CONROE, Texas — A solid start from Becca Almond, a shutdown bullpen and timely hitting helped the Reddies split opening day of the 2020 season as HSU took down Texas A&M–International 6-3 in the first game of the day. Henderson fell to Angelo State 3-0 later in the afternoon. 

Henderson State (1-1) will finish the weekend tomorrow with contests against Tarleton State at 1 p.m. and UT-Permian Basin at 3 p.m. 

Game 1: Henderson State 6, Texas A&M-International 3
After trading baserunners in the first frame, Texas A&M-International got on the board in the second inning when Erin Mosley drew a walk with the bases loaded to put the Dust Devils in front, 1-0. Texas A&M-International doubled the lead moments later with an RBI groundout and wound up tacking on one more run to lead 3-0 after two. 

Still trailing 3-0, the Reddies got things going in the fourth when Monica Monreal was hit by a pitch and Czoey White singled to left field to give HSU runners on first and second with nobody out. Following a sacrifice bunt from Christianna Camp that moved the runners over, Jessica Husband forced the Texas A&M-International third baseman into a throwing error which scored Monreal and White and made the score 3-2. 

Following Almond's first one-two-three inning of the afternoon, the Reddies tied the ballgame in the top of the fifth with three-straight two-out singles from Kaitlyn O'Quinn, Kailey Reese, and Abbie Moore. Moore's base knock drove in Reese which completed the HSU comeback and made the score 3-3. 

Reliever Cayleigh Guthrie retired the final Texas A&M-International batter of the fifth inning and HSU's offensive onslaught continued in the sixth when Camp led off the inning with a single down the first base line. Looking for a clutch at-bat, the HSU staff turned to freshman Taylor Sledd, who smacked an RBI double into the gap in her first collegiate at-bat, scoring Camp, and giving the Reddies a 4-3 lead. 

HSU added two more insurance runs in the top of the seventh, when a pair of walks to O'Quinn and Reese, followed by a double steal, gave Moore another RBI opportunity. The sophomore delivered, driving home two more runs with a single to center field to give HSU a comfortable 6-3 lead. 

Mallory Brewer shut the door in the bottom of the seventh as she and Guthrie combined to go 2.1 innings while allowing just one hit. 

Game 2: Angelo State 3, Henderson State 0
Despite an admirable outing from Brewer, HSU's bats went cold against Angelo State. In the top of the first, singles from Reese and Moore gave the Reddies the runners on the corners with just one out, but HSU could not cash in. It was the same story in the second inning, when O'Quinn doubled, but Macie Pampell was thrown out at the plate trying to give Henderson the lead. 

Brewer had retired seven-straight batters, but ASU finally got to the junior in the bottom of the fourth with a pair of runs to take a 2-0 advantage. The Reddies put just one more runner in scoring position for the rest of the evening, while Angelo State added an insurance run in the sixth, to help secure a 3-0 win.