BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Becca Almond out-dueled Wayne State's Sloan Cooksey in the circle and Taylor Sledd had the second game winning hit of her young career on Saturday to give the Reddies a 3-2 win in the opener of the Alvy Early Memorial Classic.

Almond went the distance for the Reddies while striking out five batters to pick up her first win of the year.

Henderson State had to settle for a Saturday split as they fell to Emporia State 15-4 in the second contest of the afternoon.

Kaitlyn O'Quinn and Kailey Reese each extended their hitting streaks to six games on Saturday, picking up a base knock in each of HSU's two contests.

Henderson State (4-6) will finish the weekend in Northwest Arkansas tomorrow with matchups against Missouri Southern at 2 p.m. and Central Missouri at 4 p.m.

Game 1: Henderson State 3, Wayne State College 2

Wayne State scratched a run across in the top of the first but the Reddies used Kaitlyn O'Quinn's speed to answer in the bottom of the first. The freshman drew a walk, stole second, and came around to score on two wild pitches to knot the score at 1-1. O'Quinn's swipe of second was her 11^th stolen base of the season in as many attempts.
 
Henderson State missed out on an opportunity to take the lead in the bottom of the second when Czoey White and Monica Monreal drew back-to-back walks and moved up to second and third with a wild pitch. Despite a bunt single from Alyssa Dixon, the Reddies left the bases loaded with a pair of pop outs to the corner infielders. 
 
After missing the chance to take the lead in the second, Abbie Moore took matters into her own hands in the third with a solo shot over the center field wall to give the Reddies a 2-1 advantage. Moore's deep fly was the first of her 2020 season and the fifth of her career.
 
With the score tied 2-2 in the bottom of the fifth, O'Quinn once again used her speed to beat out an infield single. After moving to O'Quinn to third, the Reddies once again called on freshman Taylor Sledd in a high pressure situation. For the second time in her debut season, Sledd drove home the game winning run with an RBI single to left field which scored O'Quinn.
 
Almond worked out of a jam in the top of the sixth following a leadoff double, and shut the Wildcats down in the seventh to give HSU a 3-2 victory.
 
Game 2: Emporia State 15, Henderson State 4
 
Emporia State pumped out 19 hits and scored 11 runs in the sixth and seventh innings on Saturday afternoon to break open a close game and defeat the Reddies 15-4.
 
Henderson fell behind early when ESU plated three runs in the top of the first inning. The Reddies responded by scratching a run in the second on an RBI single from Alyssa Dixon, then after the Hornets made it 4-1 in the third, HSU used four hits in the fifth to score three more and tie the game at 4-4.
 
Things fell apart for the Reddies in the sixth, however, as Emporia strung together eight hits in the inning — seven of which came with two outs — to bring home seven runs and explode out to an 11-4 advantage. HSU never recovered, as the Hornets put up four more in the seventh and shut Henderson down in the final two frames to cruise to the win.
 
Kailey Reese had two hits and two RBIs for HSU, while both Abbie Moore and Dixon each picked two hits as well. Mallory Brewer got the loss in the circle for the Reddies after allowing 12 hits and seven earned runs in 5.2 innings.