ARKADELPHIA, Ark. — The Henderson State baseball team will play its first three home contests of the 2020 season this weekend when it hosts four out of town teams in the HSU Invitational at Clyde Berry Field.
The Reddies will face Northwest Missouri State in the home opener on Friday at 5 p.m., Newman on Saturday at 5 p.m. and Central Oklahoma on Sunday at 10 a.m. The complete schedule of games for the weekend can be found HERE.
REDDIES REPORT
- The Reddies had a tough start to the year against stiff competition last week at the UCO First Pitch Invitational in Edmond, Oklahoma. Henderson fell in all three of its games to MIAA foes Central Oklahoma, Pitt State and Emporia State who each finished in the Top-5 of their conference in 2019.
- HSU had trouble against the MIAA arms in its first three games and hit just .184 as a club last weekend. The bright spot at the plate for the Reddies was sophomore first baseman Greyson Stevens, who left Oklahoma with three home runs, five RBIs and an OPS of 1.385. The native of Pottsville, Arkansas hit two long balls against UCO and one against ESU.
- Outfielder Caleb Carr also had a good showing with the bat for Henderson last weekend. The junior from White Hall, Arkansas had four hits in 11 appearances at the dish and claimed the Reddies' only stolen base of the tournament. Carr has hit over .300 in each of his first two seasons with HSU, carrying a .376 average in 2018 and a .308 mark last year.
- Henderson's pitching staff faced some of the best hitters it will see all season in the first three games of the year and left with a team ERA of 7.86. The starting rotation of Austin Cross, Brayden Bebee and Spencer Taack combined to throw 11.2 innings and allowed 14 earned runs on 15 hits while striking out 17 batters. Taack was particularly good at making batters miss and struck out nine in just 4.2 innings of work.
- Taylor Langston, an All-American closer for HSU who missed last season due to injury, saw his first live game action since May of 2018 on Saturday against Emporia State and looked ready to pick up where he left off two seasons ago. The graduate student from El Dorado, Arkansas pitched just two innings but allowed a single hit and no runs while striking out five of the seven batters he faced.
SCOUTING NORTHWEST MISSOURI STATE
- Northwest Missouri State is 2-2 on the year after splitting a four-game series with Southeastern Oklahoma State of the GAC last weekend. The Bearcats were 23-27 last season and finished in seventh place in the MIAA standings.
- The Bearcats were led in the opening four games of the year by outfielder and designated hitter Matt Gastner, who was named MIAA Hitter of the Week after racking up seven hits, three home runs, 11 RBIs and an OPS of 1.563. NWMSU finished the series with a team batting average of .293.
- Pitching-wise, Northwest has a team ERA of 4.80 and got a good showing from starter Spencer Hanson, who pitched six innings, saw 21 batters and allowed just two runs on five hits. Bearcats pitchers struck out 23 batters in four games and gave up 29 hits.
SCOUTING NEWMAN
- The Jets are 2-2 on the season after splitting four games at the 4Him Baseball Classic in Cleburne, Texas last week. The Jets are led by former Henderson assistant coach Drew Maus, who is in his first season as the head coach in Wichita, Kansas and will look to restore to prominence a program that has had three-straight losing seasons.
- Both Will Jordan and Hayden VanDePol has big showings in the opening weekend for Newman. Jordan had seven hits and five RBIs in 16 plate appearances, while VanDePol had an OPS of 1.444 after securing six hits and six RBIs in 12 at-bats. The Jets hit .261 as a team in the four games in Texas.
- Newman starting pitcher Ryan Boaz performed well on the mound in his start against SAU. Despite taking the loss, Boaz allowed just five hits in 6.1 innings of work and gave up a single earned run. The Jets finished the weekend with a strong 3.31 team ERA.
SCOUTING CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
- The Reddies got a good look at UCO last weekend when the Bronchos hosted the FirstPitch Invitational at their field in Edmond, Oklahoma, and fell to Central Oklahoma 10-4 in the season opener for both teams on Friday. UCO went 2-1 at the event with wins over HSU and Northwestern Oklahoma State.
- The Bronchos, who reached the NCAA Tournament Central Regional Final last season, have one of the deepest and most talented pitching staffs in all of NCAA DII baseball this season. Starter Dylan Hall was an All-Region pick in 2019 when he struck out 123 batters in 106 innings, Brayden Nelson had a 6-1 record last season with a 2.12 ERA, and Colton Croft made eight starts and seven relief appearances as a sophomore. Hall limited the Reddies to just two hits and one run in five innings of work last Friday and struck out 10 HSU batters.
- In the opening weekend of the season, UCO had four starters finish the four game stretch with an OPS of 1.000 or better. The Bronchos hit .323 as a team in the event and raked in 12 doubles, three triples and three home runs. Infielder Philip Scott led Central Oklahoma at the plate last season when he started all 58 games and hit .291.
