ENID, Okla. — Clinging to a 5-4 lead late on Sunday, Henderson State used a big eighth inning to defeat Southwestern Oklahoma State 9-5 and stay alive at the Great American Conference Tournament.
The Reddies (30-19) now advance to another elimination game tomorrow, where they will face No. 2 seed Southern Arkansas at 3:30 p.m. at David Allen Ballpark in Enid, Oklahoma.
Despite surrendering two runs in the seventh inning, and allowing SWOSU to cut a once 5-2 lead down to 5-4, the Reddies broke the game open in the eighth.
Nolan Ryan got things going, when he crushed a two-run home run out to right field to extend the Henderson advantage back out to three runs at 7-4. After two walks and hit-by-pitch loaded the bases for
Bryson Haskins, the Bulldogs handed the Reddies another run, as a wild pitch to the backstop allowed
Zack Gray to score and make it 8-4. Haskins then took advantage with two runners in scoring position, legging out an infield single to score
Brandon Pollock and extend the lead to 9-4.
The four eighth-inning runs gave First Team All-GAC reliever
Taylor Langston all the support he need. Langston, who replaced
Zach Eschberger in the seventh, allowed just one run on two hits over the final 2.1 innings, as he shut the Bulldogs down to give the Reddies the 9-5 win.
Eschberger picked up his seventh win of the season on the mound for Henderson by allowing just two earned runs on six hits in 6.2 innings of work. Offensively,
Caleb Carr provided four hits for the Reddies, including two doubles, while Ryan had three hits and three RBIs.
Carr, the first batter of the game for the Reddies, set a strong tone early on Sunday afternoon, as he lined a double into the right field corner on the second pitch he saw. After a single from the No. 2 hitter Ryan put runners on the corners with no outs, Gray capitalized, as he lined the Reddies' third hit in as many batters straight into centerfield to score Carr and give Henderson a quick 1-0 lead.
The second run came across for the Reddies moments later, when Pollock came to the plate and laid down a perfect bunt towards SWOSU third baseman Daniel Richardson in an attempt to advance the runners. It proved to be a tough play, as Richardson's throw was low and squirted away from the first baseman, allowing Pollock to reach safely and Ryan to come around to score and put Henderson up 2-0.
With two outs and nobody on in the second, Carr came through for the Reddies again, as he legged out an infield single to give Ryan an opportunity to come to the plate. Ryan rewarded Carr's hustle, as he smoked a double off the wall in left center to score him and put the Reddies in front 3-0.
SWOSU got back into it with two outs in the third, when Alex Pimentel got a hold of a pitch and carried it just over the wall in right field to plate two for the Bulldogs and cut the Henderson lead to 3-2.
The Reddies answered in the bottom half of the fifth, when infield singles from
Dylan McCain and
Brentten Schwaab gave the Reddies runners on the corners with one out. The next batter,
Joe Myers, provided an RBI, as he put down a perfect squeeze bunt, which allowed him to reach and McCain to score. The perfectly executed squeeze play pushed the Reddies' lead out to 4-2. With runners suddenly on the corners again, a passed ball on the next pitch plated Henderson's fifth run, as Schwaab turned on the jets and scurried home to make it 5-2.
Henderson as a team had 13 hits in the game. The win on Sunday is the Reddies' 30th of the year, which gives the program four-straight 30-win seasons dating back to 2015.
