BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Henderson State's pitching staff had trouble against the hot bats of two MIAA opponents on Sunday, dropping two contests on the final day of the Alvy Early Memorial Classic. The Reddies were defeated 8-6 by Missouri Southern before falling to Central Missouri, 7-2.

Ashlyn Taylor and Kaitlyn O'Quinn led the Reddies with three hits apiece during the doubleheader. Taylor finished 3-for-5 with a home run, a double, and three runs, while O'Quinn ended the day 3-for-7 with two RBIs and a run scored.

Henderson State (4-8) will travel back to Northwest Arkansas next weekend for the start of conference play as the Reddies open their GAC schedule with four contests against Arkansas Tech. HSU has doubleheaders scheduled for Friday, Feb. 21 at 3 p.m. and Saturday, Feb. 22 at 12 p.m.

Game 1: Missouri Southern State 8, Henderson State 6
HSU opened the scoring in the bottom of the second when Czoey White and Taylor Sledd worked walks to give HSU runners on first and second with one out. Two batters later, White scored on an error by the Lions' catcher which gave Henderson a 1-0 lead.
 
Missouri Southern finally got to Henderson's starter Mallory Brewer with three runs on four hits in the top of the fourth which put the Lions in front 3-1. The Reddies wasted little time responding in the bottom half when Sledd, the third batter of the inning, crushed her first career home run with a two run blast that brought home Alyssa Dixon and tied the game 3-3. Following the second out of the inning, Taylor restarted the rally with a single and a stolen base. O'Quinn brought Taylor home, advanced to second on the throw, and scored just moments later after an RBI single from Kailey Reese which gave the Reddies a 5-3 lead.
 
Despite the four-run fourth, the Reddies found themselves trailing 6-5 when they came to bat in the bottom of the sixth. For the second time, HSU used the long ball to tie things up when Taylor blasted her first home run of the season and fourth of her career over the center field wall to even the score at 6-6.
 
Missouri Southern had the last say however, with two runs in the top of the seventh to put the Reddies away, 8-6.
 
Game 2: Central Missouri 7, Henderson State 2
The Reddies found themselves in trouble early during the final game of the weekend. HSU an opportunity to strike first in the opening inning following a double from Abbie Moore, but the Reddies were unable to bring the sophomore home from scoring position.

UCM wasted little time in grabbing a lead that they would not relinquish. The Jennies sprayed four hits in the bottom of the first and score three runs, all with two outs, to take an early 3-0 advantage. Unfortunately, it was déjà vu for HSU in the very next inning, when Central Missouri tacked on another three runs, all with two outs once again, to lead 6-0.

Henderson State got a chance to respond in the top of the fourth inning after singles from White and Sledd and a walk to Dixon loaded the bases with two outs. The Reddies could not match their opponent's clutch hitting, however, and walked away scoreless, still trailing 6-0.

The Reddies did get on the board in the very next inning when O'Quinn brought home Taylor with a sacrifice fly after Taylor had doubled and advanced to third on a wild pitch.

Two batters later, Moore hit her second home run of the weekend and sixth of her career which cut UCM's lead to four, 6-2.

HSU put two runners aboard in the sixth and loaded the bases in the seventh, but could not bring home another runner and fell 7-2.