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For the second straight year, Henderson State will host the Great American Conference Baseball Tournament beginning Thursday at Clyde Berry Field.

The four team field includes top seeded Southern Arkansas facing off against No. 4 seed Henderson State at 1 p.m. Thursday, with No. 2 seed Arkansas Tech taking on No. 3 Arkansas-Monticello at 4:30 p.m.

The tournament continues with three games on Friday beginning at 1:30 p.m., with the championship set for Saturday at 1 p.m.

Arkansas-Monticello is the defending champion with the Weevils beating the Reddies in the championship game 14-2 last year. Southern Arkansas claimed the GAC Tournament title the previous four years from 2012 to 2015. Henderson has finished as the GAC Tournament runner-up the past two years.           

Henderson advanced to the final-four portion of the GAC Tournament after winning the best-of-three series from Southwestern Oklahoma posting a 2-0 win followed by a 9-3 victory.   

The Reddies 30-19 on the season, enter the tournament with a .271 team batting average.

Parker Jones leads the Reddies offensively with a .337 average including 11 doubles and 29 runs batted in. The senior from The Colony, Texas went 4-for-8 against the Bulldogs last weekend and has a .447 average in the last 10 games going 17-for-38 with four doubles and 10 RBI. 

Hayden Lessenberry follows with a .329 average including going 3-for-9 last weekend. The senior from Bryant, Ark. has recorded at least one hit in 34 of 43 games played and multiple hits 14 times. Lessenberry leads the team in doubles with 13 and has a team best .463 slugging percentage.

Joe Myers has put together a solid rookie season as the freshman from Little Rock is hitting .290 with 10 doubles and four home runs.
           
The Reddies have the top earned run average among the teams making up the four-team tournament field with a 4.03 ERA. The staff has racked up 356 strikeouts, fourth in the GAC will allowing a league best 127 walks.

Bryant Haralson, Luke Tebbetts and Chris Hunt have made up the main rotation for the Reddies this season.
Haralson leads the GAC with a 1.75 ERA while having a 9-3 record. The junior from Atkins, Ark. is fifth nationally in strikeout to walk ratio at 8.75 which includes a HSU single-season record of 105 punch outs. Last week Haralson struck out 11 batters in 8 innings of work in recording a 2-0 win over SWOSU.
 
Tebbetts is 9-2 on the year with a 3.99 ERA. The senior from Winnsboro, Texas has fanned 53 batters in 90.1 innings. Tebbetts pitched 6 innings last week in picking up his 21st career win which ranks third all-time at HSU.

Hunt enters with a 6-5 record and a 4.56 ERA. The senior from Greenwood, Ark. is second all-time in HSU history in career strikeouts with 219. 

A LOOK AT SOUTHERN ARKANSAS (No. 1 SEED • RECORD: 38-12)
The Muleriders enter the GAC Tournament with a league-best .312 batting average including 54 home runs which also leads the GAC.
Individually, the Muleriders have five players hitting over .300. Unanimous GAC Player of the Year, Trevor Rucker leads the club at .384. Rucker leads the team in home runs with 17 along with 44 runs batted in.
First-team All-GAC designated hitter Cortland McPherson follows with a .367 average including 10 home runs and 37 RBI.
Third baseman Jacob Richardson, also a first-team All-GAC pick, has a stout .366 average with 43 RBIs along with eight dingers.
The SAU pitching staff has a team ERA of 4.17 with Dalton Algiene leading the way with a 10-2 record and a 1.95 ERA. The senior from Watauga, Texas has struck out 88 batters in 73.2 innings of work.         
Kenneth Tabor is 10-1 on the year with a 3.93 ERA including 60 punch-outs in 61.2 innings.  
Makenzy Larsen is SAU's closer having a 5-0 record along with 7 saves. In 33.2 innings of work, Larsen has allowed just 3 earned runs for a 0.80 ERA.

A LOOK AT ARKANSAS TECH (No. 2 SEED • RECORD: 34-19)
Arkansas Tech has a hefty .286 average which is third in the GAC. For the year, ATU has belted out 105 doubles, 10 triples and 41 home runs.
First-Team All-GAC shortstop Dylan McDearmon leads the team with a .360 average which includes 17 doubles, 8 home runs and 34 RBI for a .565 slugging percentage.
Zack Klockowski, a second-team All-GAC pick, provides the power having a .584 slugging percentage. The ATU designated hitter has 12 doubles along with a team best 14 home runs. 
The Wonder Boy pitching staff sports a 4.37 ERA and has recorded 367 strikeouts. Kyle Wilson leads the Tech pitchers with an 8-1 record and a 2.60 ERA. A first-team All-GAC selection, Wilson has three shutouts and has totaled 86 strikeouts in 83 innings of work.
 
A LOOK AT ARKANSAS-MONTICELLO (No. 3 SEED • RECORD: 29-19)
UAM has a .282 batting average collectively which includes 33 home runs. The Weevils are also solid defensively having a GAC best .974 fielding percentage, committing just 43 errors in 48 games.
Second team All-GAC first baseman Sean Wagner leads the team with a .340 average along with a team-high 43 RBI.   
Nick Piraino follows with a .328 average, with first-team All-GAC second baseman Andres Rios also hitting above .300 with a .323 average including 36 RBI.          
On the mound, UAM has a 5.09 ERA as a staff which includes 315 strikeouts.
Braden Chambers has an 8-3 record with a 4.50 ERA which includes 72 strikeouts in 80 innings on the hill. Kris Brown has a solid 3.79 ERA with a 5-4 record, with Grant Black sporting a 5-5 record along with a 4.29 ERA.        

The GAC Sports Network will provide coverage of this year's tournament by logging on to www.gacsportsnetwork.com. Live stats will also be available for the entire tournament via the GAC website at www.greatamericanconference.com. Live stats and video for all Henderson State games can also be accessed through www.HSUsports.com.