriders was just their fifth GAC defeat of the year and seventh overall. The victory snapped a 10-game losing skid for the Reddies and improves their record to 17-25 overall and 11-19 in GAC action this season.

The Reddies play next against Southwestern Oklahoma State in Weatherford, Oklahoma, with doubleheaders coming on Friday at 3 p.m. and Saturday at 11 a.m.